The Resy Hit List: Where In Atlanta You’ll Want to Eat in July 2026

Chefs Parnass Savang and Rod Lassiter continue to bring new-idea energy to this this James Beard-nominated former pop-up, still as scrappy, self-challenging, and experimental as ever, now eight years as a brick and mortar. Yes, you should still stalk their Instagram story for the daily changing menu. On balance, though, expect a wild flight to Thailand fueled by Georgia ingredients. Grab a seat against the vivid street-style mural for dishes like Issan-style chicken laap, the daily curry with their signature housemade coconut cream, and the beloved Crispy Rice Salad. And if you’re lucky, you might just get a teaser to their next concept, Some Luck, due to open this summer.

Thai cuisine has been on the rise in Atlanta, growing ever more sophisticated with each newcomer, but this twice-weekly residency by renowned sake sommelier Jenna Phravorachit at 788 Omakase Table might just be its spectacular crescendo. Every dish lives up to the concept’s name in a splendid celebration of her Thai-adjacent Laotian heritage and passion for fine dining and omotenashi hospitality. A tropical fruit salad has catfish cosplaying as panko crumbs, blue crab curry becomes a luscious warm custard, and papaya salad is somehow sorbet. Bright, unabashed flavors build to Japanese luxury ingredients — a nod to the space — and unique presentations through 11 courses, as a billowing cloud dissipates to reveal lemongrass and sweet chili paste-seasoned lobster and A5 wagyu tenderloin and beautifully bitter sticky rice are invited to be eaten by hand.

“Last bite, best bite” has gone from saying to promise at pastry chef Claudia Martinez’s stylish dessert bar, where the vibe is industry-edgy, Afro-Latin-Caribbean cool, and accessibly warm. In this cozy courtyard-inspired, intimate space, seasonally inspired sweets (her signature style) are made with indulgent ingredients and presented as modern art. For example, Araguani chocolate cake bites with passionfruit ganache and mole crunch with pomegranate arils or apple spice cake with tamarind caramel and dulce de leche cremeaux might be enjoyed solo or as part of a tasting. Treats, pastries, and exquisite housemade ice creams are complemented by Recuerdos crafted coffee drinks by day for sun-up to sun-down verve that just doesn’t quit.

This astral-themed cocktail bar may be by Bovino After Dark’s Alex Sher, but it’s his mom and inspiration Rolene Jaff, a vibrant fashion plate of a spiritual gangster, who has become the symbol of hospitality of this girls’ and date night safe space. Come for creative drinks designed for specific zodiac signs and elements and sip unhurriedly in a setting that feels like a mystic’s den or in the European-feeling alley to find out: Are you sweetly fiery with passion fruit and fresno peppers, or cool like ice wine with mango and coconut? Either way, get the oysters and French onion mantou buns, and don’t miss the brookie dessert. Gooey with crispy edges and topped with chocolate crunchies and thick dollops of fudge, we predict you won’t regret it.

Seafood recognizes no cultural boundaries here, as influences span from New Orleans to New England and France to Italy in a chandelier-bedecked setting, complete with a serene, oversized patio. Start with tasting pours from the Enomatic wine selections for low-commitment pairing opportunities, and oysters all ways, including the signature style with caviar and serrano chile. Decadence begins with a fresh-baked croissant loaf, and escalates from there, culminating in Grande plates such as seafood cannelloni with lobster bechamel, shrimp, lump crab, and fish; halibut done Oscar-style; and a 50-layer lasagna. Brunch brings butter-poached crab omelets and seafood biscuit pot pies.

Korean-first fine dining has finally landed in Atlanta, with a future-forward focus meant to grow and evolve.  The result has been a fusion (we mean that as a compliment) with modern pan-Asian sensibilities. For example, meaty mini shrimp toasts delivered on baked, buttery toast rounds. Miso-coated grilled cabbage with black garlic. Crab bisque with wasabi-nfused cracker-chips. Chilean sea bass with nasturtium oil and sweet cauliflower puree. A steak program is on its way, but short ribs and bone marrow satisfy red meat lovers for now. Dessert recenters the space; black sesame crème brulee sparkles like the night-sky ceiling and a jasmine panna cotta-like cream topped with matcha “moss” and chocolate “dirt” cookie crumbles call your attention back to the beautiful bonsai trees throughout.

Returning from renovations with limited seating in time for its 10-year anniversary, this Marietta Square destination continues to prove that quality trumps quantity every time. In this intimate space, chef Brian So’s seasonal menu is so tight that no more than three options are ever offered for each course. Yet, deciding remains near-impossible when choosing between asparagus with cured salmon and ramps or a parfait of foie gras with plum and pistachio for starters. Garganelli with green garlic cream, morels, and fava beans or grilled grouper with scallops and leeks keep the challenge going in mains. To take the pressure off the decision-making, have sommelier Daniel Crawford make a pairing for you from his selection of natural wines. As with everything else here, it’s hard to go wrong.

Those ready to graduate into modern regional Mexican cuisine should find their way to this discreetly hidden gem. The menu is an introduction to the “Land of the Seven Moles,” featuring preparations that range from green to coconut truffle, dishes that center masa, such as steak tlayuda, and plenty of stringy Oaxaca cheese in squash blossom veggie quesadillas. But as fitting for a restaurant named after what is considered the culinary capital of Mexico, favorites are elevated as well. For example, elote dressed with black garlic, steak tacos with fire-roasted bone marrow, and octopus chicharrónes. Sip a warm-weather cocktail on the spacious, semi-private patio — preferably one with mezcal, one of the state’s biggest claims to fame.

The temporary closure of this beloved omakase mainstay left a huge gap in the omakase scene when Tasuku Muraka departed, but “sushi boss” Kazuo Yoshida’s arrival makes us believe in serendipity all over again. A pioneer of omakase dining in the U.S., he’s now enriching Atlanta’s sushi scene with kazu-style (Japanese gastropub fusion) concepts, exclusive sourcing, and dynamic teaching that allows chefs under him to find their own voices, like an exceptional truffled-coated, butter-poached lobster course. A signature for every service is an uni risotto to make you weep, and enough caviar to singlehandedly justify the price. Expect 19 courses meant to surprise with each round, contrasting flavors, textures, and techniques, like mincing fish and reshaping it with alliums and tricky prep that makes bonito delectable.

Seafood is unquestionably the specialty when the raw bar’s dramatic display is enough to turn a fiery wood hearth and painted octopus on the wall into background players. They’re serious about it at this Ford Fry mainstay. You’ll find oysters offered three ways (and for happy hour), smoked haddock chowder with butter-fried saltines, and aficionado-coded items like cod cheeks. Duckfat-poached swordfish blends fish and fowl and kedgeree, land and sea. Desserts reference the coast, too. Key lime pie and coconut rum tres leches take us further south while the white tile coastal design of the main dining room veers north. Meanwhile, the ample patio and lawn space are laid-back, both as inviting as a casual afternoon on a New England estate.

Nothing is ever quite what it seems when it comes from a place of pure imagination … which is best way to describe James Beard-nominated chef Joey Ward’s 14- to 16-course tasting menu. Every dish is a personal love letter to the seasons, flavors, and — without giving away too much — different pockets of Georgia and Atlanta, including within Southern Belle. For instance, a tribute to a certain international stretch of the city is done with appreciation; local produce, like sweet potatoes, become the literal bread and butter of the region; and a cheese course is presented as an actual pop of nostalgia. So go ahead and lick the beaters, drink the cereal milk, and be dazzled. Pro tip: Pricing is tip-inclusive — no math required.

Transplants from suburban New Jersey and Long Island will feel right at home at this nostalgic gem, where a carpeted dining room, art-adorned wallpapered walls, wipeable tablecloths, and high-touch service blur the lines between someone’s grandma’s house and a classic Italian red sauce restaurant … Which makes sense, since owners Antonio and Maria Fundora both came of age in Italian American strongholds (New York and Chicago, respectively) before opening the iconic Alfredo’s on Cheshire Bridge over 40 years ago. Service is team-based, but specials are often recited by the matriarch herself, who’ll rattle off a long list of multi-item parmigianas, osso bucco, seafood, housemade ravioli, and more. On the everyday menu, find excellent renditions of banners like scarpariello, piccata, Marsala, and Francese dishes sauces at nearly equally old-school prices.

Move over, Chengdu Zhong-style dumplings — Chongqing’s hot pot tradition is making a play to become our city’s favorite Sichuan-style dish with the Chicago favorite’s new location in Duluth. For those unfamiliar with the concept, think broth-based fondue, but substitute that for a center pot that can offer up to three broth bases made with a variety of 32 spices and six varieties of chile peppers. Translation: if you haven’t experienced that authentic mala sensation yet, settling down into one of these white-trimmed, group dining booths means you’re about to. Choose vegetables, noodles, dumplings, and proteins — including tofu — from an extensive, semi-illustrated bilingual menu for your tabletop cooking, then dip them in a sauce of your own creation for another layer of customization.

Posh Persian glamour is pervasive through every dynamic inch of the most glittering location of Fares Kargar’s critically hailed trio of restaurants. A long bar that begins near the entrance transitions seamlessly to an open kitchen, where the sounds of chefs at work are muted by the always-bustling, convivial ambiance of this group-friendly restaurant. Pro-tip: Request a table in the mezzanine for a more low-key buzz, or the now-open patio for summertime beach-club style. Share savory mains like saffron-rubbed duck confit fesenjoon, char-grilled wagyu strip with Turkish coffee rub, and summery lamb chops with dill labneh, to make the house soft serve feel all the sweeter after.

Chef Shaun Doty’s locally-sourced Southern comfort diner is well-known among gluten-free diners in the city, but at its heart, it’s a people-pleaser designed for inclusivity, not specificity. Just try finding fault with the bouncy little jalapeno cornbread muffins and crispy, fresh tenders that both just happen to be gluten-free. And if wheat is not your enemy, even better; it’s home to one of the most indulgent chicken biscuits around, where a fried breast is topped with bacon and an overflow of pimento cheese on a soft biscuit you’ll end up fork-and-knifing. Breakfast all day keeps the theme going with sweet and savory waffles; meatloaf, stews, and grilled bone-in chicken keep things homestyle; and salads with housemade dressings remind you to eat your veggies.

No reservations. Find more info here.

The countdown has finally ended for Atlanta’s first chai café, and folks are already flocking to Monica Sunny’s cheery, casually chic spot in droves for their fix of the wildly popular tea blends Oprah made viral by naming as one of her favorite things. Ochre banquettes line the storefront window and beneath an evocative scene depicting the gardens of Jaipur, and more Indian influence appears in the unique pastry program, with custom-developed treats like samosa croissants, saag paneer danishes, cardamom buns, and rose pistachio tarts. Cake rusks take the place of biscotti, which is equally up to the task of being paired with signature chai drinks or coffee offered in a partnership with Georgia Tech alumni Driftaway Roasters — another nod to local success stories gone national.

No reservations. Find more info here.