Family Meal: Your weekend restaurant guide

😋 I get asked a lot about where I eat on the weekends, so I put together a loose itinerary of what a weekend might look like for me. Most weekends feature a mix of personal restaurant choices and research for Rough Draft. 

This mainly ITP version of the Weekend Lineup includes a few old reliables with a couple of new additions to the restaurant scene. 

🍷 🍕 Friday night

After a long week, it’s nice to walk over to coffee and wine bar Larakin on 12th Street for wine with friends on the patio. 

Some Friday nights call for pizza and a movie at home. My husband and I occasionally get delivery from É Ke Pizza in Vinings, owned by the team behind Baraonda. Order the Diavola ($22) topped with spicy salami, ham, Italian sausage, bacon, and Calabrese peppers, or the Rustica ($19) with fontina cheese, mushrooms, black olives, diced tomatoes, and garlic. 

🍓 🍽️ Saturday morning

Saturday morning means a trip to the Piedmont Park Green Market for produce, bread, and other weekly supplies. 

Pro tip: Grab a cappuccino ($5) or latte from A Curated Coffee Co. The stall, owned by Stephanie Scibilia and her family, features handmade coffee and tea syrups like rose and saffron, made from rose petals from the family’s garden. 

If I haven’t eaten something at the market, late breakfast at Sun in My Belly in Kirkwood often includes a yogurt, granola and seasonal fruit bowl. Listed as a yogurt parfait ($14), I always get a lavender biscuit ($5) as a sidekick. 

Dinner parties occur on the regular at my home. I’ve lost count of the number of glasses and dishes broken over the years. While vintage shopping is my go-to for replacements, I also like to shop at Chef’s Tableware in Chamblee. Some dishes are handmade by the owners, and everything is super affordable for purchasing in bulk. 

🍖 🍺 Saturday afternoon

I’m a sucker for barbecue and beer. Thankfully, Misfitsss BBQ (formerly Secret Pint) has a setup at Round Trip Brewing in Underwood Hills.

My husband and I recently shared a barbecue platter ($24) that easily fed two. It comes with a choice of meat (we ordered pork steak made from the same cut as pulled pork), coleslaw, and some of the best hash I’ve had in years. We added a hot havarti cheese sausage link for $7. Misfitsss is known for its hot sausages. Pair it with an Instant Krüsch (extra pale Kölsch).

You might find me wandering around the High Museum (I’m a member) or MODA (Museum of Design Atlanta) for an hour on a Saturday afternoon, before heading to Momo Cafe on 8th Street for a matcha latte ($6).

🍸 🍝 Saturday night

For a pre-dinner drink, nothing beats the views from the rooftop terrace at Celestia on Spring Street in Midtown. I like to take in the sunset with a martini. Drinks average around $17.

Dinner at Gigi’s Italian Kitchen in Candler Park never disappoints, from the chill, cozy neighborhood vibe to the food. It’s aces. 

The Dirty Gigi is the move for dirty martini lovers. I’m also partial to the Americano. Wines by the glass are nice and affordable, as are wines by the bottle. Split a carafe for $20.  

Order the beans and greens (gigante beans, bok choy, escarole tossed with smoked sausage and green garlic salmoriglio) and the fish or chicken entree listed on Gigi’s seasonal menu to share. 

Commune may not seem like the sort of place for evening tea service, but it is, and you should go if you’re looking for tea sipped to a soundtrack that hits. 

While most folks come to the Avondale Estates listening bar for wine and cocktails, the tea service is a great option for people like me who want to wind down the night with something low-key and N/A, while listening to music.

🍳 🍨 Sunday brunch

We usually eat at home on Sunday mornings. But if not, Sundays call for brunch at The Tap – with or without a Bloody Mary. 

For many people, Highland Tap in Virginia-Highland is a nighttime spot for steak and martinis. But regulars know lunch and brunch go hard here.

I typically order the spicy skillet comprising potatoes, andouille sausage, and poblano peppers served in a piping hot cast iron skillet ($15) paired with bottomless coffee. And yes, people are drinking martinis at noon on a Sunday. 

Before heading home, I like popping into Virginia-Highland Books just down the street. Afterwards, it’s off to Tuscany at My Table to pick up a few Italian pantry supplies, or to grab an espresso and scoop of gelato.

Get inspired at the Druid Hills Home and Garden Tour! 

SPONSORED BY FOOD THAT ROCKS

🫒 Join us on Thurs., June 5 for Food That Rocks, a tasting event presented by Taste of Atlanta, celebrating Sandy Springs’ diverse restaurant scene. This one-of-a-kind food festival brings incredible energy outdoors at City Springs where you’ll sip, savor, and celebrate the community’s vibrant culinary scene.

Get unlimited tastes from 20+ of Sandy Springs’ best restaurants and bakeries; and more than a dozen wine, beer & cocktail tastings. The evening also includes live music from Java Monkey and CJ and the Doughboys, and Chef Chats & mixology demos on the Publix Cooking Stage.

🎉 Food That Rocks is a “Party with a Purpose” in partnership with Second Helpings Atlanta.

🎟️ Get your tickets today!

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À La Carte

🇹🇭 Some Luck: Looks like good news for people following the progress of Some Luck next door to Madeira Park in Poncey-Highland. It appears Talat Market chefs Parnass Savang and Rod Lassiter will finally open their Thai dive bar this summer. 

🍰 Le Soir: Galette bakery in Avondale Estates now opens on occasion for evening desserts and small bites. The next evening takes place on April 24 from 5:30-8 p.m. 

🐦‍⬛ Ravenous: Another worker-owned food culture publication will debut this spring led by a handful of award-winning food journalists. A collaboration between some friends and former Eater colleagues of mine from Chicago, Texas, the Great Lakes, and New York, look for Ravenous to begin publishing in May. 

🍫 KitKats in space: Nestlé is still searching for the culprits who swiped a truck traveling to Poland carrying more than 400,000 chocolate bars. The truck and its chocolatey contents recently vanished without a trace. But after a Nutella jar was seen floating past astronauts on the Artemis II this week, the chocolate company is wondering if NASA could help sort out the whereabouts of those missing KitKats. The company posted an image on Instagram imagining the stolen truck floating along the slingshot path followed by Artemis II to and from the moon. 

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🥂 Taste of Atlanta is celebrating its 25th Anniversary with an epic night of two dozen chef-driven tastings, craft cocktails, wine and beer tastes, live music, and electric energy!  April 16 from 6 to 10 p.m. at The Works. Tickets are on sale here. SPONSOR MESSAGE

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Editor’s Pick

🇬🇪 Georgian Corner opened at the end of 2025 in the former Houck’s Grille space in Roswell. Located at the intersection of Crabapple and Crossville roads, the family-owned restaurant specializes in the cuisine from the Eastern European country of Georgia. While you’ll find restaurants around Atlanta featuring Georgian dishes, none dedicate entire menus to the cuisine. 

It’s a lively little restaurant filled with tables of families, friends, and on the night we dined, a 30-person birthday party. The birthday girl arrived dressed to the nines. Once the wine starts flowing in the dining room, live music begins, followed by rounds of karaoke on the restaurant’s small stage. 

Having had Georgian food before, including khinkali kalakuri (palm-sized soup dumplings stuffed with beef) and khachapuri (cheese-filled bread sometimes topped with vegetables, meats, or legumes), I was excited to dive into a menu of mostly unfamiliar dishes to me. 

🍅 Our server recommended the classic Georgian chicken dish chakhokhbili (cha-hohkh-BEE-lee). Similar to a stew ($20.50), chicken is braised in aromatic tomato sauce laden with fresh herbs and onions. (Ask for bread to sop up the last dregs of tomato sauce.) Simple and comforting, we paired the chakhokhbili with a glass of Askaneli Saperavi Classic – an earthy, dry Georgian wine with notes of cherry and black currant. 

I’m also looking forward to checking out Georgian Corner’s new cafe and market soon adjacent to the main restaurant.

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Recipe: Greek Deviled Eggs From Buddy Buddy

🇬🇷 This week, we’re sharing the recipe for Greek deviled eggs from Buddy Buddy, the bar and restaurant owned by Nick Chaivarlis at the Midtown Promenade.

Chaivarlis, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Greece before he was born, added deviled eggs to the menu to pay tribute to his family’s roots in the South. But Buddy Buddy’s deviled eggs come with a bit of a Greek twist.

👉 Get the full recipe here.

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➡️ Get double the Atlanta food and dining coverage with “Family Meal,” edited by Beth McKibben, on Tuesdays at 5 p.m., and “Side Dish,” edited by Sarra Sedghi, on Thursdays at noon. Subscribe to both here. ⬅️

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