Best Of Atlanta 2013 Oral Pleasures (large)


Oral Pleasures



Every night is a busy night at Holeman & Finch Public House. Burger pilgrims arrive hours early to reserve one of the limited-edition, double-patty delights in advance. They camp out at the bar or around high-top tables, waiting elbow to elbow for an amplified voice to announce that Burger Time has arrived at last. Regulars chuckle at the nightly spectacle.

Atlanta diners are an enthusiastic bunch. Hip to the latest hot spots, the fooderati flock to newly opened restaurants, always hungry for what’s next. Holeman & Finch was no exception when it opened to a packed house and much fanfare back in 2008. But five years later, it’s still tough to find a seat in the house that former bar manager Greg Best, Linton Hopkins, and team built.

In the last few years, we’ve seen Atlanta’s restaurant culture evolve and reinvent itself with an explosion of exciting new restaurants. In many ways, staying power is a restaurant’s true currency these days. This year, when setting out to highlight the best Atlanta has to offer, we searched for restaurants that anchor our current dining scene and will continue to mold it for years to come.

Empire State South remains a bastion of modern cooking in the South, tackling three meals a day like nowhere else. Tasty China in Marietta reminds us that we’re still willing to venture OTP in the name of incredible ethnic food. We were once again seduced by the harmony of Octane Coffee and Little Tart Bakeshop. There are newcomers, too. This year we found smart, memorable cocktails at Paper Plane, daring and authentic Italian at BoccaLupo and Storico Fresco Pasta. Deft hands at the General Muir brought us a refined take on the Jewish deli.

Every year, it gets harder to create the list of Best of Atlanta winners. But having too many great restaurants to choose from is a problem we’re happy to have.

— Stephanie Dazey

Best Under the Radar Restaurant BOA Award Winner

Year » 2013
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2013 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
ROXX Tavern

Best Vegetarian/Vegan BOA Award Winner

Year » 2013
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2013 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
Dough Bakery

Best Vegetarian/Vegan BOA Award Winner

Year » 2013
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2013 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
Cafe Sunflower Buckhead

Best vegetarian dish at a non-vegetarian restaurant BOA Award Winner

Year » 2013
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2013 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
Wrecking Bar Brewpub

Best Veggie Burger BOA Award Winner

Year » 2013
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2013 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
YEAH! BURGER

Best Vietnamese BOA Award Winner

Year » 2013
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2013 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
Com Vietnamese Grill AND Lee’s Bakery

Best Weekly Dining Deal BOA Award Winner

Year » 2013
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2013 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
The Pinewood

Best Wine List BOA Award Winner

Year » 2013
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2013 » Oral Pleasures » Critics Pick
Spence
In the age of industrialized food, experts recommend you stay away from anything made with ingredients you can’t pronounce. But in the wine world, bizarre varietals you’ve never heard of are treasures waiting to be uncorked. At the Spence, Justin Amick, general manager, wine director, and advancedmore...
In the age of industrialized food, experts recommend you stay away from anything made with ingredients you can’t pronounce. But in the wine world, bizarre varietals you’ve never heard of are treasures waiting to be uncorked. At the Spence, Justin Amick, general manager, wine director, and advanced sommelier, is obsessed with finding odd, obscure specimens for his list of 90-ish wines. Try the tight but juicy cinsault/syrah/cabernet sauvignon blend from Lebanon, just to say you’ve had a wine from Lebanon. Or the puzzling pelaverga piccolo from Piedmont because it’s really fun to say and tastes like dried strawberries and white pepper. If you must, you’ll find your California chard and Napa cab under the heading Tried and True. We’ll be at the bar testing out the inky black vranec-kratosija from Macedonia and the herbally hondarribi beltza from Bizkaiko Txakolina, Spain. less...

Best Wine List BOA Award Winner

Year » 2013
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2013 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
Barcelona Wine Bar

Best Desserts BOA Award Winner

Year » 2013
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2013 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
Café Intermezzo - Midtown
And other metro Atlanta locations.

Best Desserts BOA Award Winner

Year » 2013
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2013 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
Cafe Intermezzo
And other metro Atlanta locations.

Best Pizza BOA Award Winner

Year » 2013
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2013 » Oral Pleasures » Critics Pick
Antico Pizza Napoletana
It’s the closest you can get to traditional Neapolitan-style pizza in Atlanta. Almost everything here is imported here from Italy, including the three Acunto pizza ovens in the open kitchen. You love it, we love it.

BOA Award Winner

Year » 2013
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2013 » Oral Pleasures
the Pinewood
“When “Creative Loafing” asked me, as a past winner, who I would nominate as new Best of [[[[for cocktails], I quickly flipped through my mental Rolodex of favorites to places like Holeman & Finch and Sound Table. But then I thought about the Pinewood. Specifically, I thought about what [beveragemore...
“When “Creative Loafing” asked me, as a past winner, who I would nominate as new Best of [[[[for cocktails], I quickly flipped through my mental Rolodex of favorites to places like Holeman & Finch and Sound Table. But then I thought about the Pinewood. Specifically, I thought about what beverage director Julian Goglia has done to make it a convivial place of tippling. You might say I am biased, since Julian’s first job behind the bar was at H. Harper Station, but he had been honing his skills at home for some time before I lured him to the dark side. And it’s a great joy to see a person grow from passionate bartender to smart businessperson. Oh, and the drinks are damn good.” “H. Harper Station’s Jerry Slater, 2012 Critics Pick for Best Covers-All-the-Bases Drink Menu” less...

Nothing found, please try again

Browse by Category

After Dark
After Dark
CityScape
CityScape
Consumer Culture
Consumer Culture
Index
Index
Oral Pleasures
Oral Pleasures
Poets, Artists & Madmen
Poets, Artists & Madmen