Best Under-rated Attraction

Editor’s note: The readers’ pick for this category has been deleted. It was not included to belittle a vulnerable part of this city’s population, but to show the lack of compassion many have for this growing section of our community. Without any added editorial comment, it failed to do so. less...

All right, that title’s a little misleading, but who would have thought that a marketing idea for the latest 2 Chainz album, Pretty Girls Like Trap Music, would have created such a buzz around a craftsman home in Berkeley Park? 2 Chainz, born Tauheed Epps, and his team rented a home and blasted it in hot pink paint, creating a hot spot for like-hunting social media savants, and serving as much more than a selfie backdrop that drew people from across the country. THE PINK TRAP HOUSE, as it came to be known, at different points during its brief lifetime, acted as a nail salon, art gallery, church and even a Best locale to utilize the Fulton County Health Department’s mobile HIV testing truck. All in all, this served as great promo for one of 2 Chainz’s best albums. Turns out, the guy can make a hit. www.2chainz.com.

photo by: Joeff Davis

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“Life. Well spent.” is an old Sears slogan that could be used today to advertise PONCE CITY MARKET’S CENTRAL FOOD HALL. Inhabiting 300,000 square feet inside the renovated former Sears, Roebuck & Co. headquarters, the mix of dine-in and grab-n-go eateries is equipped to accommodate a vast range of food preferences, moods, and tastes. Four James Beard Award recipients chose the Old Fourth Ward food hall for their chef-driven, fast-casual concepts: Sean Brock’s Minero, Anne Quatrano’s W.H. Stiles Fish Camp, Linton Hopkins’ H+F Burger and Hop’s Chicken, and Hugh Acheson’s Spiller Park. A fanciful stroll around the hall feels like a walking tour of global cuisine, no passport required. There’s playful Indian street food at chef Meherwan Irani’s Botiwalla, steaming bowls of Japanese ramen at Guy Wong’s Ton Ton, savory Pan-Latin sandwiches at Hector Santiago’s El Super Pan, all the tongue-tingling Sichuan cuisine you can handle at Jia, and more. Grab an adult beverage at the Mercury, City Winery, or the Tap on Ponce. Sweet tooth? King of Pops, Honeysuckle Gelato, or Collier Candy Co. has got you covered. There’s nowhere more buzzy and diverting than Ponce City Market in Atlanta right now, which makes it an ideal destination for entertaining hungry out-of-towners. less...

You’re not going to hear the hits of the ’60s and ’70s on WREK’s classic rock show STONEHENGE, thank God, but you will learn about the less played-out side of rock’s psychedelic age. Like the ancient site of the same name, Stonehenge stands for timelessness — of bands like Love, Humble Pie, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Roxy Music. And Stonehenge DJ Dr. Rock’s encyclopedic knowledge about such things as a band’s bitter breakup or song’s obscure genesis rivals that of the coolest dad. If you’re too busy to tune in on Fridays, you can hear the most recent episode on the website of the Georgia Tech-run station.
Fridays, 8 p.m.-midnight, WREK-FM (91.1). 404-894-2468. www.wrek.org.

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Since opening its doors last May, word hasn’t spread quickly enough about WHISKEYPEACH. Those looking for a cosmopolitan vibe that feels like one big VIP room without the VIP attitudes, this is the spot. From the plush couches near the inside bars to the outside patio and the downstairs chilling areas, there’s ambience to spare. Musical offerings are as eclectic as the crowds. Mondays hobnob with Atlanta’s up-‘n’-comers. Wednesdays, show your pride. Thursday nights - Latin sounds. “44 12th St., 404-745-9551. www.whiskeypeach.com” less...

If you haven’t been to the SWEET AUBURN CURB MARKET, you’re missing out on one of the city’s crowning jewels of commerce and community. Established in 1918, constructed in 1924 and renovated in 1994, the market is the place to buy fresh seafood, fruits and vegetables, sweet potato pies, scented bath salts, wigs, hip-hop fashions, dashikis and imported Italian cheeses, among other goods. There’s also a fabulously diverse food court serving soul food, seafood, Italian deli sandwiches and more. “209 Edgewood Ave. 404-659-1665. www.atlantacurbmarket.com.” less...

571 S. Kilgo St. (Emory University) 404-727-4282 www.carlos.emory.edu Chances are, if you don’t live next to it, you might not have even heard of the Carlos. And yet the museum is set to become even more underrated next month. On Oct. 6, the museum’s revamped, permanent collection of Egyptian artifacts opens with 14 sarcophagi and a comprehensive overview of the burial process in ancient Egypt, in addition to its already fine collection of Egyptian, Greek and Nubian art. Even though the museum attracts about 120,000 visitors per year, “we’re what people are always calling a hidden jewel, says Carlos spokeswoman Allison Dixon. That might be because it’s tough to tell where exactly the museum is located. Accompanying the re-opening - until Oct. 6, only the third floor is open to the public - will be new signs to help folks actually find the museum. The structure was designed by architect Michael Graves (who knew he had work outside Target?), and it costs just five bucks to get in. less...

www.ajc.com With its circulation taking a nosedive over the last decade, the “AJC” is having an identity crisis: Is it a local paper? A regional paper? A national paper? Is it all three? Is it hip? Edgy? Too conservative? Too liberal? Mirroring a depressing industry trend, the “AJC” tries to be all things to all people. Too often, it ends up being nothing special to anyone. But hope springs eternal. New Managing Editor Julia Wallace has just overseen a massive restructuring of the newsroom. Her shake-up may clear out the deadwood and make room for the paper’s brightest stars to shine once again. Until then, hide the paper under the sofa. And hey, we can say that: After all, we’re 25 percent owned by Cox. “Viva la familia”! less...

Buford Highway (north of downtown, parallel with I-85) lends credence to Atlanta’s claim of being an International City. Korean noodle houses abut Vietnamese pho shops abut Salvadoran pupusa eateries. There are also a slew of Asian and Latino food markets, a Japanese stationary store, herbal shops, acupuncturists and the Buford Highway Farmers Market, which sells exotic items from around the world. less...

This 15-acre sanctuary in Midtown boasts a conservatory filled with rare plants, birds and obscure blue poisonous dart frogs, a hardwood forest, a rock garden, a carnivorous-plant bog, a winter-blooming garden and much more. Earlier this year, the Fuqua Conservatory staff displayed its second blooming of the Sumatran voodoo lily, a flower that has seen the light of only a handful of days in the U.S. The Garden features numerous leisure and public-education programs. Individual membership is $40. less...

Built in the 1920s, The Fox Theatre was originally designed as a Moorish-style Yaarab Temple for the Shriners organization. Before it was completed, though, the Shriners realized they were in over their heads financially and cut a deal to turn the enormous structure into a movie theater. After the era of downtown movie palaces passed in the early ’70s, the building fell into decline and was threatened by “progress.” Plans were made to raze the building and build a parking lot until Atlanta Landmarks Inc. intervened and launched a four-year “Save the Fox” fund-raising campaign. Today the 5,000-seat palace has been restored to its former glory and is a venue for Broadway shows, film festivals and the occasional concert. less...

If you really want to impress out-of-towners, wait until twilight (or what the old-timers used to call first dark) and casually tool down International Boulevard right through the middle of Centennial Olympic Park. When those spectacular punched-metal streetlights come on, it creates the effect of a magical urban wonderland. Park the car and join the families and lovers who stroll through the park, stopping long enough to watch the kids frolic in the fountain. And for visitors with a morbid bent, you can point out where the bomb when off. less...

If fighting traffic, dodging drunken young professionals, endless mall shopping and random acts of violence are not your idea of showing the folks a good time on their trip to Atlanta, consider steering clear of this part of town. Besides, after taking them to see Underground Atlanta, they’ll surely be satisfied at having absorbed the local flavor. less...

Even if the former Atlanta Olympic guru hadn’t fallen from grace amid reports of scandal and mismanagement, we still can’t think of anything we’d want to encounter less than the shit-eating grin on Payne’s creepy Centennial Olympic Park statue. Dogs bark and children recoil in fear at the sight of it, oddly menacing like a business-suited boogey-man reaching his hand out to get you. Who’s idea was this? less...