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    Best Southwestern

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    Creative Loafing has been presenting Atlanta’s Best People, Places and Events since 1972. These are some of the past winners for this category:

    Best Southwestern BOA Award Winner

    Year » 2010
    Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2010 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
    Nava (Permanently Closed)

    Runner-up: Taqueria del Sol


    2165 Cheshire Bridge Road, 404-321-1118, and other metro Atlanta locations. www.taqueriadelsol.com

    Best Southwestern BOA Award Winner

    Year » 2009
    Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2009 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
    Agave Restaurant

    Runner-up
    Nava
    3060 Peachtree Road, 404-240-1984, www.buckheadrestaurants.com

    Best Southwestern BOA Award Winner

    Year » 2009
    Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2009 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
    Agave

    Best Southwestern BOA Award Winner

    Year » 2008
    Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2008 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
    Agave Restaurant

    Best Southwestern BOA Award Winner

    Year » 2007
    Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
    Agave Restaurant

    Best Southwestern BOA Award Winner

    Year » 2007
    Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
    Agave

    Best Southwestern BOA Award Winner

    Year » 2006
    Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2006 » Oral Pleasures » Critics Pick
    Agave Restaurant

    Best Southwestern BOA Award Winner

    Year » 2006
    Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2006 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
    Agave Restaurant

    Best Southwestern BOA Award Winner

    Year » 2005
    Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Oral Pleasures » Critics Pick
    Agave Restaurant
    There was a time when if someone mentioned Cabbagetown, you thought of our own little slack-jawed patch of Appalachia in south Atlanta. No more. The Boulevard entrance to the former cotton mill village is now occupied by AGAVE, which has become a citywide destination. Greg Herndon, chef/owner of themore...
    There was a time when if someone mentioned Cabbagetown, you thought of our own little slack-jawed patch of Appalachia in south Atlanta. No more. The Boulevard entrance to the former cotton mill village is now occupied by AGAVE, which has become a citywide destination. Greg Herndon, chef/owner of the defunct Tiburon Grill, has joined owner Jack Sobel in the kitchen, and the two are cooking con gasolina. Recent menu additions are a fab riff on New Mexico-style fare, such as a lobster and crab timbale in a pool of tomatillo gazpacho, and a veal and chorizo meatloaf fired up with renowned green hatch chilies. less...

    Best Southwestern BOA Award Winner

    Year » 2005
    Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
    Nava (Permanently Closed)

    Best Southwestern BOA Award Winner

    Year » 2005
    Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
    Nava (Permanently Closed)

    Best Southwestern BOA Award Winner

    Sundown Cafe (Permanently Closed)
    This cuisine still enjoys great popularity but becomes increasingly hybridized with other regional American cooking styles. Chef David Waller has certainly taken that turn at SUNDOWN CAFE, where your attention should be turned to daily specials that call on New Orleans and San Francisco, as well asmore...
    This cuisine still enjoys great popularity but becomes increasingly hybridized with other regional American cooking styles. Chef David Waller has certainly taken that turn at SUNDOWN CAFE, where your attention should be turned to daily specials that call on New Orleans and San Francisco, as well as Santa Fe. Lunch at the bar with manager George Trusler, “the Taco Nazi,” is a blend of bad country music, sharp retorts directed at cell phone users and special tacos and blue plates emerging from the more feverish moments of Waller’s imagination. Shrimp tossed in a Buffalo chicken wing sauce and stuffed in a tortilla with ranch dressing and celery? Sure, why not? “2165 Cheshire Bridge Road. 404-321-1118. www.sundowncafe.comless...

    Best Southwestern BOA Award Winner

    Nava (Permanently Closed)
    Southwestern cuisine may have had its heyday in the ’90s, but don’t tell that to NAVA. The Buckhead institution still has a few tricks up its turquoise-studded sleeve. Many of the restaurant’s original culinary showstoppers - the prickly pear margarita, the Sonoma jack cheese fritters - are asmore...
    Southwestern cuisine may have had its heyday in the ’90s, but don’t tell that to NAVA. The Buckhead institution still has a few tricks up its turquoise-studded sleeve. Many of the restaurant’s original culinary showstoppers - the prickly pear margarita, the Sonoma jack cheese fritters - are as festive as ever. Chef Doug Turbush offers an upscale taste of Santa Fe through winners like the smoked chicken tacos with green chile grits and venison in blackberry sauce. Patio tables by the enormous, rippling fountain are made for Atlanta’s temperate evenings, but for great people watching, grab a table inside the adobe-chic dining room. “3060 Peachtree Road, 404-240-1984. www.buckheadrestaurants.com/nava” less...

    Best Southwestern BOA Award Winner

    Nava (Permanently Closed)
    The Southwestern craze has decreased dramatically, and with it the passion fueling excellence in these places. But NAVA, more Southwestern influenced than “verdad”, still does the job better than anyone in town. Pricey? Sure, and with a bit of corporate sheen too. But those cheese fritters with jalapenomore...
    The Southwestern craze has decreased dramatically, and with it the passion fueling excellence in these places. But NAVA, more Southwestern influenced than “verdad”, still does the job better than anyone in town. Pricey? Sure, and with a bit of corporate sheen too. But those cheese fritters with jalapeno jelly - have you had those? Dang those things are good. And the flourless chocolate cake? Enchanting. The prickly pear margaritas move us, too. Add to that some interesting entrees and we’re ready to throw on our ponchos and head on over. “3060 Peachtree Road. 404-240-1984. www.buckheadrestaurants.com/nava.htm.” less...

    Best Southwestern BOA Award Winner

    Year » 2001
    Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2001 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
    Sundown Cafe (Permanently Closed)

    Best Southwestern BOA Award Winner

    Year » 2001
    Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2001 » Oral Pleasures » Critics Pick
    Sundown Cafe (Permanently Closed)
    2165 Cheshire Bridge Road 404-321-1118 We prefer Eddie Hernandez’s cuisine to the fare at Noche and Nava, the other close contenders. When Eddie is designing and cooking dishes, the food sings. He works miracles with New Mexico chilis, can produce a salsa that dances on your tongue and hybridizesmore...
    2165 Cheshire Bridge Road 404-321-1118 We prefer Eddie Hernandez’s cuisine to the fare at Noche and Nava, the other close contenders. When Eddie is designing and cooking dishes, the food sings. He works miracles with New Mexico chilis, can produce a salsa that dances on your tongue and hybridizes Southern, Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisines with amazing wit. less...

    Best Southwestern BOA Award Winner

    Year » 2000
    Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2000 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
    Nava (Permanently Closed)
    Kevin Rathburn’s Nava carries Southwestern chic to the nth degree with the Hispanic, Western and Native American flourishes of the Buckhead restaurant’s decor proving so fanciful as to nearly suggest a Georgia O’Keeffe fever dream. Likewise, such dishes as the green chile lobster soft tacos, themore...
    Kevin Rathburn’s Nava carries Southwestern chic to the nth degree with the Hispanic, Western and Native American flourishes of the Buckhead restaurant’s decor proving so fanciful as to nearly suggest a Georgia O’Keeffe fever dream. Likewise, such dishes as the green chile lobster soft tacos, the iron-skillet mussels in chipotle broth and the ancho-chili cured lamb are intoxicating but user-friendly examples of the Southwestern fusion style. And any place with peach margaritas clearly wants to win Atlanta’s favor. less...

    Best Southwestern BOA Award Winner

    Year » 2000
    Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2000 » Oral Pleasures » Critics Pick
    Sundown Cafe (Permanently Closed)
    Yes, we know that other, fancier restaurants purvey fussier recipes from the Southwest, but we still prefer Eddie Hernandez’ often witty interpretations, cloning the chipotle to the Cajun, the cascabel to the Old South. He and Sundown have had an important influence on our city’s culinary life bymore...
    Yes, we know that other, fancier restaurants purvey fussier recipes from the Southwest, but we still prefer Eddie Hernandez’ often witty interpretations, cloning the chipotle to the Cajun, the cascabel to the Old South. He and Sundown have had an important influence on our city’s culinary life by daring to blaze a trail for Hotlanta chili-heads. less...

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