Best Local Market

What's not to like about the Grant Park Market? It's cute, clean, has efficient parking for running in and out, and stays competitive with Kroger prices with a much better selection of local goods. It's where I score my Treehouse nut milk, Montane waters and wine on tap at the diner-style eat-in cafe. Just waiting for them to sell Georgia Hemp Company CBD, and I'll never shop elsewhere! Call it the sister store to Candler Park Market, yet with quite a different atmosphere. Both are special. (Courtesy of Frederik Brauer). less...

In an era when Atlantans crave the flavor of authenticity touted by refurbished yesteryear developments — from Ponce City Market to Krog Street Market — only one such food market has a century-old timestamp. Talk about a storied legacy. The Great Atlanta Fire of 1917 spawned the creation of the open-air Municipal Market of Atlanta. Black vendors weren’t permitted to sell livestock or produce inside when its first permanent structure was constructed in 1924. Instead they were relegated to the curb outside — hence the name SWEET AUBURN CURB MARKET, as it’s known today. Located one block from the heart of Auburn Avenue, which was declared the “richest Negro street in the world” by Fortune magazine 60 years ago, the market maintains a choke hold on rich culinary traditions. And a visit is a veritable field trip for all five senses. As soon as you step inside, the sweet nuttiness of Miss D’s New Orleans Pralines meets your nose. Butcher cases treat turkey tails, hog maws, fat back, chitlins, oxtails, pork belly, pig feet, and red hot links like everyday Southern delicacies. Fresh collards, turnips, mustards, and kale line the aisles of produce vendors. And when you can’t bear it any more, there are plenty of mouth-watering eateries to feed your face — from soul food (Afrodish Restaurant, Metro Deli) to finger-lickin’ food (Arepa Mia, Bell Street Burritos, Grindhouse Killer Burgers, Sweet Auburn BBQ, Yum Diggity). Far from your faux-artisanal food court, this is where the moms and pops set up shop. less...

Along McDonough Boulevard and Jonesboro Road in south Atlanta, businesses tend to be fenced-off industrial operations and shops pushing lottery tickets or cigarettes. That’s why the year-old CARVER NEIGHBORHOOD MARKET is right when it calls itself an “oasis.” In a neighborhood that lacks places to buy good food, the former thrift shop is an asparagus-to-zucchini grocery store that shares space with the Community Grounds Coffee Shop. Some of the groceries are local, and that’s as intentional as the healthy fresh inventory, the site’s inviting sunlit design, and the store’s new bike-delivery option for nearby residents. It’s the kind of place that would bring any neighborhood together, and that many places like south Atlanta sorely need. www.carvermarket.com. less...

You can count on an average bodega or corner store to cover the basics, from drinks, snacks, and tobacco to candy bars, condiments, and obscenely priced toiletries. But CANDLER PARK MARKET doesn’t just have the stuff you’ll settle for in a pinch. Instead, the unassuming oasis is packed with gourmet goods that discerning urbanites crave. There are imported chocolates and fancy granola bars. Boxes of organic cereal and gluten-free crackers comingle with the Frosted Flakes and Wheat Thins. One aisle over, the Market’s generous produce section is routinely stocked with an array of locally grown veggies. The Deli at Candler Park Market, the neighborhood go-to for substantial sandwiches and salads, occupies the back of the store. The crown jewel, however, is the booze selection. Candler Park Market has an entire aisle dedicated to highly rated wines, and its impressive beer section is more crafty than convenient. There you’re as likely to find packs of Bells Two Hearted Ale and 21st Amendment as you are the latest local releases from Monday Night Brewing, Orpheus, and more. Candler Park Market is more than just a convenience store for those who live nearby. For many neighbors, shopping there has become a part of daily life. less...

Between the delicious hot bar(s), salad bar, cheese bar, and randomly placed free samples throughout the store, there's enough going on at the Whole Foods at Midtown Place to keep your head on a swivel. But don't become too distracted by the variety of healthful if overpriced foodstuffs to appreciate the impressive sampling of good-looking Atlantans, civilians and uniformed Whole Foods employees alike. No offense intended to people who shop at Publix or Kroger, but there's something about craft beers, organic cereals, and hemp soaps that attract a nice-looking, sometimes tattooed, always-left-of-mainstream clientele. You have to grocery shop, anyway. Why not do it where you can get an eyeful? less...

CRAIGSLIST is more than just a shopper’s mecca. Its “anything goes” posting policy has made it a repository for users’ deepest and weirdest thoughts. Though it pains us to say this since Craigslist has taken a huge chunk of newspaper revenues, we still have to give props. Whether you’re looking for a guitar, a couch, a car or a house, it’s a great place to browse. On a given day, you’ll also find things such as heartfelt letters penned to anonymous grocery-store clerks someone was afraid to talk to, invitations by men who want to “swap body rubs,” and obscene racist rants about problems with Mexican drivers. Craigslist is part shopping mall, part diary, part bathroom wall.

www.atlanta.craigslist.com

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Back in the day, before Midtown became Buckhead, you’d never hear a respectable yuppie couple bragging that they met on Ponce. These days it’s not that far-fetched, given the dramatic influx of luxury SUVs that have flooded the Old Fourth Ward. At WHOLE FOODS MARKET, the hungry, hungry heteros converge and cavort in a health-conscious environment — smiling furtively over the soy milk and showing admirable restraint from pawing the organic melons. Sure, a bunch of them may be vegans, but even they are looking for a fine rump. less...

Back in the day, before Midtown became Buckhead, you'd never hear a respectable yuppie couple bragging that they met on Ponce. These days it's not that far-fetched, given the dramatic influx of luxury SUVs that have flooded the Old Fourth Ward. At WHOLE FOODS MARKET, the hungry, hungry heteros converge and cavort in a health-conscious environment - smiling furtively over the soy milk and showing admirable restraint from pawing the organic melons. Sure, a bunch of them may be vegans, but even they are looking for a fine rump. less...

When it comes time to wine and dine our significant other, we’ve yet to find a place supplying better accoutrements than STAR PROVISIONS. Their picnic baskets beg to be filled with the crusty bread and artisan cheeses lying just steps away, as does a sizable selection of seasonal dinnerware that keeps our food looking festive. Beyond accessories, chunky hunks of delightfully fresh fish glitter over ice and ruby-toned cuts of our favorite red meats rest comfortably in a nearby cooler. Creamy cheese well worth the dough beckons from another room, where jams and honeys also offer mealtime inspiration.
1198 Howell Mill Road. 404-365-0410. www.starprovisions.com.

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Meticulously crafted out of a former car showroom, COMPOUND has been transformed into a showcase of another sort. The courtyards and steamy, bulging-to-capacity interior promote an absence of clothing among the "Lucky" subscribing ladies and metrosexual men. Both genders' tans and toned bodies are luridly on display. It's easy to get caught up in the circulation of the crowd from the smoke-free lounge to the main space, making you feel like you're being herded around a fetching flesh farm. Except here, surrounded by minimalist furnishings and opulent fashions, "pork" takes on another meaning. And watch for that "cattle prod." "1008 Brady Ave. 404-872-4621. www.compoundatl.com" less...