Atlanta Feature

Some cities are known for their museums, their architecture, or their culture. While Atlanta boasts a solid assortment of all three, what locals celebrate—and debate, and pontificate about—most is this city's food.

Though you can find grits, BBQ, and meat-and-three in many low-budget and wallet-busting restaurants, Atlanta's not all about down-home Dixie cooking. There are burger boutiques for the choosy carnivore, organic-only slow-food havens for the dedicated locavore, and enough fish, tofu, and even offal—entrails gone gourmet—to suit the snootiest omnivore. Sweetening the deal is the fact that prices in Atlanta restaurants are, by and large, significantly cheaper than those found in other metropolitan areas, and most places don't enforce dress codes, so you can just come as you are. Today, the stars of Atlanta's culinary scene, chefs like Richard Blais, Kevin Gillespie, and Kevin Rathbun, who were once mostly local celebrities, are now getting their due on the national stage and are putting Atlanta on the culinary map.

Market to Market

Everyone in the Atlanta area knows about Your DeKalb Farmers Market (3000 E. Ponce de Leon Ave., Decatur 404/377-6400). Here you'll find aisle upon aisle of every imaginable fruit and vegetable, meats and fish (live and laid out on ice), as well as a phenomenal hot and cold bar that provides some of the best lunches around. Take note: credit cards are not accepted here.

Atlanta Two Ways

Atlanta's gastronomic delights can be had for a bargain, or for big bucks. Here, high-end and low-end choices from some of the city's favorite food categories.

Sushi

Low end: Locals swear by Ru San's (1529 Piedmont Rd., Midtown 404/875-7042 www.rusans.com), a Georgia chain with strangely named maki ("Gone With the Wind" roll?), hectically fun atmosphere, and reasonable prices.

High end: MF Sushibar (265 Ponce de Leon Ave., Midtown 404/815-8844 www.mfsushibar.com) serves impeccably fresh fish. If you order a few rolls and the fantastic tuna belly tartar, lunch for two can easily top $65.

Bar food

Low end: One of the best sandwiches in town can be found at The Earl (488 Flat Shoals Ave., East Atlanta 404/522-3950 www.badearl.com). Order the "Greenie Meanie Chicken," a char-grilled Cajun chicken breast topped with roasted poblano peppers and salsa verde.

High end: Holeman & Finch (2277 Peachtree Rd., Suite B, Buckhead 404/948-1175 www.holeman-finch.com), a small and cozy public house serves small plates that include creamy farm-egg-and-pancetta carbonara and a tiny 4-ounce. N.Y. strip steak. The servings may be snack-size but the prices are not.

Southern

Low end: Carver's Country Kitchen (1118 W. Marietta St., Downtown 404/794-4410 www.carverscountrykitchen.com) is where locals go for huge portions of meat loaf, turnip greens, baked ham, and fried catfish for budget prices.

High end: Wisteria Restaurant (471 N. Highland Ave., Inman Park 404/525-3363 www.wisteria-atlanta.com) serves sophisticated versions of Southern comfort classics.

Burger Time

The burger trend is hot in Atlanta, with new meat bistros popping up all over the metro area, some from big-time chefs. Leading the way is the cool, modern, and eternally busy Flip Burger Boutique (1587 Howell Mill Rd., Westside 404/352-3547 www.flipburgerboutique.com), from "Top Chef" contestant Richard Blais. On the menu are juicy and inventive burgers, like the butcher's cut with caramelized onion and red-wine jam or the grade-A Japanese Kobe burger topped with seared foie gras and truffle oil. At local star Shaun Doty's Yeah! Burger (1168 Howell Mill Rd., Westside 404/496-4393 www.yeahburger.com), you can pick your meat and pick your topping—everything from grilled Vidalia onions to nitrate-free bacon and cage-free fried eggs. It's a similar set-up at Farm Burger (410b W. Ponce de Leon Ave., Decatur 404/378-5077 www.farmburger.net), which also has the mission of focusing on what's sustainable, local, and humane.