Atlanta Good Food category interest

When EARTHGANG dropped their 2013 debut, Shallow Graves For Toys, it felt a lot like the second coming of The Dungeon Family. Earthy soul-funk laid the foundation for WowGr8 (Eian Parker) and Olu’s (Olu Fann) observant and often witty lyrics. By 2017, J.Cole took notice, and signed the duo to Dreamville Records. In the years since, EARTHGANG have carved their own path through Atlanta’s kudzu-covered landscape, dodging popular trends on vibrant, textured albums like 2019’s Mirrorland and 2021’s Ghetto Gods. This summer, they released one of their most adventurous projects to date: an electro-hip-hop collaboration with EDM group Snakehips called Snakegang. And later this year, they’ll release their third major label album, Perfect Fantasy.

In the meantime, they’re happy to eat their way around Atlanta, whether it’s at a pescatarian restaurant on the edge of West End where “everybody’s real,” a sophisticated Midtown spot known for its rotating international menu, or an upscale Mexican favorite with an incredible rooftop. Spoiler alert: their favorite restaurants are as diverse as their albums. Check them out below.

THE SPOTS

Olu: “It has a cool Mediterranean kind of vibe. I feel like I’m being really served by people who care about culture and family atmosphere. You know, sometimes you go to restaurants and it's just like, ’Here's your food.’ But I feel like I’m being invited into someone's larger home [when I’m there].”

WowGr8: “A really lovely place. It's huge. It looks like they turned an old big Southern house downtown into a Thai restaurant. The two best things on their menu are the pineapple boat, which is cracking in pineapple flavor, and the basil rice is second to none—they have different spice levels. If me and my lady just want to go have a good time somewhere, it's easy to go to. It’s a good place to get great service without feeling like you're in like the Atlanta-slash-Hollywood hustle of a bunch of people running around. You'll get a really good meal and a really good experience. They got a few smaller restaurants that they branched out to now (with food stalls at Ph’East and Politan Row), but the one on Juniper is the big one. That's my favorite one.”

WowGr8: “It's owned by this mother and daughter. They make the best chicken caesar salad sandwich that I've ever had in my life. They use, like, these giant kale leaves in the salad and in the sandwich.You feel like a dinosaur eating it, but it's so good. And they have their own homemade caesar dressing that they make right there. And they make the bread in-house for the sandwich. It's a multigrain bread. I go there wherever I can.”

Olu: “The drinks are crazy. Palo Santo drinks are bussin’.”

WowGr8: “The margaritas are hittin’...All I remember is being drunk and happy there.”

Olu: “It's like being at your cool old uncle's spot in Mexico City or something.”

WowGr8: “I took my dad to CT Reforma for his birthday. They have this thing called the dessert piñata, and you order it the night before. It takes them a day to make it. They make you break the piñata with this little stick, and there’s a bunch of ice cream, and just stuff in there that's really good. Their small street tacos are really good. And they have probably one of the best bars in the city. I’m not much of a drinker—I just know that the drink looks cool and the bar looks cool. It looks like something out of a 2000s music video—it’s very colorful and vibrant.”

Olu: “It’s pescatarian, with healthy options. It’s just a good spot in the community. I love the salmon philly [cheesesteak] and salmon tacos. They have great lemonade.”

WowGr8: “Yeah, the lemonade is pretty blessed.”

Olu: “It’s a Black-owned spot in the community that’s serving healthier options. A lot of times, we don’t really get a chance to have that.”

WowGr8: “There’s a lot of love for the city on the walls and stuff. Everybody’s real, and you’re probably going to know somebody in there. If you’re not from Atlanta, and you want something that feels authentic, Local Green is a good place to start.”

WowGr8: “I love The Consulate because the menu is always changing. The whole theme of The Consulate is they pick a different country and just convert the whole menu to that country. Unless you’re really studying them, you never know what you’re gonna get. I like to never know because I enjoy the surprise of going in there one day and it's like, "Oh yeah, it's Libya this week." I'm always ordering off the international side of the menu. The Consulate is the date night spot. I'm never really just chilling at The Consulate, dolo, or with the homies. For that type of experience, you might as well get some romance out of it.”

Olu: “I think they had this strawberry-infused sake. It was really tight. But the sushi is good, the drinks are good. The atmosphere is fire, it’s very chill. You [can] walk right by it and not know what's going on, and you’re still in the mix. I kind of like that.”

Olu: “Rock Steady is always a good time if you want to be around the culture. They have a cool upstairs, where they play good music and have good drinks. And then downstairs, they have Caribbean-inspired meals. They have a jerk lamb egg roll that's really fire. If you’re new to Atlanta, that’s a good space to go and meet people and be in the vibe.”