Esquire’s best new restaurants list includes this Atlanta spot

If you’re looking for a place to dine in Atlanta, look no further than Fishmonger. Esquire magazine named the seafood market and cafe one of the 40 Best New Restaurants in America, and it’s the only spot in Atlanta to make that list.

Skip Engelbrecht, Nhan Le, and chef-partner Bradford Forsblom opened the restaurant in Poncey-Highland in May, with a second location in Kirkwood opening just six months later. Both feature the same delectable, fresh menu with dishes like peel-and-eat shrimp, oysters, blackened grouper sandwiches, and a Caesar salad that has all of social media talking.

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Esquire says of Fishmonger: “Mongering has a mixed reputation. Rumors, war, and whores on one side; knives, cheese, and fish on the other. Fishmonger, which debuted in May, tips the scale in mongering’s favor. It channels the seaside fish markets of the Gulf Coast, where fresh catch is available but weirdly fried to oblivion. At Fishmonger, chef Bradford Forsblom forgoes the deep fryer entirely. A hot catfish sandwich comes to the table glistening with chili paste, atop a nori-buttered Martin’s roll. Blackened grouper is dark as night on the outside but lily white within. All this is eaten either on the sidewalk or at a singular high-top table as fresh snapper, grouper, and kingfish — most run up from Florida by small fishermen — stare unblinkingly from their beds of ice.”

Fishmonger’s inclusion on Esquire’s list isn’t its only notable accomplishment. According to the restaurant’s Instagram, it recently served former President Barack Obama. For those curious, he ordered the Caesar salad with blackened grouper.

If that’s not enough to convince you that this is a place worth checking out, we don’t know what is!