Go beyond Buford Highway for ethnic food in metro Atlanta

The lunch crowd fills up Pho Hoang Long in Pat Mell Shopping Center on weekdays. Contributed by Wyatt Williams

Credit: Yvonne Zusel

Credit: Yvonne Zusel

The lunch crowd fills up Pho Hoang Long in Pat Mell Shopping Center on weekdays. Contributed by Wyatt Williams

When most Atlantans think authentic -- and cheap -- ethnic food, their thoughts almost immediately turn to Buford Highway, that culinary melting pot of a road that runs through Fulton, Dekalb and Gwinnett counties.

But if you're not setting your sights a bit further afield, to Pat Mell Shopping Center in Marietta , to be exact, then you're missing out on some of the best Vietnamese, Mexican and El Salvadorian food around.

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