7 Atlanta pop-ups you can’t miss over the next week
Each week, Punk Foodie highlights Atlanta pop-ups worth catching before they disappear, helping readers find the city’s most interesting chef-driven dining concepts, food trucks, supper clubs and limited-time food events. The independent chef scene often reveals how immigrant traditions, first-generation entrepreneurship and local ingredients are merging into a new Southern food identity. Atlanta offers a unique laboratory where chefs test ideas to determine if temporary kitchens can transform into revolutionary restaurants.
Japanese Southern fusion from Tori
Who: Tori (@tori.atl) from Jacob Munnicha, Joel Martin and Meghan Rae
When/Where: Saturday, May 30, noon until sold out. The Stout Brothers Smyrna (@smyrnastoutbrothers). 1265 W. Spring St., Smyrna.
Why go: Munnicha’s culinary experience started at age 12 in his parents’ restaurants, where he progressed from the fryers to the wok and eventually served as a head hibachi chef. For Tori, he partners with childhood friends Martin and Rae to create menus inspired by their memories of sharing Southern and Japanese family foods.
What to get: The new Tori smoke plate featuring smoked pulled chicken with cornbread, yuzu slaw and furikake macaroni salad or the katsu sando with slaw, katsu sauce, yuzu aioli and meat floss on toasted potato bread. Also on the menu is the new Southern sun salad with baby greens, arugula, strawberries, grapes, tangerine, toasted pecans, feta and a roasted peach yuzu vinaigrette and spicy crab wrapped in nori and finished with more spicy crab and sesame seeds.
Tori will also be at Chattabrewchee the Hangar in Hapeville on June 13.
Cheesesteaks and Cantonese fried chicken sandwiches from Dank’s Deli and Soupbelly
Who: Dank’s Deli (@danks_deli_atl) from Henryk Kumar and Soupbelly (@soupbelly_atl) from Candy Hom.
When/Where: Saturday, May 30, 5-9 p.m. or until sold out. Leftie Lee’s (@leftielees). 6 Olive St., Avondale Estates.
Why go: Kumar has built a reputation on crafting elevated sandwiches using high-quality, locally sourced ingredients, while Hom offers a nostalgic blend of the Cantonese and American dishes she grew up eating. The menu will feature their sandwich creations and sides.
What to get: One of the fried chicken sandwiches served on a Leftie Lee’s bun: the OG with Cantonese salt and pepper; the spicy with a marinated chicken thigh drenched in chile oil sauce; the Vietnamese fish sauce glaze with fried garlic, pickles and cilantro. Also try one of the two cheesesteaks on a Liscio’s Bakery seeded roll: ribeye with fried shallot, Cooper Sharp cheese and Dank sauce; or ribeye with Cooper Sharp cheese, shiitake mushrooms and black garlic mayo.
Also on the menu is a real crab rangoon dip with wonton chips and vegan dry-fried french fries seasoned with fried garlic, Sichuan peppercorns and cilantro, a riff on the Atlanta-born Chinese dish of dry-fried eggplant.
AAPI month marketplace from Badass Asian Market
Who: Badass Asian Market hosted by Pastries A Go Go
When/Where: Saturday, May 30, 6-9 p.m. Pastries A Go Go (@pastriesagogo). 235 Ponce de Leon Place, Decatur.
Why go: To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month, Adriana Park of Pastries A Go Go is transforming her restaurant space into an evening spotlighting fellow Asian women entrepreneurs. The event will feature a diverse lineup of vendors who do not frequently appear around Decatur, bringing unique dishes to the area.
What to get: Try the kathiew, a Cambodian pho from Pho with E (@phowithe._), who has built a dedicated fan base in Riverdale. Or grab Filipino baked goods from Baker’s Hatt (@bakers_hatt), serving vanilla ice cream sandwiches made with ube white chocolate chip cookies alongside sylvanas, bite-sized frozen Filipino sandwich cookies. Also try her whoopie pies, a take on the New England sweet treat featuring cakelike cookies with an ube cream cheese filling.
Other items will include onigiri from Cherifish (@cherifishatl) and artisanal beef jerky from K Premium Jerky (@kpremiumjerky).
Speakeasy harvest dinner from Ry’s Table
Who: Ry’s Table (@rystable) from Ryanne Rothenberg
When/Where: Saturday, May 30, 6-10 p.m. Ry’s Table Farmstead. 914 Pinehurst Terrace SW, Oakland City.
Why go: Rothenberg’s Speakeasy Supper Club brings global influences from her time working in Asia and Africa to her farmstead garden event space in Southwest Atlanta. The ticketed harvest dinner begins with a cocktail hour featuring ASW Distillery botanical beverages before guests gather at a communal table for a three-course, family-style meal. The menu is driven entirely by seasonal, local ingredients, and guests dine directly alongside the farmers who grew them — including folks from Love is Love Cooperative Farm, Georgia Peach Truck, Bella Vita Mushrooms and Decimal Place Farm.
What to get: Because of the seasonal nature of the menu, the exact offerings are kept under wraps, but Rothenberg said it may include cast-iron blueberries with beets and cheese, mushroom and garlic-chive imperial rolls and a strawberry four-way salad. She also said guests will likely find Thai choo chee shrimp curry with potato and a chuck roast with fennel, potato and broccolini.
You can make reservations here.
Elevated fusion tasting from Service @ Seven
Who: Service @ Seven (@serviceatseven) from Kyle Taylor.
When/Where: Saturday, May 30, 6:30-9 p.m. Capital View (Exact location revealed at time of ticket purchase).
Why go: Taylor designed his private dinner series to capture the intimacy of a dinner party at a friend’s house without the pretense of elevated dining. He said, “The experience is an exercise in total curation, where every detail is controlled, from the ambient noise in the dining room to the specific acidity in a glass, aiming to command the room’s attention through pure sensory impact and force a shared, visceral experience around a single table.” The nomadic series rotates to new private spaces each time and keeps its highly seasonal menus completely blind until guests sit down to eat. For this third event in the series, the theme is “Summer Shift” with a menu hyperfocused on late-May vegetables. Taylor partners with My Friend’s Bottle Shop to provide curated wine selections that pair with the food.
What to get: The full menu is not available, but we have confirmed the menu will include a three-mushroom meatloaf featuring roasted oyster, seared cremini and raw enoki mushrooms bound with masa harina, served in a creamy chorizo and caramelized Vidalia onion sauce spiked with Nixta Licor de Elote and finished with crispy enoki tops and chives. There will also be a risotto-style pearl couscous topped with rendered ground chorizo, charred asparagus, blistered long beans, a salt-extracted kiwi vinaigrette, torn Thai basil and toasted cumin seeds.
You can make reservations here.
Classic dishes with global techniques from Long Game
Who: Long Game (@longgame_atl) from John Hajash
When/Where: Monday, June 1, and Monday, June 15, 5-10 p.m. 7th House (@seventhouse). 565 Northside Drive SW, Adair Park.
Why go: Hajash, a former chef de cuisine at Talat Market and a bread baker at Evergreen Butcher and Baker, puts unique spins on classic dishes, using global techniques and local ingredients to make them approachable yet slightly obscure. For example, his hamachi crudo swaps traditional ginger for pickled local magnolia flowers, and replaces the standard raw-fish dressing with tisane, a grain tea with origins in Greece and China.
What to get: In addition to the hamachi, try the beef tartare, with egg yolk, ruby streaks mustard greens, confit yellowtail and chile; the ‘nduja agnolotti with fennel, garden herbs and pecorino; or the half-chicken Milanese with spring green Caesar and green garlic aioli.
The menu also features snap peas with kohlrabi, broccoli and ricotta salata; beets with smoked yogurt, pine nut, kombu and mint; and peach with creme fraiche and pecan.
You can make reservations here.
Irish pub fare from O’Boyce’s Pub
Who: O’Boyce’s Pub (@oboyces_pub) from Kieran Seitz.
When/Where: Every other Wednesday from June 3 to July 15, 7-11 p.m. Poor Hendrix (@poorhendrix). 2371 Hosea L Williams Drive SE, East Lake.
Why go: Making drinks has always been a way for Seitz, who is currently bartending at Little Bear and serving at Poor Hendrix, to connect with people. He said he launched this pop-up with the ultimate goal of opening a proper pub, bringing his family’s Irish culture and creativity to the table. Recurring chef Will McMichael serves a small menu of Irish pub fare that draws culinary inspiration from around the world, anchored by a rotating spice bag, complementing a frequently changing drink menu focused on cheap beers and fun cocktails, highlighted by a bestselling Irish coffee made with cacao butter-washed Tullamore D.E.W., vanilla and cold brew.
What to get: The signature spice bag, a Chinese-influenced Irish street food staple featuring fries, fried chicken, stir-fry vegetables, Sichuan spices and curry sauce. A recent version featured Mediterranean and Middle Eastern influences via chips, sumac and Urfa biber chicken, spring onions, charred tomatoes and herbs.
The rest of the menu varies, but based on a recent menu, you might find curry chips; a bacon butty sandwich on buttered brioche with Branston pickle; smoked salmon dip with tadka, herbs and Guinness crackers; and a tom kha Scotch egg with shrimp farce, coconut, kaffir lime leaf, lemongrass and sweet and smoky chile sauce.
On our radar
We are taking next week off, so here are a few extra items for your culinary consideration:
- May 30: An Eid al-Adha festival is happening in Duluth, featuring an extensive halal food lineup, cultural showcases and shopping.
- May 29-30: Chef Fadi Alkaasamani from Habibis will be serving a Swiss dinner for Chow Club in Lindbergh.
- May 31: Mighty Hans is taking over Ruby Chow’s in Old Fourth Ward to serve up a Taiwanese American comfort food brunch.
- June 1: Fruit Forward Orchards and The Dear and the Dove are hosting a dinner featuring the serviceberry in Decatur.
- June 7: Smoking Tiger Club is hosting a brunch in Midtown.
- June 8: Monolith is back at Banshee with another five-course dinner party in EAV with chef Kyler Strom.
Note: By their very nature, pop-ups are fluid and subject to the whims of weather. For the latest schedule and information, consult the pop-ups’ Instagram feeds.
About the Author
The Punk Foodie project from Sam Flemming covers Atlanta’s independent chef scene with a focus on the city’s growing world of pop-ups, residencies, and chef-driven dining events. He covers the entrepreneurs and immigrant foodways helping redefine Southern food today. Email sam@punkfoodie.com.
