6 Atlanta food pop-ups this week, plus a deep dive on Under Pressure
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.
Filipino sweet and savory from Beik’d and Judy’s Kitchen
Who: Beik’d (@beikdgoods) from Isabel Fiorella and Judy’s Kitchen (@judyskitchen_cd) from Judy Yazon.
When/Where: Saturday, Aug. 15, 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Manila Mart (@manilamartga). 5938 Buford Highway NE, Doraville.
Why you should check them out: Fiorella and Yazon showcase the variety of Filipino traditional and modern treats which are not so easily found in Atlanta. Yazon will be serving up savory items including beef mechado, pork binagoongan with eggplant and tortang talong. A few examples of Fiorella’s sweets on the menu this week are ube-tastic cake, pandan cake and ube Basque cheesecake.
Japanese-Southern comfort food from Tori
Who: Tori (@tori.atl) from Jacob Munnicha, Joel Martin and Meghan Rae.
When/Where: Saturday, Aug. 15, 1 p.m. until sold out. The Stout Brothers Smyrna (@smyrnastoutbrothers). 1265 W. Spring St., Smyrna.
Why you should check them out: Munnicha, who started working in his family’s restaurants at age 12, partners with childhood friends Martin and Rae to serve Japanese-Southern comfort food, inspired by their childhood memories and family recipes. Look for the pork katsu sando with slaw and yuzu aioli on toasted potato bread, the chicken karaage with fries or the special kakuni and grits with braised pork belly served with spicy pickled carrots, daikon and ginger.
Elevated breakfast sandwiches and doughnuts from Dank’s Deli and Ransom ATL
Who: Dank’s Deli (@danks_deli_atl) from Henryk Kumar and Ransom ATL (@ransom.atl) from Simone Forte.
When/Where: Sundays, 8–11 a.m. or until sold out. Heaps Pies (@heapsatl). 2752 E. Ponce de Leon Ave., Decatur.
Why you should check them out: This morning collaboration pairs Kumar’s clever breakfast sandwiches with Forte’s unique doughnuts. While the menu varies each week, what is consistent is that Kumar builds his breakfast sandwiches around exceptional local producers including Leftie Lee’s milk buns and Pine Street Market bacon. Forte has a similar philosophy with her Pearson Farm peach and vanilla butter doughnut as one example.
Creative casual seafood dishes and burgers from ATL Shuck Boyz and Camburger
Who: ATL Shuck Boyz (@atlshuckboyz) from Jeremy Smith and Camburger (@camburgeratl) from Cameron Lukkar.
When/Where: Mondays in August, 5–10 p.m. LikeMinds (@likemindsatl). 112 Krog St. NE, Old Fourth Ward.
Why you should check them out: For the month of August, Smith and Lukkar are taking over Mondays at LikeMinds in the former BrewDog Atlanta space on the Beltline near Krog Street Market. The menu has creative takes on casual seafood dishes and comfort foods, including Ritz cracker caviar service, grilled Magic City oysters, blue crab pimento cheese dip, lemon pepper fried green beans and okonomiyaki hush puppies. And this is your opportunity to try Lukkar’s Camburger, a precision-built burger perfected after four years of relentless research. The burger features two local, grass-fed chuck patties smashed with slivered onions, melted American cheese and signature secret sauce on a potato bun.
Latin and Caribbean street food from Fool’s Errand
Who: Fool’s Errand (@foolserrandatl) from Hannah Chandler.
When/Where: Monday, Aug. 17, 6 p.m. until sold out. Girl Bar (@girlbaratl) at Banshee (@banshee_eav). 1271 Glenwood Ave. SE, East Atlanta Village.
Why you should check them out: For her third Fool’s Errand pop-up, this time at the upcoming Girl Bar event, Chandler is bringing Caribbean vibes to her typical European comfort fare. Look for creations like ceviche nachos featuring marinated whitefish and roasted corn tossed in leche de tigre; slow-roasted pernil pulled pork sandwiches on Hawaiian rolls with sweet plantain and pink sauce; a bistec chopped cheese with peppers and onions (with a mushroom option for vegetarians); and pineapple upside-down rum cake for dessert. Girl Bar Atlanta, a women-led pop-up bar, will serve custom craft drinks designed specifically for the evening.
Flipping the script: Under Pressure Wine Bar builds its menu around the glass
Who: Under Pressure Wine Bar (@underpressurewine) from Juan Fernando Cortés and Adam Berlin.
When/where: Saturdays in August, 6–10 p.m. Bar Avize (@bar.avize). 956 Brady Ave. NW, West Midtown.
Reserve a spot.
Under Pressure, a David Bowie-inspired wine bar which will open later this year in the former Pig-N-Chik BBQ space in the Fountain Oaks complex on the Chastain Park and Sandy Springs border, is in the midst of a pop-up series at Bar Avize in the Westside. After hosting pop-ups at Brush Sushi in May and June, the team is at Bar Avize every Saturday in August, offering a preview of their unique wine-first culinary model.
Created by Michelin-recognized sommelier Cortés (the Chastain) and restaurateur Berlin (Buena Vida Tapas, Chichería MX Kitchen), the heart of Under Pressure is what Cortés calls the “wine dinner model,” a philosophy traditionally reserved for one-off winemaker dinners, which they are adapting into a permanent restaurant format. Instead of crafting a food menu and tasking a sommelier with finding complementary bottles, Under Pressure flips the script and selects the standout wines first.
Cortés says the aim is to have a strong selection within each category: sparkling, white, rose, red and dessert wine. The bottles within each category will be distinct from one another, rather than overlapping in style. He told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Once we know the wine, we ask what dish will make it shine — sometimes that means leaning into a classic pairing, sometimes it means finding an unexpected combination that changes how the wine tastes.” Cortez added that the menu creation is a process: Cortez, Berlin and the chef test combinations until they land on what tastes best together.
For the August pop-ups, Cortez and Berlin are joined by Avize executive chef and co-owner Karl Gorline. Gorline said, “I want to create dishes that show restraint and push in some ways yet allow the focus on the wines to shine through.” He believes that a wine bar should be exactly what it says it is: a bar with wines. “The food shouldn’t feel too stuffy or proud of itself to a point where the focus is lost on curated, nuanced amazing wines.”
Looking at the menu, for example, for the 2025 Rozae “Made My Day” by Austrian winemaker Birgit Wiederstein, Gorline designed a pairing featuring a dish composed of melon gazpacho, whipped ricotta, tomatoes, crispy ham and garden herbs. Gorline said the fruit in this wine inspired him to pull in ham and melon. Adding the natural umami of tomato to the gazpacho and upgrading the ham to Iberico elevates the wine’s character.
Another example: for the 2021 Giovanni Rosso Barolo Del Comune Di Serralunga d’Alba, Berlin said that, because the selected wine is on the younger side, a classic steak frites needed something extra to tie it in. So Gorline designed a pairing featuring a Korean-inspired steak frites dish with Wagyu 9+ sirloin flap, sauce au poivre, crispy shallots and ssamjang. He said the rich beef fat from the wagyu, the oil in the potatoes, and the black pepper in the au poivre sauce are designed to cut through and soften the young wine’s active acid and tannins.
Other examples from the August menu include a Champagne flight paired with lemon pepper chicken nuggets served with crème fraîche and Royal Osetra caviar, as well as the 2024 Christian Tschida Grüner Veltliner paired with North Georgia trout crudo with peach, Castelvetrano olives, fennel and a citrus and olive brine condiment.
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.