Food & Dining

Where to eat during Atlanta’s Black Restaurant Week, according to chefs

Atlanta chefs and restaurateurs weigh in on their recommended Black-owned restaurants during the two-week celebration.
Ali Lemma (standing), owner and chef at Ruki’s Kitchen, serves food at Terminal South, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, in Atlanta. This is Lemma's first year participating in Atlanta's Black Restaurant Week. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)
Ali Lemma (standing), owner and chef at Ruki’s Kitchen, serves food at Terminal South, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, in Atlanta. This is Lemma's first year participating in Atlanta's Black Restaurant Week. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)
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59 minutes ago

Black Restaurant Week has returned for its 10th year in metro Atlanta highlighting Black-owned food and beverage businesses across the city through Aug. 16.

Warren Luckett, an entrepreneur, began this initiative in Houston and expanded it into Atlanta in 2016. Since its foundation, he said they’ve been able to highlight over 5,000 restaurants across the country.

“So many of these small business operators spend so much time in their business, they don’t get a chance to work on their business, and one of the first things that gets forfeited is marketing,” he said. “(Black Restaurant Week) has been something that these restaurants can lean on every August. It’s something that they can count on for a revenue bump.”

The timing is just right, too, as Black Restaurant Week lands at the end of summer when school is back in session, often a slow time of the year for restaurants.

Gary Caldwell, executive chef at Marcus Bar & Grille, said that even a 10%-15% increase in customers seeking out the restaurant during these two weeks can make a huge impact.

And having two weeks dedicated to promoting and spreading the word about some of metro Atlanta’s Black-owned restaurants helps remind diners about the eateries that don’t always dominate social media, Caldwell said.

“They forget about these places, and these places are really at the heartbeat of what’s going on in the city right now when you’re talking about great food and specialized cuisine,” he said.

Here, some of the food and beverage businesses participating in Black Restaurant Week offer their own recommendations on where to eat.

Check out the Light Skin Kiesha from the Black Coffee Company with, a vanilla lavender latte with a honey drizzle. (Courtesy of Madelynne Grace Ross / Bites and Bevs Media)
Check out the Light Skin Kiesha from the Black Coffee Company with, a vanilla lavender latte with a honey drizzle. (Courtesy of Madelynne Grace Ross / Bites and Bevs Media)

1. The Black Coffee Company

About the restaurant: Co-founder Jamin Butler and a group of friends launched Black Coffee Company in 2018. The cafe is located in the Lakewood Heights neighborhood and sells organic, fair trade coffee beans, merchandise and apparel. They also operate a location at Morehouse College.

Butler said they’ve been partnering with Black Restaurant Week for the past five years because it’s offered the business an affordable way to get its name out to the broader public.

“You can have a great product, but if nobody knows who you are, where you are, you’re not gonna succeed,” Butler said.

1800 Jonesboro Road SE, Atlanta. 830 Westview Drive SW, Atlanta. theblackcoffeecompany.com

What to order at the Black Coffee Company: The Andre, a chamomile-based lavender tea named after the city’s mayor; the Killer Mike, a coffee topped with espresso; and the Light Skin Kiesha, a vanilla lavender latte with a honey drizzle.

Black Restaurant Week specials: The Black Coffee Company will be offering free upsizes. Customers who order a regular drink can upsize the beverage for free.

Butler’s restaurant recommendations:

At T's Brunch Bar, find one of its most popular menu items, oxtail and grits. (Courtesy of T's Brunch Bar)
At T's Brunch Bar, find one of its most popular menu items, oxtail and grits. (Courtesy of T's Brunch Bar)

2. T’s Brunch Bar and T’s Burger Bar

About the restaurants: After Teneshia Murray’s hair salons were forced to close during the COVID-19 pandemic, she decided her next endeavor would be an essential business. That led her to the restaurant industry and her first eatery, T’s Brunch Bar. Since then, she’s expanded with four locations and opened another concept, T’s Burger Bar.

She describes the brunch bar as a family-friendly brunch experience “with a Southern twist.” T’s Burger Bar offers a variety of burgers, including a vegan option, as well as french fries and milkshakes.

T’s Brunch Bar. Multiple locations. tsbrunchbaratl.com

T’s Burger Bar. 12375 Veterans Memorial Highway, Douglasville. 678-265-8236, tsburgerbar.com

Black Restaurant Week specials: Customers who order an entree can add on a $1 mimosa Mondays-Fridays. At T’s Brunch Bar, the French toast sandwich and potatoes are $10, and a waffle with two chicken wings is $15.

What to order: The T’s Sampler with crab claws, spicy fried shrimp and twisted hot wings. The restaurant’s top seller is oxtails and grits, and Murray’s favorite dish is fried chicken and strawberry waffles. At the Burger Bar, try the Million Dollar Burger which comes with two patties, three types of cheese, a fried egg and onion rings.

Murray’s restaurant recommendations:

Beef short rib with carrots and mashed potatoes at Pandora on the Square in McDonough. (Justin Brown for the AJC)
Beef short rib with carrots and mashed potatoes at Pandora on the Square in McDonough. (Justin Brown for the AJC)

3. Pandora on the Square

About the restaurant: Chef Carlos Brown and his neighbor had plans to open their own chef-driven restaurant one day, but when his neighbor died from cancer before that dream could be a reality, he decided to name his restaurant after her, Pandora.

Brown is Gullah Geechee, and the restaurant’s menu draws on the cuisine of his heritage. He hopes that more people, especially younger generations, will become familiar with and gain a deeper understanding of the Gullah Geechee culture so that it isn’t forgotten.

The upscale restaurant offers a dinner and lunch menu with an emphasis on steaks, seafood and a curated wine list.

“Bringing the community together like the village, you know, that was always my vision,” Brown said.

30 Macon St., McDonough. 678-586-5104, pandorarestaurant.com

Black Restaurant Week specials: Each day Pandora on the Square will offer a new special item on its menu.

What to order: Brown suggests diners check out the restaurant’s okra, fried green tomatoes, the flounder and the lamb chops.

Brown’s restaurant recommendations:

Find Jamaican food at Perfect Seasoning in the Peacherie in Midtown and Switchman Hall in Peoplestown. (Courtesy of Dalisha Williams)
Find Jamaican food at Perfect Seasoning in the Peacherie in Midtown and Switchman Hall in Peoplestown. (Courtesy of Dalisha Williams)

4. Perfect Seasoning

About the restaurant: This Jamaican restaurant from owners Dalisha Williams and chef Nicoy McLean has locations at Terminal South’s food hall, Switchman Hall and Midtown Atlanta food hall the Peacherie.

Williams said they participate in Black Restaurant Week because it helps bring more awareness of their restaurant to new customers who can try their food for the first time.

1161 Ridge Ave. SW, Atlanta; and 1375 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. 678-653-0191, perfectseasoningllc.com

Black Restaurant Week specials: Specials include salmon and chicken nachos and a $15 lunch deal.

What to order: Check out the jerk chicken and the oxtail, the restaurant’s top-seller

Recommendations:

Head to Pepper's Hotdogs during Black Restaurant Week for their special hot dog, the Sunday Supper, with mac and cheese, caramelized onions, garlic aioli, fried chicken crumbs, cornbread and hot honey. (Courtesy of Tarina Hodges)
Head to Pepper's Hotdogs during Black Restaurant Week for their special hot dog, the Sunday Supper, with mac and cheese, caramelized onions, garlic aioli, fried chicken crumbs, cornbread and hot honey. (Courtesy of Tarina Hodges)

5. Pepper’s Hotdogs

About the restaurant: Tarina Hodges launched Pepper’s Hotdogs as a pop-up in 2020. She brought gourmet hot dogs everywhere she could and found her niche in making “approachable food, but with extraordinary standards,” she said.

Hodges opened her first brick-and-mortar shop in downtown Atlanta’s flatiron building about a year ago, and Pepper’s Hot Dogs are also sold at Truist Park’s Outfield Market.

This is Hodges’ third time participating in Black Restaurant Week. She said the work they do is particularly helpful for small businesses that must manage all aspects of the restaurant themselves, from cooking to marketing to accounting.

“If you can get somebody who cares enough to push you out there and do the work and like showcase you, that’s really nice,” she said.

84 Peachtree St. NW, Atlanta. peppershotdogs.com

Black Restaurant Week specials: Pepper’s Hotdogs will be offering the Sunday Supper hot dog, which includes mac and cheese, caramelized onions, garlic aioli, fried chicken crumbles, cornbread and hot honey.

What to order: Check out the restaurant’s breakfast biscuit sandwiches in the morning and hot dogs like the Damn Dog with truffle aioli, caramelized onions, jalapenos and griddled mozzarella, and the Red Dawg with homemade turkey chili, cheese and onions.

Recommendations:

Ruki's Kitchen at Switchman Hall in Peoplestown offers a menu of Ethiopian cuisine. (Courtesy of Anitra Isler)
Ruki's Kitchen at Switchman Hall in Peoplestown offers a menu of Ethiopian cuisine. (Courtesy of Anitra Isler)

6. Ruki’s Kitchen

About the restaurant: Ali Lemma left a corporate banking career to pursue his aspirations of opening a restaurant. After several years of moving around the city as a pop-up, he opened a brick-and-mortar this year in the Terminal South food hall, Switchman Hall.

His stall in the Peoplestown neighborhood offers a tight menu of Ethiopian steak, salmon and chicken tibs, veggies, plus some items with his own Atlanta spin, like wings with a blend of lemon pepper and Ethiopian spices.

Ruki’s Kitchen. 1161 Ridge Ave., Atlanta. 404-975-3386, rukiskitchen.com

What to order: Ethiopian tibs, injera and veggie sides including mesir (spicy red lentils), tikel (stewed cabbage with potatoes and carrots) and gomen (chopped collards in herb oil with onions and garlic)

Lemma’s restaurant recommendations:

M's Cornbread from Marcus Bar & Grille is a popular menu item. (Courtesy of Andrew Thomas Lee)
M's Cornbread from Marcus Bar & Grille is a popular menu item. (Courtesy of Andrew Thomas Lee)

7. Marcus Bar & Grille

About the restaurant: Celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson opened this restaurant in the Old Fourth Ward in 2023. Executive chef Gary Caldwell has been leading the kitchen for more than two years, and he said his focus remains on making quality food that “resonates with people from childhood.”

“It’s one of those things where you create a dish, and you got nuances of modern techniques. But when you really get to the taste and you eat it, it should take you back to when your grandmother or your great grandmother was cooking it,” he said.

525 Edgewood Ave. SE, Atlanta. 470-890-1700, marcusbarandgrille.com

Black Restaurant Week specials: The Global Plate, a dish with Caribbean chicken, purple pickles, collard green kimchi and a red cornbread with curry butter. One of Caldwell’s chefs also created a special curry shrimp egg roll.

What to order: Caldwell recommends customers check out the cornbread and the crispy redfish with crab rice, carrot hot sauce and smoked red peas.

Caldwell’s restaurant recommendations:

8. Oreatha’s at the Point

About the restaurant: Celebrated chef and restaurateur Deborah VanTrece opened this restaurant in the Cascade Heights neighborhood in 2022. Executive chef Christian “Lucke” Bell joined on when it opened after a long career cooking and running businesses around the U.S. The vision for Oreatha’s at the Point was an upscale, casual setting with a menu inspired by mothers from all over the world, Bell said.

“We wanted to start to change what everybody thought soul food was, because depending on your background, soul food is different to you,” he said. “Soul food isn’t just African American food, it really comes from the soul, and it also represents the first chefs of all of our lives, which were grandmothers, our mothers.”

The restaurant features a mashup of cultures with the goal of showing we aren’t so different from each other, after all.

Black Restaurant Week specials: Amuse bouche that changes each week and rotating main specials

What to order: Bell recommends customers check out the collard green hush puppies made with sauteed collards, roasted red peppers and grilled corn mixed into a hush puppy and served with hot honey sauce; the fried green tomato caprese salad with fresh mozzarella, cream corn vinaigrette and a corn and lima bean succotash; and a smoked salmon empanada, a fried empanada with smoked salmon and Caribbean seasonings, finished with a sweet onion vinegar slaw and mango habanero sauce.

Bell’s restaurant recommendations: