11 must-try Atlanta food pop-ups and dining events this 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, supper clubs, collaborative takeovers and limited food events. From weeknight dinner takeovers to weekend festivals, here are some of the hottest metro Atlanta pop-ups to catch this week.

This week’s Atlanta pop-up cheat sheet

• Wednesday, Oct. 7: Indian barbecue pizza collab in Buckhead
• Thursday–Saturday, Oct. 8–10: Clockwork residency in East Lake
• Friday, Oct. 9: South African Ekhaya dinner at Ponce City Market
• Friday–Saturday, Oct. 9–10: Thicc Burger late-night run in Edgewood
• Saturday, Oct. 10: McDonough BBQ & Bluegrass Fest and Ormewood Park Makers Festival
• Saturday–Sunday, Oct. 10–11: St. Elias Mid-East Festival in Druid Hills
• Sunday, Oct. 11: Spanish Tardeo in Old Fourth Ward and SouthernChild Supper Club in Inman Park
• Sunday, Oct. 11: Filipino Oktoberfest takeover in Avondale Estates
• Monday, Oct. 12: Xi’an street food and natural wines in Poncey-Highland

Wednesday, Oct. 7: Indian fusion barbecue pizza in Buckhead

Dhaba BBQ × Bertolozi’s Pizzeria: Indian cracker-thin Chicago tavern pizza

• Who: Chicago natives Jay Patel from Dhaba BBQ (@thedhababbq) and Danny Huber from Bertolozi’s Pizzeria (@bertolozi_pizzeria) team up for a one-night-only collaboration, pairing Patel’s Texas-meets-India craft barbecue with Huber’s signature Chicago cracker-thin, tavern-style pizza crust to serve Indian-fusion barbecue pizzas.
• Where/when: Bertolozi’s Pizzeria in Buckhead, 4–8 p.m. (or until sold out)
• The draw: The brisket tikka masala pizza (smoked brisket, vodka sauce, mozzarella, provolone, ricotta, garlic and fresh basil), tandoori chicken and paneer pizza (red sauce, hariyali paneer and Dhaba sauce) and pork belly burnt ends pizza drizzled with sweet-tangy tamarind barbecue sauce and banana peppers. Bertolozi’s full menu will also be available. Walk-ins welcome.

Thursday, Oct. 8–Saturday, Oct. 10: New chef residency in East Lake

Clockwork by Jared Warwick at BabyGirl

• Who: Clockwork (@clockwork.atl) from chef Jared Warwick steps into the BabyGirl kitchen for a three-night residency, trading his usual postmidnight shift for an intimate dinner service featuring late-night bar-snack riffs turned into savory dinner plates.
• Where/when: BabyGirl (@babygirl.atl) in East Lake, 5–9 p.m.
• The draw: Drawing on the irreverent culinary style Warwick honed at Octopus Bar and Wick & Nicks, the residency highlights seasonal produce across globally influenced small plates. Reserve your spot.

Friday, Oct. 9: Contemporary South African tasting menu in Old Fourth Ward

Lorna Maseko’s Ekhaya dinner residency at Ponce City Market

• Who: Acclaimed South African chef, cookbook author and “Top Chef South Africa” host Lorna Maseko (@lornamaseko) brings her seven-course Ekhaya (“home”) dinner residency serving contemporary South African cuisine to Ponce City Market.
• Where/when: Necessary Purveyor (@necessarypurveyor) at Scout Living in Old Fourth Ward, 6–9 p.m.
• The draw: South African-inspired deviled eggs, mini bunny chow (Durban, South Africa’s iconic hollowed loaf filled with fragrant curry), pap and wors shisa nyama (spiced boerewors beef sausage over traditional maize porridge with pan gravy), Cape pickled fish broth and honeycombed milk tart. Reserve your spot.

Friday, Oct. 9–Saturday, Oct. 10: Late-night smashburgers and sandwiches in Edgewood

Thicc Burgers at Pisces

• Who: Thicc Burgers (@thiccburgers) from chef Jay Wolf pops up at Pisces (@pisces.atl), bringing his unapologetic, hefty burger builds and oversized sandwiches to Edgewood Avenue’s weekend nightlife strip with dinner and late-night eats.
• Where/when: Pisces in Edgewood, 8 p.m.–3 a.m.
• The draw: The Screwburger (a chopped-cheese style double patty with griddled onions and Thicc sauce), the KFC sandwich (crispy double-fried Korean chicken tossed in sweet-hot gochujang honey glaze with kimchi aioli) and the steak-frites hoagie stacked with shaved rib-eye, caramelized onions and crispy potato shoestrings. Walk-ins welcome.

Saturday, Oct. 10: Regional barbecue & neighborhood craft festivals

McDonough barbecue festival featuring bluegrass, bourbon & beer

• Who: Sweet Auburn Barbecue, Dhaba BBQ (@thedhababbq), No Sauce Smokehouse (@nosaucesmokehouse) and Terminus City BBQ (@terminuscitybbq) team up for an afternoon of live bluegrass, bourbon and craft beer, bringing four distinct smoking traditions together in one lot, from whole-hog Carolina purists to Indo-Texan innovators.
• Where/when: Sweet Auburn Barbecue (@sweetauburnbbq_mcd) in McDonough, noon–4 p.m.
• The draw: Dhaba BBQ’s spiced nihari-braised oxtail sandos, tandoori pulled pork sandos and butter chicken sandos alongside Terminus City’s wood-smoked East Carolina chopped whole hog barbecue, No Sauce Smokehouse’s sauce-free craft barbecue and Asian-influenced barbecue from Sweet Auburn. Get your ticket.

Ormewood Park Makers Festival

• Who: Ormewood Park Makers Festival features more than 15 food pop-ups alongside Red’s Beer Garden (@redsbeergarden) and Halfway Crooks (@halfwaycrooksbeer) for a sprawling neighborhood celebration, matching live music sets across multiple stages with one of the largest pop-up food lots of the fall festival season.
• Where/when: Ormewood Park (@ormewoodpark), 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
• The draw: Barbecue Ositos (wood-fired pizza-dough pockets stuffed with Texas-smoked brisket and farm produce fillings) from Oso Smoke & Dough, savory hand pies from Coffyn Pyes, street snacks from MikChan’s and gyros from Gyro Chef. Free admission.

Saturday, Oct. 10–Sunday, Oct. 11: Homestyle Middle Eastern feast in Druid Hills

Annual Mid-East Festival at St. Elias

• Who: St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Church (@steliasorthodoxchurch) community kitchen hosts its parish culinary team for a two-day festival sharing homestyle Middle Eastern recipes, accompanied by traditional folk music and dancing.
• Where/when: St. Elias Orthodox Church in Druid Hills, Saturday 11 a.m.–8 p.m.; Sunday 11:30 a.m.–4 p.m.
• The draw: Wood-roasted chicken and beef shawarma plates, fried-to-order chickpea falafel, waraq inab (herbed rice-stuffed grape leaves), baked za’atar manakish flatbreads, spiced kafta skewers and fresh walnut and pistachio baklava. Open to the public.

Sunday, Oct. 11: Spanish tardeo, Southern storytelling and Filipino Oktoberfest

Spanish “el tardeo” afternoon gathering with Saberico

• Who: Saberico (@saberico.us) from chef Pedro Porras hosts an afternoon gathering celebrating el tardeo — the Spanish ritual of kicking back with daytime wine, tapas and music well before sundown.
• Where/when: Trade & Tempo (@tradeandtempo) in Old Fourth Ward, 2–8 p.m.
• The draw: Live open-flame chicken paella with saffron and vegetables, pan con tomate topped with salt-baked pork or vinegar-marinated white anchovies (boquerones) and crispy patatas bravas with spicy brava sauce — plus combo plates, live DJ sets and a community language exchange. Reserve your spot.

Southern storytelling supper club from SouthernChild

• Who: SouthernChild from chef Rodney Smith (@thenewsouthatl) teams up with Bayab African Gin (@bayabgin), presenting an intimate, seven-course dinner and craft gin cocktail pairing that highlights seasonal autumn produce and contemporary Southern culinary storytelling.
• Where/when: Bread & Butterfly (@bread_and_butterfly) in Inman Park, 6–9 p.m.
• The draw: Sweet potato pain au lait with maple butter, seared cabbage in braised mushroom butter sauce, African bird’s eye chile hen leg with fried kale and smoked braised beef cheek with truffle beef jus and Roscoff onion crisp. Reserve your spot.

Oktoberfest-inspired Filipino menu from Zarate Tiki Co.

• Who: Zarate Tiki Co. (@zaratetiki) from Marcus Fernandez sets up an Oktoberfest-inspired Filipino street food menu as he tests dishes ahead of his East Atlanta Village store opening.
• Where/when: Little Cottage Brewery (@littlecottagebrewery) in Avondale Estates, 1 p.m. until sold out
• The draw: Oktoberfest glizzy (Filipino chorizo topped with sauerkraut atchara — a pickled papaya relish — and mustard ranch), the lechon sando (Filipino porchetta on milk bread with lechon aioli, island slaw and chicharon), Lola’s lumpia with Polynesian gastrique and the balikbayan sampler plate (golden garlic rice, pancit noodles and a choice of ribs, island adobo or vegan tofu and mushrooms).

Monday, Oct. 12: Silk Road Chinese street food and natural wines in Poncey-Highland

Chef Zheng Li × Dive Wine Bar at Madeira Park

• Who: Chef Zheng Li (@li.atl), who has worked at Gunshow and Holeman & Finch, teams up with Dive Wine Bar (@dive_wine) and Paul Wasserman of Becky Wasserman & Co. (@beckywasserman.co) for a collaborative dinner party that pairs natural wines with regional street fare inspired by Li’s childhood in Xi’an, China.
• Where/when: Madeira Park (@madeiraparkatl) in Poncey-Highland, 5 p.m. until close
• The draw: Xi’an Chinese food is rare in Atlanta, making Li’s pop-up a unique highlight. As the Eastern starting point of the Silk Road with a prominent Muslim population, Xi’an’s culinary tradition is known for fragrant spices, street skewers and starch-heavy noodles. The menu reflects core childhood memories from Li’s mother’s hometown, where he lived for four years. Offering more than the standard biang biang noodles and stewed pork burgers you may find in Atlanta, Li offers an elevated, chef-driven menu — featuring Georgia shrimp sour soup dumplings, spinach kuan’mein with onsen egg, refined rou’jia’mo, night market cumin beef skewers and mooncake ice cream. Reserve your spot.

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