Oprah Winfrey is currently touring the country for her 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus tour. She’ll be in Atlanta on Jan. 25, and she’s bringing Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson with her.
Part of each daylong event is a focus on taking charge of your health. That means eating healthy, which is where partner WW (Weight Watchers Reimagined) comes in.
The tour is presented and produced by WW, the global weight management program that’s been helping people eat right and be active for more than 50 years.
It can be tough to find restaurant food that aligns with your goals, so WW did the work for you. For each stop of Winfrey’s tour, WW collaborated with restaurants to create “WW Favorite” dishes that fit a healthy lifestyle.
Atlanta’s selections offer a variety of flavors and inspirations, WW says. Here are six Atlanta restaurants and their dishes that scored huge points with the Weight Watchers team.
MetroFresh
Dish: Mitchell's turkey chili (without sour cream)
SmartPoints: 12-8-8 (green, blue, purple)
“With two locations in Atlanta, MetroFresh offers fast health-conscious food inspired by world flavors,” WW wrote.
The Mitchili, as owner and creative chef Mitchell Anderson calls the dish, is MetroFresh’s “most popular menu item, by far, because it's both familiar and comforting. And it's low in fat, high in protein and fiber,” Anderson said.
"MetroFresh has provided a great, quick service, healthy and nutritious dining option to our neighborhood for so many years now, it was great to get the WW stamp of approval for the only thing on our menu that doesn't change every day," Anderson said. "We work super hard in the restaurant business and we love it. But it's always nice to get some outside recognition for me and my staff. We're happy to spread the word about our partnership in health with WW and Oprah's 2020 Vision Tour."
» MetroFresh opens second Atlanta location
» How to make MetroFresh's butternut squash soup
Busy Bee Cafe
Dish: Baked haddock filets with yellow rIce, and roasted squash and zucchini
SmartPoints: 14-12-12 (green, blue, purple)
Busy Bee Cafe, which Travel Noire named the best black-owned soul food restaurant in Georgia, touts the restaurant as "Atlanta's Soul Food Kitchen Since 1947." It was a meeting spot for civil rights leaders after opening on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and continues to stay busy, serving up Southern staples. If you have someone in your dinner party who isn't counting WW points, tell them to get the fried chicken; it was voted best of Atlanta by AJC readers.
» This is the best friend chicken in Atlanta, according to AJC readers
» This is the best black-owned soul food spot in Georgia, according to Travel Noire
Local Green Atlanta
Dish: Notorious shrimp tacos
SmartPoints: 14-13-13 (green, blue, purple)
A favorite of visual artist Melissa Mitchell, Local Green Atlanta has a "mission is to reduce health disparities in underserved populations by providing healthier food choices to communities who need it most," its website states.
WW said it chose Local Green Atlanta because it "provides healthy options along with a positive atmosphere."
Owned by platinum recording producer and Atlanta native Zak Wallace, the restaurant's mission is "to inspire change, advance palates, improve health habits and end food deserts in Atlanta's Westside and beyond" through its affordable and nutritious menu.
The shrimp tacos are three flour tortillas, sautéed shrimp, broccoli slaw, diced tomatoes, avocado and red cabbage garnish, with sriracha-mayo.
» Atlanta vegan and vegetarian restaurants to try
» Artist Melissa Mitchell shares her Atlanta favorites
Joy Café
Dish: Greek salad with no dressing
SmartPoints: 3-3-3 (green, blue, purple)
The Food Network and CBS both have featured segments on Joy Café, which is infamous for its pies. Born and raised in South Georgia, co-owner Joy Beber says on the restaurant's website that she was influenced by the traditional Southern cooking of her great-grandmother. The restaurant believes in keeping its ingredients preservative-free, using recipes handed down for generations.
» 5 Atlanta pie shops that serve a slice of heaven
» New executive chef now helming kitchen at Joy Café
Root Baking Co.
Dishes: Grain salad with chicken thigh; grain salad without chicken thigh; hummus toast
SmartPoints: 16-13-11 (green, blue, purple); 14, 11, 9 (green, blue, purple); 12-10-10 (green, blue, purple)
Bakery and cafe Root Baking Co. was among the nominees for Bon Appetit magazine's list of America's Best New Restaurants of 2019.
"Root Baking is the new best reason for a visit to the popular restaurant-and-retail behemoth" known as Ponce City Market, AJC restaurant reviewer Wendell Brock wrote last year.
Husband and wife owners Chris Wilkins and Nicole Lewis “believe in partnering with farmers and local/regional artisans to support our community in Atlanta” and the Southeast, their website states.
» Two Atlanta restaurants are nominees for Bon Appetit's Best New Restaurants 2019
» 'Weirdo' bakery puts down roots at Ponce City Market
» Bread geeks will go gaga over Root Baking Co. at Ponce market
General Muir
Dishes: Nova and egg scramble; vegetarian Reuben with Russian dressing on the side; beluga lentils
SmartPoints: 17-11-11 (green, blue, purple); 13-13-13 plus 2 for each tablespoon of Russian dressing; 15-11-11 (green, blue, purple)
General Muir appears on many AJC rankings, including the five best brunches in Atlanta. Food editor Ligaya Figueras warns you, however, the restaurant "makes ordering brunch hard, because most everything is so darned good." Its great matzo ball soup came in second in last year's Best of Atlanta soup poll.
And last year Thrillist called the house pastrami "ridiculous," but in a good way, and included the General Muir on its list of the 24 best brunch spots in America.
The beluga lentils dish "has been on the menu since The General Muir opened in 2013. Each element of this dish is delicious on its own, but then chef and co-owner Todd Ginsberg married these four elements to create an entree that elevates the humble lentil," AJC contributor C. W. Cameron wrote last month.
» Atlanta restaurant among Thrillist's 24 best brunch spots in US
» General Muir a delicious part of a Jewish deli renaissance
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