Morning, y’all! Atlanta police are conducting “scenario-based” training near the Georgia Aquarium from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., so expect road closures and other confusion. The aquarium will also be closed. Don’t want the whale sharks to think they’ve done something wrong.
Let’s get to it.
THE HOLY GRAIL OF DINING GUIDES
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
Let’s be real. I am paid to be excited about what the AJC publishes. It’s just a plus that, 99% of the time, I really am. (The other 1% is a secret.)
But, when I tell you I am obsessed with the AJC’s latest dining guide, I mean “send it to all your friends,” “read it in one sitting like it’s a magazine” obsessed.
63 countries, 63 dishes, years of dining out sorted
Around the World in 63 Dishes means you’ll never be stumped about where to eat again. The AJC’s Food and Dining team spent months choosing signature dishes from 63 countries and finding the best places in the Atlanta area to enjoy them.
The result is as close to a world tour as you can get without going too far outside the perimeter. Pastelitos from Cuba, kibbeh from Lebanon, jollof rice from Nigeria, haggis from Scotland — even super offbeat dishes every second-generation immigrant heart craves, like golabki from the Balkans, borscht from Ukraine or ackee and saltfish from Jamaica.
🥘 Here’s what else is waiting for you:
- gorgeous pictures and descriptions of every dish
- checkboxes so you can keep track of your favorites
- an option to map your favorites to plan your Atlanta grand tour
- most helpfully, an option to email or message your final list, so you don’t forget a thing
❤️ Ligaya Figueras, the AJC’s senior Food and Dining editor, has been putting Atlanta dining guides together for 20 years. It’s always a labor of love, she told me, but this one’s special.
“Hopefully, it reminds Atlantans of the breadth of international cuisine available in the metro area and invites visitors to explore the dining scene,” she said. “And, at a time when immigration is such a divisive topic, the guide can maybe unite us in our shared love and appreciation of food and its connection to communities.”
Chef’s kiss. Oh, and for all you non-Atlantans, now you have the perfect guide for your next trip!
🥐 THE AJC’S GLOBAL DINING GUIDE: Around the World in 63 Dishes
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HONORING ANDREW YOUNG
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Five Atlanta mayors came together Monday to honor one of the city’s greatest architects, Ambassador Andrew Young. As the AJC’s Ernie Suggs put it, it was “a moment that fused Atlanta’s past, present and future.”
Bill Campbell, Shirley Franklin, Kasim Reed, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Andre Dickens attended the annual Legends of Atlanta gala, presented by National Jewish Health. The foundation honored former Mayor Young with its Humanitarian Award.
At 93, Young reflected on his years of service.
“Throughout my life, I’ve had people try to take things from me — my health, my dignity, my peace,” Young said at the event. “But I’ve learned: You must keep going.”
🔎 READ MORE: Ernie Suggs’ description of the evening is a snapshot of Atlanta greatness
AIRPORT HEALTH INSPECTIONS
Credit: Kelly Yamanouchi/AJC
Credit: Kelly Yamanouchi/AJC
Seven of the 165 food and beverage establishments at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport failed Department of Health inspections in 2024. That’s up from six failures in 2023 and a mere handful in 2019 and 2020. Yes, another thing to blame, at least somewhat, on the pandemic.
- Airport leaders are not pleased about the issues and say airport-specific operating challenges (less room, etc.) shouldn’t affect health scores.
- Scott Knight, the director of the airport’s concessions programs, says they’ve seen no new failures in 2025 following an “alarm bell” message he sent to establishments last year.
Worth a note: The airport’s program doesn’t oversee airline lounges like the American Express Centurion Lounge that failed a DPH inspection in 2024, or the Delta Sky Clubs that failed in 2022 and 2023. All have recently passed muster, though.
READ MORE: What restaurants have failed in the past and what challenges they face
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
✂️ Republicans are backing multibillion-dollar cuts to Medicaid, and other healthcare-related cuts could directly affect thousands of Georgians. The cuts limit or eliminate subsidized private insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act. Other changes to Medicaid requirements, like more frequent paperwork, could create challenges for disabled Georgia recipients.
🪖 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants to slash senior military leadership positions, which could affect more than 120 high-ranking officer jobs. That could also include several top general slots.
🔌 Georgia’s powerful utility commission will finally hold elections this month after three years of canceled races and legal struggles stemming from alleged voter discrimination. In those years, the PSC has approved six rate increases for Georgia Power customers and seen several members stay on past their tenures.
NEWS BITES
A look at the Atlanta Falcons’ 2025 season, including a game in Berlin
Ich bin ein Falcons fan!
The unexpected star of Atlanta’s sushi scene? Fancy Japanese toilets
The dramatic lighting. The motorized lids. The cheerful music. Is it weird to thank a toilet? Because you’ll want to thank the toilet.
Atlanta United’s manager says slumping team is trying to support each other, get introspective
You know a team’s in bad shape when every dispatch sounds like a cross between a philosophy meditation and a teacher disappointed in a promising student.
An AI startup’s eye-scanning ‘orbs’ come to Ponce City Market to help differentiate humans from AI
Ha ha! No. No no no no no no no no no no no.
ON THIS DATE
May 14, 1922
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
From the front page of The Atlanta Constitution: “An expedition composed of government officials, members of Congress and highway and forestry experts will leave Washington for a week’s cruise of the Cherokee and Nantahala forests in the north Georgia mountains ... This expedition has been organized by The Atlanta Constitution ... looking to the dedication by the government of particularly attractive recreational areas in the Georgia reservations as a national playground.”
I believe this eventually became the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, Georgia’s only national forest. (But it’s really two. How do you think the hyphen got in there?) I do have a lot of love for North Carolina’s Nantahala National Forest, though. Beautiful place to spend the weekend.
ONE MORE THING
The Japanese toilet story led to a deeply disturbing conversation with a Food and Dining colleague about fancy restaurants and their weird bathrooms. If you know of any weird restaurant bathrooms around Atlanta, let me know. It’s a shockingly rich niche.
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact us at AMATL@ajc.com.
Until next time.
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