The food choices in Atlanta never have been more varied — or more accessible.

Traditional brick-and-mortar restaurants now share the dining landscape with food hall stalls, food trucks, farmers market vendors, pop-up innovators and delivery-only entrepreneurs.

Combined, they offer a smorgasbord of creative, global flavors in everything from handhelds and messy finger food to sophisticated knife-and-fork fare.

For this Fall Dining Guide, our group of contributors is singing the praises of current favorite metro Atlanta dishes. We love them for the flavors, the ingredients and the care that goes into making — and, sometimes — plating them.

You’ll find picks for breakfast, lunch, happy hour, dinner — anytime the craving strikes. Some are menu mainstays, while others require a bit of planning to seek out. All but a few are highly affordable — and a couple are even free!

Here, in no particular order, are the dishes we crave right now.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. (center) is flanked by GOP whip Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo. (left) and Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, as Thune speak to reporters at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. Earlier Tuesday, the Senate passed the budget reconciliation package of President Donald Trump's signature bill of big tax breaks and spending cuts. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

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