This Once-forgotten Atlanta Neighborhood Now Has the City's Most Exciting (and Diverse) Food Scene

Travel + Leisure

7 days ago

I have lived in Atlanta for more than a decade, and for much of that time I drove past Summerhill—a neighborhood just south of Downtown—without stopping. It felt like a forgotten place. Then a couple of years ago, I began to notice buzzy new restaurants appearing, and my interest in the area was ignited.
Summerhill, it turns out, was a place for formerly enslaved people to live; it was also home to a large community of Jewish immigrants. Back then Georgia Avenue, its commercial corridor, was filled with general stores and a theater. But social unrest in the 1960s led to a decades-long decline; homes were boarded up and stores shut down.
Summerhill's rebirth started in 2017, after the Braves moved out of Turner Field and Georgia State University took over the stadium, which anchors the area's northwestern corner. Then the Atlanta-based developer Carter purchased 35 nearby acres, including much of Georgia Avenue. Summerhill is now a case study in community regeneration.
These days when I drive through, I see bakeries, barbecue joints, and beer gardens—not to mention restored bungalows on tree-lined streets. I also see a steady stream of visitors, not just on game days but year-round, especially at the trendier restaurants. Here are four of my favorite places to sample the scene.
This feels like the quintessential Summerhill spot. A cheerful neighborhood restaurant, Little Bear serves dishes made with hyperlocal ingredients and craft cocktails with a clever twist. The chef-owner, Jarrett Stieber, draws on his Jewish heritage and Atlanta roots to update classic Southern dishes, like chicken meatballs with congee drizzled with a Manischewitz glaze and a turnip-green soup with kimchi, pickled carrots, and matzo. The menu changes often, according to what's in season. 'Everything is based on the farms we work with,' said Stieber, who received the Michelin Guide's award for Young Atlanta Chef in 2023. 'We try to make fine dining a little more playful, approachable, and affordable.'
The décor reflects Stieber's sense of whimsy. Housed in an old brick building, the restaurant has exposed wooden rafters, string lights, and a hand-painted pink bar. Cartoonish drawings of Stieber's dearly-departed dog Fernando are everywhere. 'We didn't want a dark, romantic sort of fine-dining restaurant,' Stieber told me.
On a late-summer visit, I had an heirloom-tomato-and-peach salad, with a vinaigrette made with coffee and tahini. On another evening, I stopped in for a pre-dinner drink (a watermelon-infused charanda ). The dining room was teeming with young, happy patrons. I couldn't resist ordering the golden-curry custard: a spiced pudding with crunchy bits of gherkin, an herb coulis, and a dollop of torched meringue. Vegetables in a dessert sounded odd at first, but they added texture and a delightful touch of saltiness. Little Bear.
Dominique White/Grub Freaks/Courtesy of Asana
The first thing you notice is the hand-painted mural along the back wall. It is a colorful homage to chef Parnass Savang's family, whose parents immigrated from Thailand and ran a traditional Thai restaurant in suburban Atlanta­—now owned by Savang's aunt. The second thing you notice is that the food melds classic Thai recipes with Southern cuisine in dishes like green curry with catfish, broccoli, and turnips. Or hamachi crudo in a piquant blend of fish sauce, lime juice, and peach. 'I wanted to trust my gut using Georgia ingredients,' Savang told me.
Talat Market is tucked on a quiet residential block of Summerhill, but there was nothing quiet about my visit on a cold night in December. Over a playlist of American 80s and Thai pop, the vintage industrial space was filled with thirtysomething couples and friends catching up over tropical cocktails. It was fun to watch the action in the open kitchen; Savang is often there behind the stove, along with his co-owner and fellow chef, Rod Lassiter. But it's even more fun to take another bite of the crispy rice salad with red-chile jam and crunchy Georgia peanuts.
From left: Seasonal dishes at Little Bear, in Atlanta; chef Duane Nutter, right, and restaurateur Reggie Washington of Southern National.
From left: Gabriella Valladares/Stills; Rebecca Carmen/Courtesy of Southern National
While not the first destination-worthy restaurant in Summerhill, Southern National seemed to confirm the neighborhood's arrival when it opened in 2023. Run by chef Duane Nutter, who gained recognition for his Southern-sushi restaurant at the Atlanta airport, it brought a sophisticated vibe to the district.
Dishes like Berber-spiced fried chicken, pimento-cheese spread, and mussels with collard greens have since won Southern National numerous accolades. Foodies flock to its loftlike space with polished concrete floors, garage-style glass doors, and an underlit, U-shaped bar. When I dined there on a recent weekend, the effortlessly cool crowd made the place feel like an extension of Atlanta's film industry.
Opening in Summerhill was also a full-circle moment for Nutter. Born in Louisiana and raised in Seattle, he lived nearby when he first moved to Atlanta in the 1990s. 'Who would've known, 30 years later, that I'd move back and open a restaurant on the same block I used to ride my bike to work along,' Nutter said.
A good breakfast was hard to find in Summerhill until this spot came along. Brian Mitchell moved to Atlanta from Florida nine years ago, and saw how the neighborhood was changing. Raised in a family of restaurateurs, he wanted to create a healthy spin on Southern cooking that catered to the area's diverse population.
Opened in 2021, Poach Social is known for brunch items like avocado toast on brioche, jerk-chicken egg rolls, and an 'SLT' (with pan-seared salmon subbing for the bacon). It's all served in a bright space with barnwood planters, potted fig trees, and big windows. When I visited last summer (after it reopened following a big kitchen fire), the tables were filled with customers of different ages and races, sipping coffees and strawberry lemonades. This is what a neighborhood joint should be, I thought to myself.
I was in the mood for something hearty, so I ordered the shrimp and grits, served with a sauce of spicy sausage and red peppers. 'We just want to offer great food, a great mood, and be very inclusive,' Mitchell said.
A version of this story first appeared in the August 2025 issue of Travel + Leisure under the headline 'Hot Plates .'