A sampling of great eats in and around Buckhead!
ANTICO PIZZA NAPOLETANA
The best pizzas linger in memory and spark cravings long after that last piece is gone. Antico Pizza Napoletana’s original Westside location presents several contenders with its straightforward menu of 11 pizzas (five with red sauce, six with white) plus three calzones. San Gennaro makes taste buds swoon with its sweet, spicy, savory and salty combination of sausage, peppers, bufala mozzarella and cippolini onion atop the restaurant’s signature charred-yet-chewy crust. The specialty Sophia pizza is topped with mozzarella, onion, mushrooms and a hint of white truffle oil with sophisticated results. The crowd-pleasing Margherita D.O.P. presents a tantalizing combination of imported tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. Lasagna pizza tops red sauce with meatballs, ricotta and Romano cheeses for flavors that are mild yet satisfying. Off-menu items include a pre-packaged salad and imported drinks. You’re welcome to bring a bottle of wine to enjoy alongside your meal with no corkage fee.
Pizza: $19-$27 • Calzoni: $18-$19
BANGKOK STATION
Of all the restaurant staffs in Buckhead, these folks may be our favorite. Polite and accommodating to a fault, they make it nearly impossible not to enjoy its exotic comfort food. Whether you eat in the cavernous dining room or out on the sexy, music-infused patio, starters such as peek gai tod, thoong-thong and Crying Tiger will crush any doubt you may have about whether there’s good Thai food down South. For more substantial but no less authentic fare, dig in to the massaman and panang curries, Drunken Man noodles or our favorite Thai chicken dish, gai yang som tum. Save room for homemade coconut cake; it’s as sweet and genuine as the staff’s warm invitation to return again soon.
Starters, soups and salads: $7-$23 • Curries, sautés and noodle and rice dishes: $14-$23 • Main entrees: $19-$32 • Desserts: $5-$9
C&S SEAFOOD AND OYSTER BAR
Brookhaven’s C&S Seafood and Oyster Bar is upscale yet relaxed with a high level of service. The main dining room has moody amber lighting, swanky Art Deco-inspired tiles, rich leather accents and a shiny rounded bar. An enclosed patio overlooks Peachtree Road. The menu showcases an array of fresh seafood plus steaks, lamb and lots of vegetables in portions ranging from nibbles to feasts. Preparations nod to Italian, French, Southern, Asian and New Orleans cuisines. The most popular cocktail, Lycheeback, offers tangy refreshment with gentle alcohol. Shrimp spring rolls contrast crackly and tender textures as well as sweet and spicy flavors. The wedge salad tops half of a baby head of iceberg lettuce with blue cheese, grape tomatoes and bacon nuggets. Eleven market fish options can be grilled, broiled or blackened. Redfish Pontchartrain presents white fish with dirty rice, shrimp, jumbo lump crab and crawfish sauce. Classic crème brûlée is one sweet finish.
Appetizers: $16-$30 • Soups and salads: $15-$35 • Seafood platters: $24-$255 • Market fish: $30-$46 • Entree specialties: $44-$48 • Crab and lobster: $45-$85 • Steaks and chops: $58-$95 • Sides: $9-$36 • Desserts: $12-$15 • House cocktails: $12-$20 • Wine: $12-$30/glass or $48-$580/bottle
THE IBERIAN PIG BUCKHEAD
With its traditional and innovative spins on Spanish cuisine, The Iberian Pig Buckhead invites you to sip and snack on repeat. The main dining room evokes Spain with its warm gold and chocolate color scheme and eponymous ham legs hanging above the bar. The menu presents an array of food temptations plus creative cocktails and a wine list with an emphasis on Spain, Chile and Argentina. Start with peppadew peppers stuffed with goat cheese for a contrast of piquant/tangy flavors. Empanadas tuck braised short rib and mahón cheese into golden half-circles of crispy dough. Each charcutería board is an artsy presentation of meats and cheeses plus bread and spreads. The melt-in-your mouth albondigas (pork meatballs) arrive coated in a mildly zesty cascabel pepper sauce. Paella, one of Spain’s best-known dishes, varies with each chefs’ interpretation; here, the rice is reddish-brown with chorizo, chicken, shrimp and seasonal vegetables. Save room for blackberry Basque cheesecake, a towering achievement of ethereal sweetness.
Tapas: $5-$29 • Meat and cheese: $6-54 • Plates: $23-$37 • Desserts: $9-$15
LE COLONIAL
Le Colonial’s website describes this upscale French-Vietnamese restaurant as “a luxurious escapist oasis,” and we’d agree. Amidst potted palms, starched white tablecloths and whirring vintage fans, glitzed-up diners are transported back to 1920s Vietnam and enjoy the culinary synthesis of the era. Favorite street fare such as banh mi thit nuong (chargrilled pork sandwich) and pho bo (beef noodle soup) get the white glove treatment with the culinary team’s skillful way with Asian herbs and spices. Classic favorites of crispy pan-seared chicken dumplings, garlicky beef rice noodle rolls and curried green papaya salad will have you hankering for a one-way ticket to Saigon.
Small plates: $12-$24 • Soups and salads: $10- $18 • Large plates: $14-$60 • Sides: $4-$11 • Desserts: $12-$14
MADRE SELVA
Located in Uptown Atlanta near the Lindburgh Center area, Madre Selva—“mother jungle” in Spanish—showcases Latin Coastal cuisine in its scratch-made dishes that merge tradition and innovation. It offers a wide array of creative cocktails, a Peruvian ceviche bar with seafood, vegetarian and vegan options, upscale service and an upbeat vibe. If this is jungle fever, you’ll be happy to get it. Peru’s national drink, the pisco sour, is a frothy delight. An octopus appetizer gets zesty with anticuchera, chimichurri and sweet cream sauces. Lomo saltado is the beef stew you wish you’d grown up eating. Raices de la costa, which presents as a smoky cousin to paella, is a seafood and rice dish rich with prawns and calamari. While dinner showcases refined cooking techniques and artful presentations, brunch dishes are casually prepared and styled after Peruvian home cooking. Don’t let anyone steer you away from this place.
Starters: $13-$25 • Ceviche: $17-$45 • Sides: $3-$8 • Mains: $21-$73 • Desserts: $14-$16 • Brunch plates: $10-$36 • Lunch sandwiches: $18-$26 • Cocktails: $13-$42
POSTINO BUCKHEAD
Postino Buckhead embraces its quirkiness with endearing charm. Located in a former Blockbuster, the space has one wall plastered with VHS tapes. Even to-go containers burst with personality, including a reminder that “drinking wine at lunch is not a crime.” The wink-wink fun doesn’t detract from the fact that Postino takes food and drink seriously. All roles are well played. Balance is a consistent theme. Kitchen techniques are solid. Menus present fresh combinations. Whether you want a snack, meal or feast, you’ll find it here. The OMG grilled cheese with creamy tomato soup is a classic that exceeds expectations. Meatballs and goat cheese offer melt-in-your-mouth comfort. Bruschetta boasts 12 sophisticated combinations. Weekend brunch presents a range of savory and sweet options.
Snacks: $8-$17 • Bruschetta and boards: $17-$19 • Paninis: $14.50-$15 • Soups and salads: $7-$13.50 • Sweets: $8 • Brunch: $9.75-$15.50
TERRA TERROIR
Escape the ordinary at Brookhaven’s award winning Terra Terroir. With its secret garden setting, service-oriented vibe, upscale fare plus full bar with an impressive wine list, this bistro is ready to surprise and impress. The eclectic lunch and dinner menus show American, European and Asian influences. Dishes boast layered flavors, surprising combinations and artful presentations. Gambas al Ajillo is a crowd-pleasing Spanish starter with shrimp in sizzling olive oil infused with garlic and red pepper. French Country Supper is a menu standout featuring fork-tender duck leg confit plus andouille sausage and white beans. Coconut Thai salmon with curry broth is spiced just right. A hearty slow-braised Duroc pork shank arrives with creamy parmesan polenta. Grapefruit and pomegranate salad with mixed greens is a lighter option. Assorted charcuterie and cheese might accompany a wine tasting or stand alone as a hearty starter. Sweet temptations include flourless chocolate tart, sweet potato bread pudding, crème brûlée and sabayon.
Raw bites: $19-23 • Appetizers: $15-25 • Salads: $15-26 • Mains: $19-49 • Cocktails: $14-18
UMI
Searching for the perfect bite is a guaranteed success at Umi in Buckhead. Every dish seems aimed at achieving harmony between sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami flavors, and arrives perfectly composed, with no guesswork required to find the precise sensory experience the chefs intended. No matter what follows, start with the avocado salad. Made simply of half a ripe avocado filled with delicately piquant wasabi vinaigrette, it’s exquisite in its buttery simplicity and sized right for one person. Share the melt-in-your-mouth chutoro tataki that comes charred, sliced and served in a pool of sweet-tangy sauce made with yuzu, wakame seaweed and su-miso. Glossy pieces of flawless sashimi, from hamachi to sakecured salmon, showcase Umi’s commitment to impeccable freshness, as does a selection of creative nigiri offerings. Don’t miss hot dishes, including rich lobster toban-yaki in lobster brown butter and duck leg confit cooked in A5 Wagyu fat, lacquered with a soy-ginger glaze and served with Brussels sprouts. Feeling adventurous? Ask a server for off-menu specialties and prepare to enjoy an of-the-moment creation.
Starters: $9-$80 • Sashimi: $12-$58 Nigiri: $6-$29 • Sousaku nigiri: $17-$34 • Hot dishes: $19-$185 • Vegetables: $9-$12 • Traditional rolls: $9-$15 • House specialty rolls: $15-$45 • Desserts: $9-$16 • Omakase: from $175 per person
Note: Prices and menu items may have changed since original publication.
BY: Wendell Brock, Rebecca Cha, Jennifer Bradley Franklin, Angela Hansberger, Hope S. Philbrick
PHOTOS: Erik Meadows
