🍴MARTA Dining: Gourmet Getaways in Buckhead

June 20, 2025

Juneteenth Food + Buckhead MARTA Dining Guide

June 19 — For today’s Side Dish, we’re offering two recipes, including one for shrimp tempura with a fresh peach sauce. We also have an exclusive story on a new Lao-Thai-Cambodian restaurant headed to Chamblee this fall.

Our next MARTA dining guide dropped earlier this week, highlighting nine restaurants accessible via both the Buckhead and Lenox rail stations. We also have a quick history lesson on the importance of red foods and seasonal produce to people celebrating Juneteenth today.

As always, get the latest Atlanta dining news, including details on the closure of Mellow Mushroom in Decatur and the opening of Wa’haka in Dunwoody. Learn where to watch and celebrate How Crispy’s debut on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” this Friday in Summerhill. Plus, other Atlanta dining news to know .

In case you missed it in your inbox on Tuesday evening, here’s a link to the latest edition of “Family Meal.” It features a recipe for grilled skewers with a tropical pico de gallo, as well as where to find summer pesto pasta in Sandy Springs.

Cheers and happy Juneteenth from the Rough Draft dining team!

Beth and Sarra

Sometimes the best summer moments are the quiet ones – rocking on a porch swing, listening to the water lap against the dock, or feeling the warmth of the sun on your face with nowhere to be. At Lake Oconee , relaxation isn’t just encouraged – it’s part of the lifestyle. Find your reason to linger longer this summer at Lake Oconee. SPONSOR MESSAGE

Have You Heard?

Restaurant Closures

The Decatur Mellow Mushroom is no more – at least for now. The current owner of this franchised location announced on Instagram earlier this week that he was closing the restaurant after nine years on West Ponce de Leon Avenue. Co-owner Harvey Brown told the AJC that “Competition has popped up a little more over the years and we just couldn’t make the numbers work.” He also speculated that the location could reopen, albeit under another owner.

Filipino-American restaurant Adobo ATL will close at Covington Place Shopping Center in Decatur after service on June 28, according to an Instagram post by owner Mike Pimentel. “I’m deeply saddened to come to this decision, but I know that it’s the right move for me and my family. Time is precious, and I need to focus my time on my growing family at home,” he said.

Restaurant Opening

Wa’haka is now open in the former Takorea space at the Georgetown shopping center in Dunwoody. The restaurant is owned by Cesar Hernandez, who is also part-owner of critically acclaimed Oaxaca in Chamblee. Expect dishes from the Mexican state of Oaxaca here, including tlayudas and moles, along with Tex-Mex dishes of enchiladas, nachos, and fajitas. Look for the bar to serve variations on margaritas and other cocktails made with mezcal and tequila. A grand opening celebration will take place on June 26.

Coming Attraction

Plans for a location of Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava are moving forward in Midtown. Cava will replace the former QT space on 6th Street.

Chef Switcheroo

On June 23 and June 24, Che Butter Jonez chef Malik Rhasaan and Breaker Breaker chef Maximilian Hines will switch places during dinner service . Rhasaan will take over the kitchen at Breaker Breaker in Reynoldstown on June 23, while Hines will take the reins at Che Butter Jonez in Lavista Park on June 24.

Guy Fieri X How Crispy Express

Guy Fieri’s “ Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives ” tour de Atlanta 2025 continues this Friday with How Crispy Express in Summerhill. To celebrate its appearance with the Mayor of Flavortown, How Crispy is throwing a watch party with food specials and a Guy Fieri look-alike contest. Festivities kick off at 8:30 p.m., with the episode airing at 9 p.m. Fieri has already highlighted a few Atlanta spots on DDD, including Yumbii, The Deer and The Dove, and El Tesoro. Next month, Fieri will showcase Avondale Estates bakery and sandwich shop Leftie Lee’s . Stay tuned!

Michelin Shoutout

Little Bear in Summerhill is one of Michelin’s most searched Bib Gourmand restaurants in the US and Canada, according to the French tire company, which oversees the prestigious, worldwide dining guide . “I can’t believe that out of every single Bib Gourmand restaurant in North America, our little ol’ dog restaurant is somehow amongst the top 12 most searched for!! Not sure I even actually believe that, but I guess I’ll take the tire guys’ word for it,” chef and owner Jarrett Stieber wrote on Instagram.

Here’s what one anonymous dining inspector had to say about Little Bear: “You may dine on items such as house-cured rainbow trout with kraut yogurt, shaved cured egg yolk, and everything bagel powder or pork döner sausage with hoppin’ john fried rice. Leave your expectations at the door, as evidenced in the mushroom soup with a warm, bitter chocolate broth, pickled zucchini, pak choi, and a wallop of flavor. La Zi Ji-style chicken thigh with strawberry sauce delivers a spring twist on a classic Chinese dish, while citrus custard with a sweet cucumber relish is a perfect finish.”

Support Refugees With Your Grocery Purchases

SPONSORED BY FRESH HARVEST

This World Refugee Week, show your support for our vibrant refugee community and get some locally grown produce and groceries delivered while you’re at it.

We’re Fresh Harvest . We source local, organic produce and groceries from over a hundred of Georgia’s best growers and producers, then deliver that goodness to you. Based in Clarkston, an official refugee resettlement area, Fresh Harvest is powered by refugees from around the world. In fact, more than 75% of our team are refugees building new lives in Georgia.

Thank you for supporting refugee job creation and caring about where your food comes from.

MARTA Dining Guide to Buckhead

This Rough Draft dining series will continue throughout 2025, highlighting restaurants in cities and neighborhoods within easy walking distance or a short bus ride from MARTA rail stations. Check out other guides to Lindbergh Station , Brookhaven , Chamblee , and Doraville on the Gold Line.

This dining guide spotlights nine restaurants easily accessible from the Buckhead and Lenox MARTA stations. All of the restaurants listed are a quick bus ride from one or both stations. Buckhead is accessible via the Red Line and connects to the 110 bus bound for Peachtree Road/Buckhead, while people traveling into the Lenox station via the Gold Line will connect up with the 27 bus bound for Cheshire Bridge Road.

Read the full MARTA dining guide here .

Why red foods dominate Juneteenth celebrations

Every year, June 19, known as Juneteenth or Freedom Day, commemorates the day in 1865 when 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston, TX, and announced that more than 250,000 enslaved people were free by executive decree.

Although Juneteenth has long been celebrated in Texas, Black Americans have made an increasing effort to observe it elsewhere around the country. It was declared a federal holiday 156 years later in 2021 .

One of the most prominent ways people celebrate Juneteenth is through food. Juneteenth festivities typically incorporate red foods and usually offer red drinks and cocktails.

Read Sarra’s story on the significance of red foods and drinks for Juneteenth .

At the Market + Two Recipes

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH COMMUNITY FARMERS MARKETS

Rough Draft Atlanta and Community Farmers Markets are partnering every week to bring you tasty recipes that you can make using ingredients from your local farmers market. This week, we’ve got two summer recipes for you to try out at home: Raw summer squash salad and shrimp tempura with peach sauce . Check out both recipes here .

Today’s Side Dish was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.

The post 🚆MARTA dining: Buckhead appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta .

Jago Kitchen