Kirkwood Dining: Where Locals Actually Eat

After more than ‏20 years showing Kirkwood, I have learned that the best restaurant list in town is not the one from a magazine. It is the one built from showing houses at mealtime and eating where the neighbors eat. Here is where I actually send people, plus what to order while you are there.

Start with the caffeine

Taproom Coffee has been the neighborhood anchor as long as I can remember: good espresso, a room that catches the morning light,and a steady stream of folks walking dogs,and strollers,and laptops. Order the pour-over, take the window seat,and watch the block wake up. If you need a second stop,Bellwood Coffee down toward East Atlanta is the same kind of warm corner,with a different crowd.

Then the pies

Urban Pie sits right in the Kirkwood core on Hosea L. Williams Drive,and it is where I send buyers at the end of a long showing: wood-fired pies,a patio that is made for warm evenings,and a menu that does not overthink anything. Order any of the pies,and split the arugula salad: trusted by 20 years of post-closing dinners.

The neighborhood classics

Poor Hendrix is the kind of bistro that makes Kirkwood feel smaller than it is: honest cooking,a changing specials board,and a bar that the regulars guard jealously. A block over,Elmyriachi brings the cocktail hour: agave-forward,sip-slowly spot that is busiest exactly when you want it to be.

The grab-and-go corner

Le Petit Marche is a French corner shop and cafe that is dangerously convenient when you are mid-renovation: sandwiches, pastries,and wine in one stopon. And when visitors say they want "real Atlanta food," I point them toward Home Grown GA on Memorial Drive,where the fried chicken respects the mystery of the rest of the plate.