By: Danielle Shojaie, 2nd Year- Epidemiology
For those of you who are new to Atlanta, something you may not know is the city of Atlanta’s love of brunch. Atlanta, with its popular foodie scene, has made brunch a fundamental part of the restaurant culture here. Everyone enjoys brunch here: from churchgoing folks to students to families with kids. This is largely due to the huge variety of brunch places, which range from casual to fine-dining, and typically depend on what neighborhood you are in as to what type of atmosphere there is.
Brunch has become such a vital part of Atlanta culture that there is currently a bill at the Georgia Capitol nicknamed the “Mimosa Mandate” because will expand the hours that restaurants are allowed to serve alcohol on Sundays. (Note: Until 2011, the state of Georgia did not allow the sale of alcohol on Sundays. With the passage of the law that changed that, most counties allow alcohol to be sold after 12:30pm now; some exceptions do exist that are allowed to sell earlier, which is why the bill has been proposed to be more fair.) As of this post, the Mimosa Mandate has not yet been passed, but many hope that it happens soon.
Places to try:
- Sweet Melissa’s is a cute, family-owned restaurant located in the square in downtown Decatur since 1989. It has a good menu at a reasonable price, even creating fun specials like caramel apple pancakes that can be enjoyed during your brunch. As strong believers in brunch culture, Sweet Melissa’s serves brunch 7 days a week and has live music on Sundays after 11am.
- Rise-N-Dine is a popular option with students since it is located in Emory Village. They have a variety of options for people with a range of dietary needs, and from my experience, it is all delicious. If you have guests coming in from out of town, Rise-N-Dine is a great way to expose them to some of Atlanta culture, while being able to show off where you spend much of your time: at school.
- One of the trendiest options on this list is The Ivy, located in Buckhead. They do a lovely brunch with the option of bottomless mimosas. Its location in Buckhead puts The Ivy close to a variety of shopping and leisure options including Lenox Mall.
- Sun in My Belly is a café located in Kirkwood that embodies a lot of the fun, quirkiness that makes Kirkwood such a popular destination known for its inherent style. They do brunch every day of the week and include such quintessentially southern items like fried green tomatoes, grits, and pimento cheese with a twist. The first Sunday of every month is known as their Jazz Brunch, where you get to enjoy the same wonderful brunch, but with live music.
- The Flying Biscuit Café is a popular option since it has multiple locations with its original home being the Candler Park location. They have a fun atmosphere playing on the idea of a “Flying Saucer” for part of their decorating scheme, which is especially fun for kids. They proudly serve Southern comfort food and special-diet friendly versions of it.
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