with warmer days on the horizon, what better time to look at patio dining options in atlanta. here are 10 of our favorite local restaurants to enjoy outdoor eating and drinking in the spring or fall!

be sure to leave comments with your favorite in-town patios as well!

– ryan

leon’s full service (downtown decatur)

131 east ponce de leon avenue
decatur, georgia 30030
404-687-0500

•leon’s has one of the nicer in-town patios! this old service station in downtown decatur has been converted to a restaurant with a little courtyard patio for outdoor dining. they are known for their pub frites and great selection of ol’ timey cocktails. they also have lots of tasty draught beers, wine and a pretty sweet outdoor bocce ball court!

sun in my belly (kirkwood)

2161 college avenue ne
atlanta, ga 30317
404-370-1088

•sun in my belly is mainly known for their top-notch brunch. you’ll be thinking about their honey glazed bacon and stuffed challah french toast for days! what you might not know, is they also offer classy southern dinners and adult beverages. plus, all of this can be enjoyed on their street-front patio or open-air garden porch. they are the premiere kirkwood restaurant and also walking distance from our house, so we are big fans!

victory sandwich bar (inman park)

280 elizabeth street ne
atlanta, ga 30307
770-676-7287

•victory sandwich bar offers amazing little sandwiches (you’ll want two) and great sides (hello fancy nuts and spicy ramen noodles), which can be enjoyed on their outdoor patio in inman park. they also have cocktails (frozen jack & coke slushie), beer, wine and a brand new decatur location.

woody’s famous philadelphia cheese steaks (midtown)

981 monroe drive northeast
atlanta, ga 30308
404-876-1939

•an atlanta tradition, woody’s has the best cheese steaks in town and a huge wraparound porch for outdoor eating in midtown! they also serve draft beer!

yeah burger (virginia highlands)

1017 north highland avenue ne
atlanta, ga 30306
404-437-7845

•does eating a warm bowl of homemade chili or an amazing local kale salad on a spring afternoon sound pleasant? well then head over to yeah burger in the virginia highlands to enjoy their patio! you’ll also find tasty burgers, craft cocktails, draft beer, milkshakes, crispy brussel sprouts and more at this fine establishment.

six feet under (grant park)

437 memorial drive se
atlanta, ga 30312
404-523-6664

•six feet under has the best rooftop patio in town with great views of downtown atlanta and historic oakland cemetery. oh, and they also have delicious seafood, draft beer and cocktails (including oyster shooters), if you’re into that sort of thing!

taqueria del sol (downtown decatur)

359 west ponce de leon avenue
decatur, ga 30030
404-377-7668

•taqueria del sol is a downtown decatur staple. they offer unique tacos & specials, strong margaritas and open-air seating in an old gas station! be prepared to wait in long lines for both lunch and dinner however.

urban pie (downtown kirkwood)

2012 hosea williams drive
atlanta, ga 30317
404-373-2778

•urban pie serves up awesome thin crust pizza with plenty of outdoor seating in downtown kirkwood! they also have beer and wine available.

fox brothers bbq (edgewood)

1238 dekalb avenue
atlanta, ga 30307
404-577-4030

•it might not be our favorite bbq in town, however fox bros is super close to our house and has a very nice patio! they offer lots of adult beverage options and tasty, albeit overly smoked, bbq as well.

los bravos (decatur)

2895 north decatur road
decatur, ga 30033
404-508-0404

•los bravos serves 32 oz draft beers, great margaritas and has a huge patio with oodles of outdoor seating! it’s the perfect mexican food option in the springtime.

after years of driving by the waffle house museum in avondale estates and never seeing it open, we decided to put forth a little effort and figure out what the heck was going on. so for a recent birthday of mine, we found their website, called the number and set up a free tour for us and some friends! it was way easier to arrange then expected.

for those who haven’t been, the waffle house museum is both a replica of the original waffle house and a memorabilia exhibition on the site of the very first restaurant. it also happens to be right down the road from our house! the museum offers free tours curated by the daughter of the original waffle house builder, while they also have some great cold room from www.walkincoldroom.co.uk to keep everything stored and good.

the tour was actually informative and very fun; we learned quite a bit! we had no idea the first restaurant opened because two neighbors, joe rogers sr & tom forkner, felt avondale estates was lacking a 24-hour diner. we also learned they were georgia tech grads, hence the black & yellow color scheme, and that they named the restaurant after the most expensive item on the menu to help promote it. with 1600 locations to date, i’d say these guys were ahead of their time!

it’s nice to see they went all out replicating the first waffle house! the outdoor sign uses the original shaky font and the interior features original menus, prices, diner hats and historical facts about the restaurant chain. they even have fake food on the counters to give the impression that you walked into the diner in 1955.

the memorabilia exhibition was pretty cool as well if you are a fan of the wahoo like we are! it’s filled with chotckies from their 58 year history, including; buttons, menus, diner hats, waitress uniforms, chinaware and tons more.

the waffle house museum offers free tours to the public. just call 770-326-7086 to make an appointment with at least 48 hours notice. it was super easy to set up, fun and free, so you should plan a visit!

– ryan & gub

waffle house museum

2719 east college avenue
decatur, ga 30030
770-326-7086

looks like yeah burger has a thin mint milkshake this month! sounds yummy!

– ryan & gub

yeah burger

1017 north highland avenue ne
atlanta, ga 30306
404-437-7845

a new doughnut shop opened up in oakhurst called revolution doughnuts & coffee. well, it’s somewhat new, as you can tell from how little clementine is in the photos. this house of sweets can be found on college avenue next to ale yeah. they offer coffee drinks and hand-crafted doughnuts made from scratch daily using organic flour and locally sourced ingredients. their flavors are truly unique as well, including: salted caramel (with optional bacon!!!), jalapeño lime, blueberry, vanilla bean, orange pistachio, nutella cream puffs, banana cream pie sliders, apple fritters & more! you won’t find such flavors at dunkin donuts.

we’ve had these delicious treats a few times now! i would say they aren’t quite sublime doughnuts caliber, however they are still tasty and for the convenience, you won’t find any better near kirkwood! plus revolution was a kickstarter project, so support your local business and go try some tasty doughnuts!

– ryan

revolution doughnuts & coffee

908 west college avenue
decatur, ga 30030
678-927-9920

there’s a new dancing goats in town with a huge porch and a small, but appetizing, lunch menu! it’s also the first business to open at ponce city market, atlanta’s exciting new city project from the creators of the chelsea market in nyc.

ponce city market is the largest adaptive reuse project in atlanta’s history! the massive project involves restoring the historic sears, roebuck & co building in the old forth ward with lots of new restaurants, businesses, residences and surrounding parks. as of now the plan is to open spring 2014.

take the virtual tour!

– ryan

dancing goats ponce city market

675 north avenue
atlanta, ga 30308
404-874-0370

someone got into the cookie jar! as expected, clementine totally loved her delicious treat from alon’s bakery!

– ryan & gub

i celebrated a nice birthday on saturday! i had a relaxing afternoon off followed by dinner at d.b.a., our new favorite bbq restaurant. besides having great ribs, their deep fried bacon is pretty ridiculous!

gub also got me these amazing vintage snow globes! they will look great in our collection!

– ryan

d.b.a. barbecue

1190 north highland avenue, suite b
atlanta, ga 30306
404-249-5000

a big staple of our holden beach trips is eating lots of seafood, especially local shrimp! we generally have a low country boil on at least one occasion and often have seafood for other meals as well.

we were very excited to discover capt’n pete’s seafood on our recent trip! it’s on the island, so you don’t have to go far, and it has a restaurant and a dockside seafood market, both of which are outstanding. it quickly became one of our new favorite places!

our meal at capt’n pete’s seafood restaurant was very nice! gub had the best shrimp & grits she’s ever had, and my fried north carolina seafood platter (shrimp, oysters & flounder) with homemade fries was superb. here is the menu!

we also bought fresh north carolina shrimp from capt’n pete’s seafood market on numerous occasions! they had all sorts of wild caught seafood available, from flounder, snapper & grouper, to pre-made goodies like crab cakes and hush puppies for baking at home. you could order entire fish or just filets and everything was very affordable. they also had various seafood spices and accessories available and a great selection of bottled sodas, including ibc root beer and mexican coke.

we will definitely be heading back on future trips! you should do the same if ever visiting holden beach.

– ryan & gub

captain pete’s seafood

103 south shore drive
holden beach, nc 28462
910-846-9988 – restaurant
910-842-6675 – market

another picturesque boardwalk & beach town to visit in maine is old orchard beach, which is just north of kennebunkport and york beach. there’s lots of kitchy places to explore along the boardwalk and pier; from clam shacks & pier fries to awesome souvenir and gelato/ice cream shops. the old wooden pier is really awesome as well, although it was raining during our visit so i didn’t get photos.

there is also an old fashioned beach amusement park called palace playland. it’s been open since 1902 and looks reminiscent of coney island!

we’d love to stay at a bed & breakfast or a beach cottage in old orchard beach some day!

– ryan & gub

old orchard beach

old orchard beach, me 04064

if you are looking for a good old fashioned steak house on your travels out of boston, be sure to stop by hilltop steak house on u.s. 1.

besides serving great steaks since 1961, hilltop also has this amazing vintage sign out front that is worthy of the vegas strip!

here is their menu.

– ryan & gub

hilltop steak house

855 broadway
US 1 south
saugus, ma 01906
781-233-7700