today is the first official day of spring!

– ryan

the weather is so nice, we are excited to be on a walk!!!.

– gub

our japanese magnolia is currently blooming!

– ryan

the daffodils gun planted while she was pregnant with clementine are blooming again!

– ryan

spring is almost here!

– ryan

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.

our tulip tree did surprisingly well this year. a few early warm days combined with late freezes caused some worry, however it powered through. i would say general beauregard lee made the right prediction with how cold it’s been.

the blooms were still quite beautiful even with the frigid temperatures. they always stand out against the dormant late winter landscape. be sure to check out more photos from previous blog posts: spring 2012, late winter 2012, spring 2011, late winter 2011 & spring 2010.

– ryan

today is our 4th anniversary! wow! last fall we visited ellijay, ga for some fall festivities and took little clementine to the field where we got married. here are some photos from then and now. our friend miguel took our wedding photos, including the great group shot above!

check out a time lapse video of our wedding ceremony!

– ryan & gub

the star jasmine on our front porch has been blooming recently and smells amazing!

we heart spring!

– ryan & gub

the third annual collard greens cook-off was a blast! it was $10 to participate and you were given a piece of cornbread and a spork and were off and tasting. after trying all of the various greens, there were 15 participants in all, you voted by throwing your spork in the bucket of your favorite booth. we had a beautiful cool spring day, so it was perfect for such a cook-off!

participants included farm burger, no246, bone lick bbq (the bbq guy from p’cheen), home grown, ray’s in the city, the pullman, whole foods, as well as various neighborhood participants, including momma margaret ‘the collard green lady.’

there were lots of tasty greens and some interesting styles we didn’t expect to like. home grown’s was a little sweet and had sun dried tomatoes in it. although i didn’t like it much, gub was a big fan of this one. another booth had cold greens with a basalmic base. it wasn’t our favorite, but it was quite interesting to try. momma margaret’s were hot and spicy and quite good as well.

when all was said and done, we put our spork in bone lick bbq’s bucket. their greens were tasty with a nice kick, mainly from the home-cured jalapeño bacon added. we also tried pulled pork sandwiches from them, which were awesome! these guys have been doing bbq at p’cheen on monday nights for a couple of years and are opening up a restaurant on the west side in june.

we also caught a tomato growing workshop at the market. gub found it quite informative.

one quick note, the east lake farmers market has moved from the concrete parking lot at 2nd and hosea williams to the nice shaded area right next door. the natural environment is much more fitting for the farmer’s market, and is also a heck of a lot cooler from the shade.

we can’t wait for peachapalooza this summer!

– ryan & gub

east lake farmers market

2nd avenue and hosea williams drive
atlanta, ga 30317

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