Atlanta Dining Guide Fall 2017: Answers to your burning questions

ajc.com

It’s Dining Guide time again.

The guide rolls around twice a year. Each time, we rack our brains to determine a theme. In the past, there was the Atlanta 50 that featured the city's top restaurants. More recently, we offered our picks for best new restaurants and went up a pant size while researching the best of brunch.

We wanted this Fall Dining Guide to be something different. So we turned to readers for inspiration, sifting through your letters — colorful notes, spirited comments and inquisitive questions — and realized that some of your queries had been left unanswered. That gave us the framework for the guide and a theme: Burning Questions.

AJC dining critics might not have thought to try Zab-E-Lee in College Park if a reader hadn’t suggested it. Here, an order of Rama brings your choice of protein (pictured here is chicken) and spinach in a rich, spicy coconut curry sauce and a garnish of crushed peanuts alongside a serving of white rice. LIGAYA FIGUERAS / LFIGUERAS@AJC.COM

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What you’ll find in this guide are reviews of restaurants that you asked us about. There are drink discussions. There is information about how you can join dining clubs, where a meetup of adventurous palates begets friendship and fun. I divulge my favorite restaurant, an oft-asked question for which I’ve developed an elevator speech rather than give a definitive answer — until now.

What’s happening in and around Atlanta right now? We address dining developments — OK, call them trends — but we tried to probe deeper. We don’t just identify them and tick off where you can jump on the bandwagon, but provide context and ask why they are gaining traction and whether they are worth your time and money.

We hope the Fall Dining Guide prompts you to check out places that merited mention.

Personally, I thank you for pushing us harder. Your letters are evidence of passion for Atlanta’s dining scene. We hope that our shared passion for a scene that continues to delight — and sometimes exasperate — our senses comes across in this Fall Dining Guide.

Check out what the AJC Fall Dining Guide 2017 has to offer:

More burning questions with Atlanta restaurant industry professionals:

Take 360 video tours of four of Atlanta’s best restaurants:

Bacchanalia

Kimball House

Gunshow

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