Atlanta restaurants bring home awards, and more from the metro dining scene

“The Karatassos family has set the gold standard for Georgia dining through Buckhead Life Restaurant Group’s acclaimed concepts, each built on the belief that great hospitality comes from ‘a thousand little things.’ Their celebrated portfolio continues to shape Atlanta’s culinary excellence and define what exceptional dining feels like,” the announcement said.

I. Pano Karatassos, the founder and CEO of Buckhead Life Restaurant Group and a co-founder of the GRA, was inducted into the hall of fame as one of “Atlanta’s most influential culinary leaders,” according to the news release. “His lifetime dedication to excellence, philanthropy and hospitality has firmly established him as a cornerstone of Georgia’s restaurant industry.”

Credit: Courtesy of Georgia Restaurant Association

Credit: Courtesy of Georgia Restaurant Association

Other metro Atlanta winners include several businesses in the people’s choice category, which are nominated and voted on by the Georgia restaurant community (guests, employees, suppliers and vendors).

Winners include 5Church from K5 Hospitality for favorite neighborhood hangout; Terrapin Beer Co. for favorite born-and-raised beverage; Your 3rd Spot from Amp Up1 Hospitality for favorite “eatertainment” experience; and Mary Mac’s Tea Room for uniquely Georgia restaurant.

Nathan Martin earned Restaurant Manager of the Year for his work at Ted’s Montana Grill in Peachtree City.

Brian Boyle of Atlanta Fish Market received an award for Restaurant Employee of the Year for his three decades of service at Buckhead Life Group, and Traci Heller of Hudson Grille in Midtown was posthumously presented Restaurant Employee of the Year for her “legacy of kindness and hospitality.”

George McKerrow, the Atlanta-based founder of LongHorn Steakhouse and Ted’s Montana Grill, and a co-founder of the GRA, was also inducted into the hall of fame.

“His enduring commitment to excellence, mentorship and community service has made him one of Georgia’s most respected voices in hospitality,” the organization’s announcement said. “He also helped spark the revitalization of Atlanta’s casual dining scene in the 1980s and 1990s, creating scalable models that influenced operators across the Southeast.”

Credit: Courtesy of Abrams

Credit: Courtesy of Abrams

Lazy Betty chef to publish cookbook

Ron Hsu, co-founder and chef at Michelin-starred Lazy Betty, will publish his debut cookbook “Down South + East: A Chinese American Cookbook” (Abrams, $40) on March 17, the publisher announced this week.

Hsu, who grew up in his parents’ restaurants in Georgia from 1980 to 2008, opened Lazy Betty with Aaron Phillips in 2019. The restaurant is No. 3 on the AJC’s top 50 Atlanta restaurants list and it has earned a Michelin star three years in a row.

In the cookbook, Hsu shares recipes based on the food he makes at home, all of which are inspired by his Chinese heritage, his childhood growing up in the American South and his restaurant training, according to a news release.

Expect recipes such as claypot rice with okra and smoked ham hocks; pickled Gulf shrimp with coconut milk; meatloaf with shiitake mushrooms; pimento cheese wontons; cornmeal-crusted fried Chinese eggplant; and lap cheong cornbread. There will also be a section on larder and pantry items.

The book is written with chef and writer Hugh Amano and includes a foreword by Eric Ripert, chef and co-owner of Le Bernadin, the restaurant where Hsu worked for seven years after culinary school.

Restaurant workers among top crowdfunding beneficiaries

Crowdfunding platform GoFundMe released its 2025 Year in Help report this week, and two of the stories highlighted in metro Atlanta involved restaurant workers.

In November, fans of the Local Peach in Norcross posted a fundraising page to help the business raise money for equipment upgrades needed to satisfy health department requirements. The Local Peach first opened as a catering kitchen and market, where customers could buy prepared meals. As demand grew, they began serving breakfast, but the business needed immediate upgrades to stay open as a restaurant, and much of the work had to be done by a licensed contractor.

The Local Peach sought $11,000 to pay for the upgrades, but paused donations when they surpassed their goal eight days later. Fundraiser organizers plan to hold a celebration at the Local Peach for all the donors in 2026.

Earlier this year, a much more open-ended fundraiser helped a Burger King employee achieve his dream of pursuing a college education. Mykale Baker graduated from Mill Creek High School in May and went straight to work after the ceremony, still wearing his medals. A customer at the Dacula Burger King that night, Maria Mendoza, noticed Baker wearing his graduation regalia and posted a video about him on TikTok, commenting that she thought he deserved a scholarship.

Mendoza’s original post and many follow-up posts went viral. Baker and his mother became emotional when Mendoza shared with them that she’d created a GoFundMe that had raised $6,000. The story grew, and the fundraiser grew along with it — eventually reaching more than $230,000.

According to the GoFundMe page, Baker is now enrolled in classes at Gwinnett Tech.

Credit: JavaVino

Credit: JavaVino

JavaVino’s brick-and-mortar will close this weekend to pivot to wholesale

JavaVino, a coffee shop and wine bar in Poncey-Highland, will close Sunday as owners Heddy Kuhl and Steve Franklin pivot to focus exclusively on their wholesale coffee business.

Kuhl said they are selling the building to a new owner who is planning to renovate the space and turn it into a new cafe concept that will still offer JavaVino coffee.

Kuhl’s family have been coffee farmers for generations, so she and her husband, Steve, began JavaVino about 21 years ago as a way to roast and sell her family’s coffee directly to consumers. Three years ago, they moved their roasting warehouse to a location in Stone Mountain as the wholesale side of their business grew, Kuhl said. The Stone Mountain roaster will remain open.

“It was very hard to give both sides of the business 100%,” she said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We’re getting tired, and we want to focus on the wholesale, which gives us the lifestyle we want, and it also allows us to focus on our mission, which is buying and selling the family coffee directly to customers.”

Closing the cafe was a tough decision, she said, as it’s been part of their life for decades, even predating their children.

Kuhl said they wanted the buyer to be a local business instead of a corporation. When they purchased the property years ago, the woman who previously lived there had the same requirement.

“It was important to her that it was not a corporation, that it would not be a parking lot,” Kuhl said. “And so I kind of felt like, wow, this is like passing the baton forward to somebody who as an individual has his own innovative concept.”

She declined to share the name of the new owner, but that it has an estimated opening of summer 2026. A representative for the forthcoming business said more details will be released soon.

JavaVino’s coffee is already used in many coffee shops and businesses around Atlanta, Kuhl said, and it will still be available for purchase at the Grant Park Market and Candler Park Market.

On its final day of business, Kuhl said she and her family will lock the doors together.

579 N. Highland Ave. NE, Atlanta. 404-577-8673, javavino.com

Other items of interest

Floyd “Sonny” Tillman, the founder of the Sonny’s Barbecue chain, died on Dec. 7 at 96 years old, according to a news release. Tillman established Sonny’s Barbecue in 1968 in Gainesville, Florida. Over the years, the restaurant has expanded with locations across the Southeast, including 14 in Georgia, all serving a menu of Southern barbecue. Tillman was married to his wife Lucille for over 70 years and he was a father of five, a grandfather, a great-grandfather and a great-great grandfather.

“His kindness and generosity were unparalleled, and while he may have made his name in the barbecue world, his philanthropic heart and an ability to create a true family dynamic at Sonny’s were undoubtedly his greatest accomplishments,” Jamie Yarmuth, CEO of the Sonny’s franchise, said in a prepared statement.

Restaurant announcements

Season, a brunch restaurant on Lemon Street in Marietta, will open a second location inside Gabriel’s Bakery in early January. Gabriel’s will continue operating with its menu of baked goods, and Season will serve a full breakfast, brunch and lunch program in the building, so it’s like two concepts in one.

Season at Gabriel’s. 800 Whitlock Ave. NW, Marietta. seasonmarietta.com

Restaurant closings

Credit: Courtesy of Tori Allen PR

Credit: Courtesy of Tori Allen PR

One Flew South, an upscale Southern-inspired eatery from restaurant group Jackmont Hospitality, has closed its Eastside Beltline location, Tomorrow News Today first reported. A representative from One Flew South confirmed the closure. The restaurant’s location in the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport remains open.

670 DeKalb Ave. NE, Atlanta.

Whataburger closed two Georgia locations, one in Dahlonega and one in Athens, just three years after the company expanded into Georgia, Channel 2 Action News reported. The first Whataburger location in metro Atlanta caused traffic issues due to long lines when it opened in Kennesaw in 2022. The fast food chain still operates 35 other Whataburger locations in Georgia, according to Channel 2.