The Best Restaurants near the Atlanta Airport

By Mary Welch
Posted April 2, 2016

Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is home to a wide variety of restaurants, but sometimes you have the luxury of venturing outside the airport before your flight, or maybe you want to pick up friends with lengthy layovers and treat them to a meal. There are beautiful neighborhoods in the charming area surrounding the airport, known as the ATL Airport District, chock-full of delicious restaurants that will satisfy any craving. Choose from among the best restaurants near the airport.

• Bentley’s Steakhouse at the Atlanta Airport Marriott is known, natch, for its steaks and also for cozy dining chambers and contemporary gallery art. Among its signature dishes are its 1855 certified black Angus beef, Delmonico rib eye and pepper-seared ahi tuna, all of which should be followed up with delectable desserts and imported French pressed coffee presentations. Don’t forget the wine. Bentley’s has more than 150 world class vintages from its Wine Spectator award-winning wine list.
• Benton’s Restaurant, located at the Sonesta Atlanta Airport North, features a hearty buffet-style lunch and breakfast with countless options including a salad station, deli bar and two entrees.

  The restaurant also features special chef’s evenings featuring a three-course prime rib night (on Tuesdays), pasta night on Wednesdays and seafood night on Thursdays.

• If you’re looking for a burger, then go to the experts at Burger Theory, the Holiday Inn Atlanta Airport South’s newest restaurant. The restaurant and bar features made-to-order burgers and authentic flatbread selections as well as 12 beers on tap. Don’t forget to order the freshly made desserts that are served in mason jars.
• The Westin Atlanta Airport’s signature restaurant, Cecilia’s Southern Table, is a bistro located in the hotel’s atrium. Among the menu’s highlights are Tandoori salmon and Jack Daniels’s baby back ribs.
• Feeling a bit British, are we? Then go to Manchester Arms in College Park, which brings a pub-like environment to Georgia. Enjoy pub food as well as British favorites such as fish and chips, shepherd’s pie, and bangers and mash featuring Fergus Nolan English breakfast sausage. Of course, you can always be Southern British and order shrimp and grits.
• The Louisiana Bistreaux in East Point brings the cuisine of Louisiana to a casual setting and a fully stacked bar. The menu consists of all the favorites such as fresh seafood, gumbos, jambalaya étouffée, gator bites, spicy garlic crawfish and eggplant Atchafalaya.
• Who doesn’t love breakfast? The Thumbs Up Diner has been an Atlanta institution for years. With six locations in metro Atlanta, the East Point location is conveniently located near the airport. While they have a varied menu, it’s great to know that breakfast is always served. FYI, this famed eatery is cash only, so stock your wallet before arriving or use the ATM inside for a small fee.
• The Busy Bee Cafe is another icon and an Atlanta West End mainstay since 1947. The Busy Bee always makes the city’s top 10 fried chicken lists. Nothing more to say. It’s out-of-this-world delicious and so are the three sides.
• Spondivits is another Atlanta favorite that delivers on its promise to offer down-home seafood for “real” people. Located near the airport on Virginia Avenue in East Point, its menu consists largely of seafood — hot, cold, in soups, between two pieces of bread, on a salad or on a plate surrounded by fries and vegetables. For those who don’t want seafood, they do offer a variety of black Angus beef options.

Still trying to figure out where to eat near the airport? Find more nearby restaurants here.

Journalist Mary Welch writes business and lifestyle stories for local and national publications.