Krog Street Market - Variety - $-$ $$
Located in Inman Park, right on the Beltline, Krog Street Market offers a decent variety of food options, including Nashville-style hot chicken, dumplings, Tex-Mex, pizza, and more. Prices vary by restaurant.
Ponce City Market - Variety - $-$ $$
In Midtown / Poncey Highlands area, right on the Beltline, Ponce City Market has a number of restaurant options available open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Formerly a city hall record storage facility, and before that a Sears warehouse, it's now a mixed-use development with restaurants, bars, shops, and housing.
Cooks & Soldiers - Spanish / Tapas - $$$
Really fun spot. Can accommodate large groups with a reservation. The pork is fantastic, and the grilled cheese sandwich is insanely good. Good wine selection.
Iberian Pig - Spanish / Tapas - $$$
Located in downtown Decatur Square, right near the MARTA station. Another really tasty tapas place with a good wine selection.
Victory Sandwich Bar - Sandwiches - $
Unique sandwiches, a full bar, and table tennis. Fun neighborhood spot. I recommend the "Tea Bird" (spicy!). Locations in Inman Park and Decatur, both accessible via MARTA.
One Eared Stag - American - $$$
Neighborhood spot located right next to the Inman Park / Reynoldstown MARTA station. Solid cocktail selection. Off-menu burger called "The Meat Stick" is highly recommended, as well as their Nashville-style Hot Chicken. Reservations recommended but you can usually get a table without much wait.
Empire State South - Modern Southern - $$$
Located right in Midtown near the Midtown MARTA Station, Empire State South specializes in deconstructed Southern fare. When I lived in the area, I used to go here a lot. Reservations strongly recommended.
Kevin Rathbun Steak - Steakhouse - $$$$
Super good steakhouse. Pricy. Would recommend business casual or better dress. Reservations are a must. Located in Inman Park, near Victory (walkable from MARTA).
Fox Brothers BBQ - BBQ - $
Texas-style BBQ. Good for mid-size groups. Does not take reservations. Located in Candler Park, walkable from MARTA. Brisket is good, the wings are reaaaaally good, and I'd recommend trying the Fox-a-roni (Brunswick Stew + Mac and Cheese).
Fat Matt's Rib Shack - BBQ - $
Fat Matt's is a bit out of the way from public transit, but worth the trip. As you might imagine, ribs are their specialty. They have live jazz/blues in the evenings as well. Does not take reservations. Good for smaller groups.
South City Kitchen - Southern/Comfort - $$$
Amazing fried chicken. Seriously amazing. Like a pound of butter in this thing amazing. They have locations in Buckhead and Midtown. On the weekends, their brunch menu includes Chicken and Waffles.
The Brick Store Pub - Pub Fare / Belgian Beer - $$
Located in downtown Decatur near the MARTA station, Brick Store has a pretty solid food menu of standard pub fare. The real thing to look out for here though is the Belgian Bar in the back room. They have a seriously huge collection of imported Belgian beer.
Cypress Street Pint & Plate - Pub Fare - $
Popular neighborhood spot in Midtown near the MARTA station. Inexpensive and pretty tasty. Features $3 pints of the Sweetwater IPA (local craft brew).
Flying Biscuit Cafe - Breakfast - $
Solid breakfast spot. This regional chain is from Atlanta and has many locations in the city, including Buckhead, Midtown, and Candler Park. The biscuits are, as you might imagine, quite good.
The Vortex - Burgers - $$
Shouldn't be a problem but 21+ only. The food isn't good for you but it tastes delicious. The "Bypass" burgers are what it's known best for and has gotten the restaurant featured on various food-related shows. Locations in both Midtown and Little Five Points.
Home Grown - Breakfast/Lunch Diner - $
Delicious and very inexpensive spot for breakfast. Their signature is the "Comfy Chicken Biscuit", which is open faced biscuits, fried chicken, and sausage gravy. Great neighborhood spot. Located in Reynoldstown.
Waffle House - Duh - $
Another Atlanta-based chain, Waffle House is a staple if you've never tried it. It's open 24h/day, which makes for a good final stop before heading in for the evening. It's actually good too. Way better than IHOP, not that we're biased about that here or anything.
The Varsity - Fast Food / Burgers - $
It's something of an Atlanta Landmark. It's not all that special though. It's the largest fast food restaurant in the world and well, it's still just fast food. I personally would pass on this with limited time available.
Leon's Full Service - Cocktails - $$
Leon's is a really great cocktail spot, also located in Decatur Square. They have some food options as well, and a bocci ball court, but the cocktails here take the cake.
S.O.S. Tiki Bar - Tiki Bar - $$
Located in downtown Decatur Square, S.O.S. has fun, tropical cocktails. It's actually attached to the Decatur location of Victory Sandwich Bar (same owners), though it does have its own menu of table snacks.
The Porter Beer Bar - Beer Bar - $$
The Porter has a pretty solid food menu, but more importantly has a really amazing beer selection, including some decently rare offerings. If you fancy yourself a bit of a beer snob, you'll like this spot. This spot is in Little Five Points, which is a bit of a Bohemian spot, about a 15 minute walk from the nearest MARTA station.
Located in Old Fourth Ward at Edgewood & Boulevard, fun neighborhood dive. Yes, there is a ping pong table upstairs. On Wednesday nights, they have church organ karaoke upstairs too.
Mother - Neighborhood - $
Great little neighborhood bar across the street from Church Bar. Cheap tacos on the food menu.
Georgia Beer Garden - Beer Garden - $
Another neighborhood spot in the Old Fourth Ward, located a couple blocks from Church Bar. The layout is somewhat traditional beer garden style, but the beers on tap are all local Georgia brews. Good spot!
The Brick Store Pub - Belgian Beer - $$
Located in downtown Decatur near the MARTA station, Brick Store has a pretty solid food menu of standard pub fare. The real thing to look out for here though is the Belgian Bar in the back room. They have a seriously huge collection of imported Belgian beer.
Cypress Street Pint & Plate - Neighborhood Bar - $
Popular neighborhood spot in Midtown near the MARTA station. Inexpensive and pretty tasty. Features $3 pints of the Sweetwater IPA (local craft brew).
Victory Sandwich Bar - Neighborhood Bar - $
Unique sandwiches, a full bar, and table tennis. Fun neighborhood spot. I recommend the "Tea Bird" (spicy!). Locations in Inman Park and Decatur, both accessible via MARTA. The Jack & Coke slushies are pretty popular. After 10pm, each location has a special late-night sandwich (their take on the Chick Fil-A Sandwich in Decatur, and the Big Mac in Inman Park).
Hand in Hand - Pub - $$
Neat little pub in Virginia Highlands. Popular spot. Beer and cocktails.
Dark Horse Tavern - Tavern - $
Another spot in the Virginia Highlands. This strip of bars is always pretty busy but is enjoyable and relatively inexpensive.
10 High Club - Live Karaoke - $
Located in the basement at Dark Horse, 10 High Club is a Live Karaoke bar. That means it's on-stage karaoke with a live backing band. If karaoke is your thing, this is a ton of fun.
The Local - Neighborhood Bar - $
Cheap beer and some of the best wings in the city. Located in Poncey Highlands near Ponce City Market.
Built for the Olympics, this park is right in the heart of downtown Atlanta and near the Aquarium and other attractions.
MASSIVE park in Midtown. Piedmont Park is definitely worth a look. Lots of walking trails, a dog park, a playground for kids, running track, sports fields, you name it.
The Atlanta Beltline is a massive multi-purpose trail that connects many different neighborhoods in the city. There are tons of sights, restaurants, and bars all along the trail. It's definitely worth taking a walk or ride along.
Located on top of Ponce City Market, Skyline Park has a sort of "Coney Island" vibe, and has some food and drink options, in addition to carnival-type activities and a great view of the city's skyline.
Georgia Aquarium (2-3h)
Formerly the largest freshwater aquarium in the world, the Georgia Aquarium is still quite large and has some really cool areas to check out, including a tunnel that goes underneath one of their larger tanks, and the beluga whale exhibit. Located downtown, it's easy to get to and only takes a couple hours to check out. Highly recommended.
The High Museum of Art (2-4h)
The High Museum of Art has an extensive collection of permanent pieces (about 15k) as well as numerous traveling and temporary exhibits. Located in Midtown, it's reasonably easy to get to. Friday evenings they also have live Jazz. Recommended.
Atlanta Botanical Gardens (2-3h)
The botanical gardens are located near Piedmont Park in Midtown. Not as accessible as some of the things downtown, but the exhibits are always fairly enjoyable. I believe the Orchid Daze exhibit should be around in February, which is usually pretty good.
The College Football Hall of Fame is really new, located downtown, and if you're into the sport, is a pretty neat spot. Definitely worth a trip.
World of Coca-Cola (1-2h)
I'm not a huge fan of this but sometimes folks just want to check it out. It's about an hour long Coca-Cola advertisement with a big room full of soda at the end in case you want to feel super nauseous for the rest of your afternoon.