The Top 11 Places to Eat and Drink in Decatur
-
Rank 1. Kimball House
Seafood
In a converted rail depot lined with tufted leather and dark wood, Kimball House pours craft cocktails and shucks more than twenty oysters, each tagged with tasting notes to guide the undecided. The beef tartare arrives studded with capers and a runny yolk; the desserts—butternut crunch cake, a reimagined Paris Brest—arrive as small arguments for why sweets deserve the final word.
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Restaurant Bar
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service · Miles Macquarrie
- Esquire 2025 · Kimball House Martini · The Best Martinis in America
-
Rank 2. Chai Pani
South Asian Indian
Strings of lights and colorful murals animate this Decatur dining room where the kitchen builds seasonally inspired South Asian cooking from local ingredients. Butter chicken arrives rich and silken; cauliflower in the gobi pepper fry is battered to a crisp shell, sharp with vinegar and heat. The menu's detailed descriptions and family-style portions make it easy to keep ordering.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Meherwan Irani and Molly Irani - Chai Pani Restaurant Group
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Southeast · Sahar Siddiqi
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
-
Rank 3. The Deer and the Dove
Rustic New American
In a rustic dining room in Decatur, Terry Koval and his team build meals around house-made foundations: yeasted rolls with herb butter, pappardelle enriched with morels and whipped lemon ricotta, duck prepared two ways with its own bone jus. The cocktails—playfully named, impeccably constructed—suggest a kitchen that takes pleasure seriously without pretension.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Winner · Best Chef: Southeast · Terry Koval
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation #3 · The 25 Best Restaurants In Atlanta
-
Rank 4. Casa Balam
Mexican
-
Rank 5. Mothers Best
Southern
-
-
-
Rank 5. Heaps
New Zealand
-
Rank 5. Fawn Wine + Amaro
Seafood
In a Decatur storefront, Fawn courts diners with an amaro collection and seafood-forward à la carte—fritto misto, crudos, dry-aged fish—but reserves its ambition for the tasting menu, where housemade spaghettini meets hazelnut miso and uni, and fourteen-day dry-aged hiramasa arrives cured and forceful. The kitchen's playfulness extends to dessert.
-
Rank 5. The White Bull
Seasonal New American
Pasquale Pascarella's spare, intelligent dining room in downtown Decatur pivots through seasons with small plates and hand-rolled pasta that taste of deliberate craft—butter churned in-house, flour milled on premises. The cooking whispers rather than shouts, as when corn tortelli arrives in its own amber sauce, or a peach hand pie closes the meal with quiet precision.
-
Rank 11. Buena Gente Cuban Bakery
Cuban Bakery