Table Talk: Shrimp sourcing transparency law
Feb. 17 — Happy Tuesday, friends! Welcome to the table.
In today’s “Family Meal,” I’m bringing you updates on three food and drink-related bills you should know about moving through the Georgia legislature this session. This includes one bill that made its way to the governor’s desk requiring Georgia restaurants to disclose the source of shrimp served on the menu.
🌯 Breaker Breaker chef Max Hines shares his recipe for the Reynoldstown restaurant’s chicken Caesar wrap using Duke’s mayo and seasonal ingredients such as local kale. Plus, I bring you a trio of dining news nuggets, like the closing of DBA Tacos & BBQ in Clarkston and the sad passing of one of the owners of Italian restaurant Amore e Amore in Inman Park.
No ATL food recs from me this week for “The Move,” as I just got back from a week in Hawaii with friends. However, I will tell you I’m making a return trip soon to Authentic Hand-Pulled Noodle House on Clairmont to try more noodles and soups at the new Decatur restaurant. (The dan dan noodles are 👍👍.) I also plan to pop over to the newly opened Canton Kitchen Authentic Chinese & Dim Sum next door. And I want to give a shout out to Chef Bruce Logue for giving the people (me) what they want on a cold day in the A earlier this month, bringing back the BoccaLupo ramen as a dinner special. If you see the ramen on the menu again this winter, order it immediately.
Lastly, to all who celebrate, have a blessed Ramadan and a joyous Lunar New Year. Both holidays begin today. To those of you enjoying one last culinary hurrah on this Fat Tuesday before Lent begins tomorrow, happy eating!
🍸 Cheers!
Beth
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Proposed Georgia Food Laws:
Shrimp Sourcing, Museum Drinks, Lemon Pepper
📃 Midway through the 2026 Georgia legislative session, we are beginning to see food and drink-related bills make their way out of committee and to the floors of the state house and senate – and even to the governor’s desk.
This may not seem like the sexiest dining topic, especially given the Beltline bagel drama that recently took over social media, or any story on a big restaurant opening. However, it’s important to know what food and beverage bills legislators and lobbyists are pushing, and how these potential new laws could affect our restaurant and beverage industries on state and local levels.
🍻 Journalists like myself have spent years following numerous alcohol distribution bills moving through the state legislature that would impact how Georgia’s breweries and distilleries did business with the public. (In 2026, the state’s breweries continue to fight for loosening Georgia’s distribution laws under the three-tier system that limits how much breweries can sell directly to customers and retailers.)
Multiple iterations of the “brunch bill” were crafted over several legislative sessions, until a bill finally became law in 2018. Georgia Senate Bill 17 now allows restaurants in certain municipalities to serve you a mimosa starting at 11 a.m. on Sundays.
🍹 In 2021, a bill allowing restaurants to offer to-go cocktails with takeout food orders became law to help restaurants recoup revenue lost during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Three bills have caught my eye during the 2026 legislative session, including a bill involving how Georgia restaurants disclose the sourcing of shrimp served on the menu.
🦐HB 117: Disclosure of serving imported shrimp
After being introduced last January in the state house, then tabled four months later in the Georgia senate, House Bill (HB) 117 – aka the “shrimp transparency bill” – is on its way to Gov. Brian Kemp. If Kemp signs, the bill will require all Georgia restaurants to disclose whether they serve imported shrimp on the menu.
What the bill requires
Under the new law, Georgia restaurants serving shrimp or dishes that contain shrimp will need to disclose if the crustaceans were imported. That means the words “Foreign Imported” must follow any dish containing non-domestic shrimp listed on the menu, or require restaurants to display the words “Foreign Imported Shrimp” on placards or signs visible to the public.
Why it matters
The bill comes at a time when Georgia shrimpers struggle to sell and distribute locally caught shrimp. Many restaurants source shrimp from other countries, rather than domestically or from state fisheries. High demand for shrimp (the average American eats around five pounds of shrimp per year), along with a post-pandemic influx of imported shrimp flooding the market, caused prices for locally farmed, domestic, and wild-caught shrimp to soar. Recent testing by advocacy groups found that some Georgia restaurants falsely advertised serving local and/or domestic shrimp.
A shrimper told WSAV in Savannah that while he agreed with what the bill proposed, he believed it wouldn’t have an immediate impact on local fishermen like himself. A seafood market owner in Savannah hopes restaurants that falsely advertised serving local shrimp will face repercussions under the new law.
Once signed, Georgia will join Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas in requiring restaurants to disclose the source of shrimp offered on menus.
Read more about the testing conducted by SeaD Consulting on behalf of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, which led to the introduction of bills in Gulf and Southern Atlantic states like Georgia.
When it takes effect
If Gov. Brian Kemp signs HB 117 into law, the shrimp transparency act could take effect immediately. However, it’s more likely to take effect at the beginning of 2027, giving restaurants the opportunity to reevaluate shrimp sourcing and time to reprint menus.
🥂HB 1229: Museum Sunday alcohol sales
This is a pretty simple bill that would bring museums licensed to serve alcohol in line with Georgia restaurants and retailers. If passed and signed into law, HB 1229 would allow museums around the state to sell alcohol on Sundays at the same time as restaurants and retailers.
Introduced on Feb. 5, 2026, HB 1229 is still with state house readers.
When it would take effect
Once signed by the governor, HB 1229 would become law effective immediately. The bill has moderate partisan support.
🍗 HB 1013: Lemon pepper state wing flavor
Considered a “lighthearted bill,” HB 1013 proposes to make lemon pepper the official chicken wing flavor of Georgia.
“Lemon pepper wings have become a staple of southern cuisine in Atlanta and across Georgia,” Representative Eric Bell (D-Jonesboro) said.
“Lemon pepper wings are a fan-favorite that bring people together across race, culture, class and community,” Bell continued. “From ‘Lemon Pepper Lou’ at Magic City to lyrics in billboard hits from Gucci Mane and Rick Ross, lemon pepper wings have been central to many of the moments and individuals who have shaped this city and state.”
Bell added that designating lemon pepper as the official state wing flavor would also recognize “the cultural, culinary and community significance of lemon pepper wings” in Georgia.
Introduced on Jan. 16, 2026, HB 1013 is still with state house readers.
When it would take effect
Once signed by the governor, HB 1013 would take effect immediately. The bill has bipartisan support.
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Recipe: Chicken Caesar Wrap
From Breaker Breaker
🥗 This week, we’re sharing the recipe for Breaker Breaker’s chicken Caesar wrap. Breaker Breaker head chef Max Hines said he added it to the menu of the Reynoldstown restaurant’s winter pop-up, Long Haul Lounge, as a result of the Caesar salad’s recent renaissance.
Breaker Breaker dressed the chicken Caesar wrap up a bit, replacing lettuce with kale. Even in a scratch kitchen, it’s an accessible dish easily riffed upon. “Grilled, fried, or blackened [chicken] all work well,” Hines said. “And you don’t need to have a lot of equipment [to make the chicken Caesar wrap].”
🐔 While you can source all of the ingredients needed to make the chicken Caesar wrap at a supermarket like Publix or Kroger, Hines recommends purchasing ingredients from a local grocer or farmers market, especially while kale is in season. (Pro tip: Hines prefers curly kale over dinosaur kale.)
🏀 It’s game time, Hawks fans! Wrap up February with nonstop action and cheer on the Hawks for their back-to-back, east-coast matchups against the Heat, Nets, and Wizards. Grab your seats now! SPONSOR MESSAGE
News Nuggets
🕊️ RIP: Giovanni Ferro, one of the co-owners of Amore e Amore (formerly known as Il Localino) in Inman Park, died over the weekend. The restaurant announced his passing on social media.
Known as “Professor Giovanni” because he loved teaching people to cook, Ferro owned the Italian restaurant with wife Gale Parker.
“Giovanni had an extraordinary vision. Love flows through our dining rooms because of him. You can feel it the moment you walk in. The love that is given and received,” the post read, in part. “The way guests are embraced like family, because they are.”
Plans for a public memorial held at the restaurant will take place later this spring.
Ferro and Parker opened Il Localino in 2000 along North Highland Avenue, rebranding the Italian restaurant to Amore e Amore in 2021. The dining room often features seasonal themes, including for Christmas when the restaurant is decked out in colorful lights and dripping in decorations.
⛔ Closing time: On Sunday, owner Matt Coggin announced the closing of DBA Tacos & BBQ in Clarkston “until further notice.” Coggin will expand the DBA catering operation into the Clarkston space and begin hosting pop-ups. DBA Tacos & BBQ opened in a former Taco Bell and KFC on East Ponce de Leon Avenue in 2024. DBA Barbecue remains open in Chastain Park.
🚧 Reno update: It appears renovations are nearing completion at the Sandy Springs location of Rumi’s Kitchen. The restaurant provided a sneak peek at the renovation work currently underway.
➡️ Get double the Atlanta food and dining coverage with “Family Meal,” edited by Beth McKibben, on Tuesdays at 5 p.m., and “Side Dish,” edited by Sarra Sedghi, on Thursdays at noon. Subscribe to both here. ⬅️
