Atlanta’s best matcha drinks and desserts
April 30 — Hello, internet friends.
As the NSYNC song goes, “it’s gonna be May,” and Atlanta restaurant openings, festivals, and food events are ramping up.
In today’s “Quick Bites,” learn details on new restaurants and coffee shops opening, a card game lounge coming to Alpharetta, vegan lunches in Reynoldstown, and the 2026 Slow Food Atlanta Snail of Approval award winners. Plus, read up on some upcoming May food events to attend.
And, earlier this week in the April 28 edition of “Family Meal,” Beth shouted out the martinis from Rosso and Koshu Club and the current menu at Spring in Marietta. She also shared a recipe for the chocolate brioche bread pudding from Misfitsss BBQ.
🍰 See y’all next week,
Sarra
🏡 The Chastain Park Conservancy (CPC) is thrilled to announce our first Home and Garden Tour on Sat., May 2 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This event will celebrate the beauty of our neighborhood, foster community, and support CPC’s mission. Get tickets here! SPONSOR MESSAGE
QUICK BITES
Openings
☕ Bellwood Coffee opened its Grant Park location at 568 Boulevard over the weekend. This marks the coffee shop’s fifth location in Atlanta.
🥕 Uptown Atlanta launches Uptown Market, a food and artist vendor market, on Saturday. Markets run Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. through November 14.
🇹🇭 Asian fusion spot Wat Room is now open at 4969 Roswell Road in Sandy Springs. The speakeasy offers Thai cuisine, sushi, happy hour specials, and live entertainment.
☕ Atlanta Coffee Shops reports that Latin-inspired specialty coffee shop Amistad Coffee Co. is now open at 1270 W. Peachtree St. Expect specialty lattes incorporating horchata, elote (corn-infused milk), and mazapan (Mexican peanut candy), along with matcha and pan dulce.
🇲🇽 Pata Negra rebranded to Patria Mezcalita and will reopen on the border of Buckhead and Midtown along Peachtree on May 2.
Coming Attractions
🃏 “Eatertainment” card games lounge Showdown Social opens May 14 in Alpharetta.
🥯 Larita Cafe and Dish’s Bagels are slated to open this year at AMLI Brookhaven, according to What Now Atlanta.
Closing
🇮🇳 Fast casual North Indian spot Naanstop closed after seven years at Atlantic Station, Tomorrow’s News Today reports. In 2025, Naanstop’s Buckhead location closed after 10 years in business. The Downtown location remains open.
Menu changes
🌱 Vegan Latin restaurant La Semilla will start serving lunch on May 5. Dine-in lunch service will run Tuesday through Thursday, starting at 11 a.m. Takeout and delivery will also be available via Toast and DoorDash.
Snail of Approval winners
🐌 Slow Food Atlanta recognized its Snail of Approval award-winners at the nonprofit’s annual meeting and potluck supper on April 27. Award recipients include La Semilla, Global Growers Network, and Artisan Milling Company.
Add to your calendar
👠”The Devil Wears Prada 2″ menus for spring? Groundbreaking. Brassica Bar at Waldorf Astoria Buckhead is currently serving The Devil’s Martini, created by award-winning mixologist and Waldorf Astoria New York beverage partner Jeff Bell.
👨🏾🌾 Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority’s Phi Omega chapter, Mt. Zion Second Baptist Church, and the Pittsburgh Yards Community Market will host a Black Farmers Market at 352 University Ave. on May 2 from noon to 5 p.m.
🇵🇱 Beksa Lala’s Polish pop-up residency at Breaker Breaker will incorporate a few friendly faces in a rotating guest-chef series this May. The Beksa + Friends series will feature Max Hines (Breaker Breaker, May 4), Candy Hom (Soupbelly, May 11), and Lino Yi (Minhwa Spirits, May 18) for collaborative fusion menus starting at 5 p.m. on Mondays.
🥂 Kyma’s annual champagne social returns on May 14. Guests can enjoy Moët & Chandon Champagne paired with Kyma dishes like lamb pie, octopus, zucchini fritters, and spanakopita. Tickets are $59 per person.
♨️ Anita and Howard Hsu’s Good Luck Smoke Show block party returns for a second year on May 20 at Sweet Auburn Barbecue, starting at 5 p.m. This year’s event will feature more than 15 tasting stations backed by Asian American and Pacific Islander chefs from around the country. Look for cocktails from Minhwa Spirits, along with other beverages. And expect local artist booths and live entertainment, including lion dancers, music, and a rooftop DJ. A portion of the proceeds will benefit We Love BuHi. Tickets start at $85 per person.
Frida Presented by Atlanta Ballet
SPONSORED BY ATLANTA BALLET
Experience Atlanta Ballet’s production of Frida, a breathtaking ballet by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa that paints a powerful portrait of the life and art of the legendary Frida Kahlo.
Through bold choreography and striking imagery, her passions, pain, and artistic vision unfold onstage, and dreamlike sequences weave her iconic paintings and self-portraits into a vibrant theatrical tapestry.
From the creative team behind Coco Chanel: The Life of a Fashion Icon, this production is an unforgettable tribute to an iconic artist.
➞ Reserve your seats now. May 8-10 at the Cobb Energy Centre.
TOP STORIES
Metro Atlanta matcha guide
🍵 You probably remember that I wrote about Atlanta’s matcha boom earlier this month. Here’s the companion piece: a matcha guide to metro Atlanta, featuring drinks, desserts, and soft serve ice cream to try.
⏩ Check out the full guide here.
The Center stands on the precipice of a new era
🏗️ I also recently toured The Center, taking over the former CNN site in downtown Atlanta. The first round of construction finishes up very soon, with the food hall and atrium set to open in late May.
⏩ Read more about the construction progress here.
Meherwan Irani pens Indian street food cookbook
📖 Good news for Chai Pani and Botiwalla fans! Chef Meherwan Irani releases his first cookbook, “No. 1 Best Indian Cookbook in the World: At-Home Recipes from the Streets, Truck Stops, Villages, and Palaces of India,” in September.
⏩ Read more from Beth about Irani’s cookbook here.
FARMERS MARKET HAUL
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH COMMUNITY FARMERS MARKETS
Let’s get to the root of it! Each week, Rough Draft Atlanta and Community Farmers Markets partner to bring you recipes you can make at home using ingredients from the local farmers market. This week, we’ve got two tasty recipes that put root vegetables at the forefront. Check those out here.
🏡 The Chastain Park Conservancy (CPC) is thrilled to announce our first Home and Garden Tour on Sat., May 2 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This event will celebrate the beauty of our neighborhood, foster community, and support CPC’s mission. Get tickets here! SPONSOR MESSAGE
THAT SLAPS
🥬 Everyone has a cuisine category they could stand to learn much more about, and mine is Caribbean food. It’s a weakness I regularly try to be conscious of so I can improve my knowledge. That’s why I attended “The Caribbean Cookbook” dinner last week at Wylie & Rum. The Reynoldstown restaurant hosted author Chef Rawlston Williams.
While I enjoyed everything, my favorite was the nuanced codfish callaloo. Fortunately, there’s a recipe for a similar dish in my copy of Williams’ new cookbook so I can take a stab at it in my own kitchen. I’m still thinking about this dish a week later.
We’re always looking for recipes to highlight on Rough Draft. If you have a favorite dish from a restaurant you want the recipe for, please send me an email to sarra@roughdraftatlanta.com.
