Doughnut + Egusi + Crudo recs
Tuesday, Oct. 27 — Happy Tuesday! Welcome to the table.
In today’s “Family Meal,” I’m discussing expanding our dining coverage to Athens and sharing our first food story on one of my favorite Classic City restaurants: Puma Yu’s. Listen, I’m excited to begin exploring the Athens food scene, not only for its residents but also for Atlantans who visit to attend UGA games, concerts, or various art exhibitions.
💯 But first, I’m giving you three restaurants to check out for West African food, seasonal specialties, and doughnuts in Marietta, East Lake, and Tucker, respectively, including recs on what to eat and drink at each place.
Finally, Amasa Mexican Kitchen in Alpharetta shared its recipe for esquites, a Mexican street food snack known as “corn in a cup.”
Cheers!
🍸 Beth
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Editor’s Picks
👍 I love a scannable restaurant guide: where to go, what to order, and a quick vibe check. So, put these three restaurants on your radar the next time you’re in Marietta, East Lake, or Tucker.
🍛 African Soulfood
Marietta
Cuisine: West and East African.
411: Located at Nazareth Plaza on Franklin Gateway; full service; takeout available; DJs and dancing, especially Saturday nights.
Eat this: Jollof rice; egusi (melon-seed stew served with a “swallow” such as fufu); efo riro (beef and spinach stew); mafe (peanut stew); sampler platter (great for two); mbuzi wet fry (roasted goat meat with sautéed onions and peppers).
Drink this: Homemade hibiscus tea; Dakar Drip (nonalcoholic) with lychee, lime, butterfly pea flower, and club soda.
Seating: Indoors.
🕰️ Clockwork
East Lake
Cuisine: Seasonal; hyper-local ingredients.
411: Located inside Babygirl; Chef Jared Warwick (Octopus Bar, Wick & Nick’s); wine; limited cocktails and beer; dinner Thursday-Saturday.
Eat this: Madai crudo (red sea bream); dry-fried mushrooms; candy roaster squash tortellini; Indian River pompano (pictured).
Drink this: Wine; Clockwork No. 1 cocktail with rum, sake, crème de banane, and fruit.
Seating: Indoors; some patio seating.
🍩 Donut City
Tucker
Cuisine: Handmade doughnuts; all-day breakfast sandwiches.
411: Takeout; drive-through; counter service; open Monday-Saturday at 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. on Sundays.
Eat this: Glazed or chocolate-frosted doughnuts; bear claw; BEC on toasted bread.
Drink this: Go to Mint Coffeehouse on Lawrenceville Highway for a chai latte. (Check out the food menu here, too.)
Seating: Some indoor seating; best for takeout.
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We’re Now Dining in the Classic City
🏛️ We recently expanded our coverage to Athens, thanks to the Google News Initiative’s Growth Catalyst Program. Rough Draft was one of 12 publications in the country chosen for this year’s cohort. Our first Athens stories began rolling out earlier this month, with a weekly newsletter dedicated to news and happenings in and around the Classic City launching last Friday.
For many of us, Athens is familiar territory. The city is home to the University of Georgia and Georgia Bulldogs football, gave rise to legendary bands like R.E.M., the B-52’s, Drive-By Truckers, and Widespread Panic, and features a thriving arts scene. But for me, the restaurants in Athens are the real draw, especially in Five Points, along South Lumpkin Street and South Milledge Avenue, and in Normaltown, along Prince Avenue.
🍽️ With our expansion to Athens, restaurants in the city have now become part of Rough Draft’s dining beat. I’ll be heading to Athens regularly to dine, as will Rough Draft dining reporter and UGA alum Sarra Sedghi. Through partnerships with local news sources like The Red & Black, on-the-ground reporting from our former intern and UGA journalism student Ansley Kelly, and local food writers, our Athens dining coverage will have a decidedly local slant.
For our first dining story, I wanted to reintroduce Athens residents to Puma Yu’s, a critically acclaimed Thai restaurant owned and operated by a pair of former UGA students and longtime members of the Athens restaurant community. Now married with a baby, they plan to open Hin, a cafe and bar in Five Points, which continues building on the success of Puma Yu’s. Their love story is about more than finding each other; it’s also about the deeply rooted admiration and respect they have for Athens and its restaurant community. You can read more about Puma Yu’s here.
😋 Covering Athens restaurants wasn’t on my bingo card when I joined Rough Draft in 2024. However, I can’t wait to spend more time eating in Athens and reacquainting myself with one of the best dining scenes in Georgia.
Want to follow along in Athens? Sign up for the free Friday newsletter covering the Classic City.
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Esquites Recipe
🌽 This week, we’re sharing a recipe for esquites from Amasa Mexican Kitchen, which opened in Alpharetta earlier this year.
Also known as “corn in a cup” at snack stands, esquites are a popular Mexican street food with similarities to elote (grilled Mexican street corn on the cob).
👉 Check out the full recipe here.
➡️ 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.
