When I moved to Atlanta in 2010, I assumed a city of this size had a designated Chinatown and went in search of it. Instead of the walkable district with elaborate archways and lion statues, I was led to a shopping center in Chamblee aptly named Chinatown Plaza. I came to find that, even though Atlanta does not have a centralized Chinatown in the traditional sense, it made up the difference with strip malls, plazas and food courts.
Despite the name, not all Chinatowns are limited to Chinese shops and restaurants; ethnic enclaves consisting of any range of Asian businesses could fall under the umbrella. In Chamblee, these enclaves of Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese and other cultures expanded into ethnoburbs along the Buford Highway corridor to areas like Duluth and Johns Creek.
Since 2000, the foreign-born Asian population has more than doubled in the 11-country region around Atlanta, nearing 285,811 at last count in 2023, according to the Atlanta Regional Commission. That’s a growth rate more than 50% faster than the general population. Despite having no official Chinatown, Koreatown, Little India, or Little Saigon designation, these areas have been thriving, offering so many new restaurants it’s hard to keep up.
Credit: Candy Hom
Credit: Candy Hom
These must-try restaurants could rival any traditional Chinatown gem
One of my favorite late-night spots for a solo dinner is located in a Doraville plaza. Crazy Skewers, opened in 2020, is a quaint Chinese restaurant that holds no more than a dozen tables, yet it’s typically full until closing — even on weeknights. The smoky, cumin-heavy charcoal aroma from their kitchen wafts through the air to surrounding shops and draws in newcomers, many of them running errands at the Super H-Mart also attached to the plaza.
At Crazy Skewers, you can’t go wrong with any selection, but one of my favorites is the special lamb kabob; bits of pure lamb fat render out as the skewer cooks, basting the seasoned chunks of meat between them as the fat itself caramelizes. Sprinkle a bit of seasoning from the condiment jar on the table; the warm blend of chili flakes, cumin and fennel bring out the flavors of the meat. Potato noodles are also a must-order item — chewy, bouncy noodles in a hot and sour broth with fish balls, enoki mushrooms and greens are a nice accompaniment to balance out the protein-heavy menu.
Saigon District Kitchen and Bar is a restaurant I’ve driven by many times, but turned out to be a pleasant surprise when I finally visited for a weeknight dinner with friends. Located in the Paragon Plaza, a shopping center known for its replica of the Eiffel Tower, the restaurant offers more than the usual banh mi and bowls of pho that many Vietnamese restaurants are known for in the area.
Credit: Candy Hom
Credit: Candy Hom
Rather, Saigon District offers an array of specialty dishes, starting with hot vin lon xao me, or balut — fertilized duck eggs. Balut are more commonly presented in their shell and unadulterated, but the ones at Saigon District are deshelled and served in individual pots of slightly tangy tamarind sauce topped with fried shallots, making for a striking presentation.
Following the shell-less balut were periwinkle snails with their shells still on, swimming in a creamy lemongrass coconut sauce. I learned that the snails are purposefully submerged in the sauce to make the act of sucking them from their shells tastier and more enjoyable, rather than just hard work. Those two dishes, along with goat curry, fried corn with Chinese sausage and raw beef papaya salad, made for one of the most interesting and delicious meals I’ve had this year, a reminder there’s always something new to try.
Credit: Candy Hom
Credit: Candy Hom
When my Cantonese parents come to town, their first request isn’t the Coca-Cola museum or any of the usual iconic landmarks — it’s a restaurant found inside a Duluth food court.
Red Lantern Chinese Cuisine, located inside City Farmer’s Market, has been a favorite for years. What they lack in a dining room, Red Lantern makes up for in traditional Cantonese dishes with quality and technique equal to the more grandiose Royal China banquet hall or famous Bobo Garden off Buford Highway.
Credit: Candy Hom
Credit: Candy Hom
Salt and pepper shrimp, cooked in its shell to retain its sweet briny flavor, is tossed in the quintessential spice blend of cooked salt and white pepper, along with aromatics like fried garlic and peppers. Braised beef brisket and tendon with bean curd is cooked until tender in a rich brown sauce, perfect for ladling over steamed white rice. Seafood chow mein is expertly fried to ensure a crispy exterior with a tender and chewy interior, and a gratuitous amount of sauce containing shrimp, scallops and squid is ladled over the egg noodles, tying it all together. Red Lantern has been a local “if you know, you know” spot for years, with enough wok hei in their stir-fried dishes to lessen my nostalgia for New York’s Chinatown with each visit.
Metro Atlanta’s Asian population attracting global chains
One of my favorite soup dumpling spots in Flushing, Queens, which started as a single tiny, cramped restaurant, exploded into a franchise after the COVID-19 pandemic. Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao, now with more than a dozen locations, is opening yet another in the Mall of Georgia.
Credit: Henri Hollis
Credit: Henri Hollis
Lao Sze Chuan, a modern Sichuan restaurant franchise which started in Chicago, opened a location in Buford Highway’s Asian Square. In that same plaza, Hey Yogurt, a wildly popular Japanese-inspired franchise offering an alternative to bubble tea, also set up shop — along with two other metro locations. Chilispot, a Sichuan chain with four locations opened in the Great Wall Supermarket Plaza steps away from Chubby Cattle, another franchise that came to Atlanta in 2024 and now has three locations offering unlimited wagyu Shabu Shabu or barbecue.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
As for upcoming openings, Inman Quarter will gain Blue Willow, the New York-based Hunan restaurant’s second location. And the wildly popular Haidilao Hotpot is one of the most anticipated openings of the year, known for its exceptional service and famous dancing noodle performances.
Credit: Candy Hom
Credit: Candy Hom
Asian restaurants beyond the Buford Highway corridor
Some Atlanta-area Asian restaurants have made names for themselves far from the well-known ethnic enclaves along Buford Highway, finding success in the region’s suburban cities. In Alpharetta, Jang Su Jang holds its own in an area more commonly known for upscale dining, steakhouses and mixed use developments like Avalon or Halcyon. The Korean restaurant has found a consistent customer base with dishes such as rose tteokbokki and LA galbi platters.
In Marietta’s town square, Spring 2nd Branch is situated between breweries, pizza joints and ice cream shops, offering casual and comforting Korean food such as tofu stews and oxtail bone broth soups.
Tipsy Thaiger in Roswell town square offers a unique take on both small sharable dishes like laab beef tartare and comforting supper options such as Crying Thaiger hanger steak, proving the suburbs welcome a new take on Thai cuisine beyond the usual tom yum soup and pad thai.
Credit: Courtesy of Tipsy Thaiger
Credit: Courtesy of Tipsy Thaiger
Fast-casual Chinese restaurant Handmade Dumplings and Noodles has established itself as a beloved spot for locals in East Cobb since its opening in 2024. The area isn’t known for having many culturally diverse restaurant options, but this aptly named restaurant offers expertly crafted dumplings more commonly found in Doraville or Duluth. East Cobb has even attracted franchises like Fluffy Fluffy, a popular Japanese souffle pancake restaurant located a mile down the road from the dumpling shop.
As a previous resident of both New York and California, I’ve seen metro Atlanta grow into a place that offers great depth and breadth of Asian cuisine. It makes me miss the Chinatowns in those areas a little less each year. When talking about Atlanta’s Asian food, the pessimistically common saying that certain dishes or cuisines are merely “good for Atlanta” is no longer accurate. Atlanta can hold its own, with or without an official Chinatown. And when someone says they miss NYC Chinatown’s dim sum or LA’s Korean barbecue, I can proudly tell them we have those at home.
Candy Hom is a freelance writer who covers Atlanta’s food scene, with a focus on immigrant cuisines. She is also the owner of Soupbelly, an award-winning pop-up business that sells dumplings in the Atlanta area.
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