If you’re like me, you’re using a marquee football game neutral site game as an excuse for pulling the trigger on a trip to Atlanta this weekend. It was easier for me than a lot of others: since 2021, I’ve been traveling to Atlanta multiple times a year for work and to visit friends who have moved from New York down south.
This is by no means meant to be an “expert’s guide to Atlanta,” but it is a guide I’m happy to put out there to start the conversation for those of you Orange faithful down in Atlanta who
have favorite spots I’ve yet to try or did not mention here.
Let’s start with the “Official” Syracuse Orange events taking place in Atlanta. On Friday night, SU is hosting an “casual meet up” at Park Bar near Centennial Olympic Park, which is right near most of the stadium recommended hotels and big tourist attractions. I definitely recommend at least walking through the park once in your visit if you’re an Olympics fan.
On gamely, SU is hosting a tailgate outside of Mercedes Benz Stadium in the Home Depot Backyard Lawn for $44. The tailgate will start at 9:30 AM and run until kickoff at noon. If you didn’t get a tailgate ticket don’t worry: Mercedes Benz is an incredibly affordable stadium. Unlike other venues where there’s a financial pressure to load up on food and drink pre-game, the standard concessions inside the stadium are a blast from the past: $5 hot dogs, $3 nachos, and $2 sodas and pretzels. This may be my New York City price inflation kicking in, but beer is also market rate, with the largest and most premium options usually running between $10-$15.
If you’re a tourist in Atlanta, you will be hit with a million advertisements to go visit three primary attractions, which I’ll quickly run through below.
- The World of Coca Cola celebrates Coke’s history and ties to the Atlanta community, is a great family friendly activity. It is not cheap, so I have not ever gone, but I’ve heard good things.
- The Georgia Aquarium is one of the best aquariums in the world, and I have heard amazing things. This is a great activity if you’re traveling with kids!
- The College Football Hall of Fame will be crawling with Cuse and Tennessee fans, and is worth the price of admission. It’s a fun walk through the history of the sport. Last summer, a few areas were under construction for expansion/renovation, so if you’ve been in the past there may be some new wrinkles to see this time around.
If you’re looking for something to do that’s not near Olympic Park and the weather forecast holds positive, I would recommend a walk down the Beltline. Similar to what New York City has done with the Highline, old railroad routes originally built for manufacturing and production in and out of the city have been repurposed into public park space. You’ll find plenty of locals who use the Beltline for commuting and exercise, and the entire park is filled with excellent restaurants, shops, and bars.
The “center” of the Beltline is Ponce City Market, an old factory that has been converted into a restaurant, shopping, and commercial space. If you like coffee, there are two great coffee spots in Ponce (Dancing Goats and Spiller Park) and Spiller is a great spot if you want some baseball nostalgia.
If you’re like me and also like to mix in some history/education in your travels, I recommend the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site. There is a full set of itineraries on the Parks Department site based on the amount of time you have, but I highly recommend if you’re just passing through Atlanta as it is one of those places that is uniquely American and has done an excellent job in both preservation and educational materials around the park.
My absolute favorite thing to do in Atlanta is eat and drink, and that’s mostly thanks to a great bunch of friends who have shown me some amazing places. I’ll list them out below with my commentary, and this is by no means an exhaustive list.
- Heriloom BBQ: In my humble opinion, the best barbecue in Atlanta. They also have one of the most interesting origin stories of any couple-turned-hospitality professional.
- New Realm Brewing: A really solid brewery that also has really solid food and tons of TVs. If you’re looking for a spot with good beer, good food, and want to watch sports, this is the place. They do sometimes have Georgia Tech related beer.
- Ladybird: Another Beltline spot, this place has a massive outdoor space and does Barbecue food along with Margaritas/Ranch Waters that are perfect for that hot and humid Atlanta day.
- Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room & Ping Pong Emporium aka Church Bar: My absolute favorite bar in Atlanta. It’s not quite a dive, but has all the classic bar games and tons of space to hang and catch up with people late night. Vibes are 10/10.
- Midway Pub: An Atlanta establishment, this place has the best wings in Atlanta. They’re tiny little wings, but the sauces and rubs are amazing and it’s another great game watching space. I watched plenty of ‘Cuse men’s basketball games here when traveling during the winter for work.
- Flying Biscuit Cafe: This is exclusively for those who spent time in ‘Cuse, but if you’re looking for a Stella’s/Sister’s type establishment, the breakfast here brought me to life before the ‘Cuse-GT game a couple seasons ago.
- Cypress Street: Another spot I go to often in my Atlanta travels, get the Pizza Eggrolls and be extremely careful on margarita specials nights. Those strawberry margs go down like sweet tea. (Also get sweet tea, literally anywhere.)
- Brewhouse: Recently named the best soccer bar in America by Men in Blazers, I’ll be here Sunday morning because it tends to get extremely Arsenal friendly during Gunners matches, and Arsenal-Liverpool Sunday at 11:30 will be a cracker of a match.
Like I said in the open, I am not an Atlanta local, but it’s a city I’ve spent a lot of time in and if you can’t tell, have had a lot fun in when traveling. I’m looking forward to meeting up many of you this weekend, and make sure to drop in the comments your favorite Atlanta spots if it didn’t make my list!
