Recently in Atlanta Category

Atlanta is all the buzz this month over the opening of Straits, a new Atlanta outpost that brings Singapore's "hawker stall" cuisine to the States. It's co-owned by Atlanta's Chris "Ludacris" Bridges and Chef Chris Yeo, and has become an instant hit, not just thanks to star power. The full-flavored food is what what moved Ludacris to bring this Bay Area restaurant to his hometown.

The restaurant, which is about 2 miles from the W Atlanta Midtown, has a nightclub feel, with multiple floors and a mix of loungy and traditional seating. Small plates abound, but the main courses are outstanding, too.

Ludacris is frequently at the restaurant, so you might get a celebrity sighting along with your kung pao chicken lollipops (his favorite).

Sometimes it's nice not to have to do a bunch of research on where to eat while traveling — especially on a last-minute trip somewhere you haven't been before. Fortunately, there's a new application for the iPhone and iPod Touch that puts restaurant recommendations at your fingertips. Local Eats is a compact version of WhereTheLocalsEat.com dining guides. It contains an easily searchable database of the top 100 restaurants as chosen by local foodies in 50 American cities. Restaurants range from diners to fine dining, from Chinese to French, so you won't be stuck with just the most expensive places.

The restaurant entries are searchable alphabetically or by cuisine, and in some cities by neighborhood as well. Each listing includes contact info, price range, reviews, a link to a website if the restaurant has one, and directions via Google Maps. A GPS feature lets you search for what's close by wherever you are: Near the W Atlanta Midtown, for instance, it recommends Tamarind Seed Thai Bistro, South City Kitchen and Einstein's, all excellent choices within blocks of the hotel.

While you might quibble with some of the selections in your own home town (I wouldn't rate all six Billy Goat locations in Chicago as having the "best burgers"), when you're in an unfamiliar city looking for food, Local Eats is a great place to start — and it's right in your pocket.

The South is practically synonymous with comfort food. Soul food, biscuits and gravy, mashed potatoes and ham... just makes you want to sit back and loosen your belt. There's no shortage of comfort food within easy reach of the W Atlanta Midown, but for the truly great stuff, you should also venture out of Midtown and explore what the city has to offer.

For breakfast, it's hard to beat the Flying Biscuit Cafe, a small local chain known, as you'd expect, for light-as-air biscuits and stick-to-your-ribs dishes like hotcakes and "meatloaf and pudge (pudge being mashed potatoes with sundried tomatoes, basil and olive oil). For dinner, sample South City Kitchen's upscale take on Southern classics. Starters include fried green tomatoes and pan-fried chicken livers, while main dishes range from perfectly fried chicken to crab hash to charred tuna with Carolina gold rice and sausage. Their brunch is out of this world.

Farther afield, The Colonnade is an institution for authentic Southern comfort. "Meat and three" is the mode here, with solid fried chicken anchoring down-home meals with black-eyed peas, friend okra and collard greens. It's just a notch above cafeteria, decor-wise, but worth seeking out for the food.

The Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta is like an adult playground: great stores and boutiques, plenty of bars and nightclubs, and some of the best restaurants in the city. And the Westin Buckhead Atlanta puts you right in the middle of it all, on the main drag of Peachtree Avenue.

Let's start with lunch. To refuel during a hard day of meetings (or shopping), stop into Souper Jenny, a delightful cafeteria-style eatery where the menu changes daily and the homemade soups are absolutely the stars of the show. For dinner, the Buckhead Diner is a local favorite for its upscale versions of classic comfort foods; it's the sort of place where suits and sweatpants mingle. Make sure to start with the Maytag Bleu cheese potato chips. Or step into Bone's, the city's best steakhouse (and Zagat's top-rated in the country), to rub shoulders with Atlanta's power elite. For something decidedly different, there's 10 Degrees South, which claims to be America's only South African restaurant. True or not, it's found a strong audience for its stews and other exotic dishes.