News You Can Eat The New Date Night

A few suggestions for socially-distanced romantic meals

By Isadora Pennington

It has been nearly five months since the COVID-19 pandemic imposed unprecedented restrictions upon our lives. We’ve gone through lockdowns, socially distanced, bought all the masks, and washed our hands a million times a day – all just doing our best to try and get through 2020. Now that we are here at the end of summer – with cases still rising and no end in sight – we are having to adjust to life in this new normal.

Even with all the changes, life doesn’t stop, and spending quality time with those you love is more important than ever. How do you maintain some semblance of fun and romance in these trying times? For my husband and I, this has meant finding ways to enjoy meals together without taking unnecessary risks to our health and the health of others. We also wanted to make sure we continued to support the restaurants we love because they have suffered with the regulations and shutdowns.

We aren’t comfortable dining in at restaurants, so we have taken to planning our meals around local spots where we can get food to go and find picturesque or interesting places where we can eat them outdoors away from others.

Below are some of our favorite options for pandemic date spots – “pan-dates,” if you will – where you can find great eats to share with those you love.

Bell Street Burritos at The Stove Works

112 Krog St NE #1A bellstreetburritos.com, (678) 732-9122

Regular ground beef burrito with potatoes, onions, pickled jalapenos, sour cream, and grilled. A side of chips and queso, and a Mexican Coke. Best enjoyed on the shady patio or sitting alongside the BeltLine for superior people-watching.

The Deli at Candler Park Market

1642 McLendon Ave NE candlerparkmarket.com, (404) 3739787

Candler Club Deli Sandwich with turkey, ham, bacon, pimento cheese, lettuce, and tomato. A side of fries and sweet tea. We like to picnic in Candler Park. Pro tip: bring a blanket and tray to enhance the romance, and ice in a mason jar with a lid will keep your sweet tea cool and keep the bugs at bay.

Grindhouse Killer Burgers

433 N McDonough St., Decatur grindhouseburgers.com, (404) 400-0509

Double beef burger with American cheese, junior beef burger with American cheese, lettuce, onions, and chipotle ranch. A side of “frings” (fries and onion rings) and a Coke. Decatur Square is an excellent place to grab a bench and watch folks meandering around, and if you’re lucky you will be serenaded by local musicians playing on the streets nearby.

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams

545 N McDonough St, Decatur jenis.com, (470) 891-8095

Who doesn’t love a cold treat on these sweltering hot days? My go to is a waffle cone (made in-house, yummm!) with a scoop of milkiest chocolate and a scoop of darkest chocolate. Keep in mind that their new policy is that all cones are served upside down on a disposable plate. I recommend finding a shady spot on the lawn or taking a stroll around the square with your honey.

Nick’s Food To Go 240 M.L.K. Jr Dr SE nicksfood.com, (404) 521-2220

Falafel pita with added feta cheese. This family-owned Greek restaurant is a local gem and a personal favorite of ours. Operating out of a nondescript building just off Memorial in Grant Park, they have been offering delish fresh casual meals for more than 20 years. Place an order at their window and take it over to the nearby Oakland Cemetery for an unconventional meal among the dead. Contemplating your own morbidity has never been more timely – or romantic.

Quick Bites

In the midst of a global pandemic, top Atlanta restaurants and pop-ups have found a new way to engage their communities and find additional revenue streams: at-home food experiences. They’ve partnered with local startup FeedATL to bring Atlantans a new culinary experience from the comfort of home. FeedATL creates a daily multi-course, multi-restaurant meal that customers can get delivered right to their doors, giving them the opportunity to support multiple businesses in one order. Partner restaurants include Kimball House, The General Muir, A Mano, Ruby Chow’s, Poor Hendrix, Ton Ton, Scout, Grana, Wahoo Grill, The White Bull, AIX, Full Commission, and Watchman’s. Pop-ups include: Kamayan, Happy Seed, Three Peaches Gelato, Shamiso Foods, Kettle Black, Seoul Kitchen, and Let’s Eat. For more details and to order, visit FeedAtl.com Shell Oil Company is supporting Meals on Wheels programs with donations of fuel gift card donations, and Meals on Wheels Atlanta recently received $10,000 in donations to help address senior isolation and hunger during the COVID-19 crisis. The donation will help deliver 7,700 meals per week to seniors in Atlanta. For more information, visit mowatl.org.

Yumbii, Atlanta’s first food truck founded in 2010, will open its second brick-and-mortar location this month in Toco Hills. The new location at 2907 N. Druid Hills Road will be larger than the original Brookwood Hills space and feature a broadened beverage program, a covered, 700-square-foot patio and a bigger food menu available for takeout, dining in or delivery.

Le Bilboquet and Le Colonial have both been recognized in Wine Spectator’s 2020 Restaurant Awards. The annual awards recognize restaurants around the world as the top destinations for wine lovers. Le Bilboquet has won the Best of Award of Excellence, a category awarded to recipients who offer more extensive selections with significant vintage depth and excellent breadth across multiple regions. Le Colonial won the Award of Excellence, which recognizes restaurants whose wine lists feature a well-chosen assortment of quality producers along with a thematic match to the menu in both price and style.

SriThai Kitchen & Sushi, offering a menu of authentic Thai and Japanese, has opened in Atlantic Station. The 4,852-square-foot restaurant is open for dine-in customers, to-go orders and delivery services, with plans for an official grand opening celebration to come soon. For more, visit srithaikitchen.com.

Chef Pano Karatassos brings the light, bright and airy feel of the Greek islands to Atlanta as he introduces a redesigned space called Ouzo Bar and Dining Room in the former the

Octopus Lounge on the right hand side of Buckhead’s upscale Kyma restaurant. Chef Pano will offer an updated mezze menu with lighter fare and specialty Greek cocktails including a variety of ouzo selections, Greek watermelon mojitos, cucumber martinis and more. The new space plays off the traditional “Ouzerie” of Greece with a focus on small plates, great wine and cocktails. The Ouzo Bar and Dining Room is located at 3085 Piedmont Road. Visit buckheadrestaurants.com/restaurant/kyma for more information.

Health food store Nuts ‘n Berries has opened a new location in Decatur. When Nuts ‘n Berries owners, Mari Geier and Kevin Parker, heard Rainbow Natural Foods, a local community grocer in Decatur for 40 years, was closing its doors at the beginning of 2019, they instantly knew they needed to save the location. “We intend to keep the hometown store alive and are honored to have the opportunity to serve the Decatur community by reviving the famous vegan hot bar and offering full-service organic produce and grocery, plus the highest quality health and wellness supplements at competitive prices,” explained Geier. For more, visit nutsnberries.com.

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