26 Traditional Foods
You Have To Try in Atlanta

Fried green tomatoes are a staple of Southern United States. The dish is made with firm, unripe, and tangy green tomatoes that are sliced, dipped in seasoned cornmeal, then deep-fried. Ideally, the tomatoes should have a crunchy crust and a succulent interior after the deep-frying. Fried green tomatoes are typically served as an appetizer or a side dish, and sometimes even as a mid-afternoon snack. They can also be used as an ingredient for sandwiches, such as the fried green tomato po'boy. The dish gained popularity in the 1980s with Fannie Flagg's novel called Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (which was later also made into a movie).Expand

First prepared by the Native American centuries ago, grits are tiny broken grains of corn that are boiled and served with other flavorings, usually as a breakfast dish, when they are accompanied by bacon, eggs, and toast on the side. The dish is popular throughout the Southern United States, and the name grits is derived from the Old English word grytt, meaning coarse meal. While some may confuse grits with polenta, there are some important differences between the two - in the type of corn, the fineness of the grind, taste, and texture. This thick porridge is usually savory, not sweet, and it is an important part of a traditional dish called shrimp and grits, which is also popular in the Southern parts of the United States.Expand

Sweet potato pie is a traditional pie with origins in the southern parts of the United States of America, and it's especially popular in North Carolina. The dessert is prepared as an open pie without the top crust; its interior usually filled a combination of milk, eggs, sugar, and mashed sweet potatoes. It is often flavored with spices such as vanilla or nutmeg in the South, while in the North, some like to top the pie with marshmallow pieces. The tradition of making sweet potato pie in the South has been present since the days of slavery, and African slaves were the first ones to make the dish. First recipes for the pie started appearing in cookbooks from the 18th century onwards. Since the slaves made the pie for celebrations, communal gatherings, and large family meals, that tradition has continued up to this day, and it is commonly prepared for Thanksgiving in the American South.Expand

Although archaeologists had found some petrified remains of fried cakes with holes in the center, it is still unclear how could the early Native Americans prepare these delicious fried dough desserts that we know today as doughnuts. In the past, doughnuts were known as olykoeks (oily cakes), and the pilgrims from Holland are credited for bringing them to the United States. Those early doughnuts were often made with prunes, raisins, or apples in the middle. During World War I, the doughnut was already an American favorite, consumed by soldiers that were fighting overseas as a reminder of home. In the 1950s and the 1960s, the popularity of these treats was so big that new doughnut chains started appearing on the market, such as Krispy Kreme and Dunkin' Donuts, helping in the perception of doughnuts as breakfast food. Today, there are numerous varieties of doughnuts - glazed, powdered, filled, topped with frosting, coconut, peanuts, or sprinkles, and every year on the first Friday of June people celebrate the National Doughnut Day. This event was initially created by the Salvation Army in 1917 as a way to support the morale of the American troops during World War I and was later re-established in 1938, in honor of those who served the soldiers with fresh doughnuts during World War I.Expand

Dixie dog is a traditional hot dog variety that's believed to have origins in Huntington, West Virginia. It consists of a split hot dog roll and a blubbery hot dog sausage that's topped with chili sauce and creamy coleslaw. In West Virginia, Dixie dogs are not called Dixie dogs but simply slaw dogs or hot dogs. This hot dog variety was created at Stewart's root beer stand, dating back to 1932.Expand

What started as a simple fisherman's dish made with shrimp cooked in bacon grease, then served over creamy grits is today a cult Southern dish due to the fact that Craig Claiborne mentioned it in the New York Times in 1985, after he tried the dish at Crook's Corner, a restaurant in North Carolina. That version of shrimp and grits was made by a chef called Bill Neal, who also added mushrooms, bacon, and cheddar cheese into the dish. Today, there are numerous variations of the dish found throughout the South, with added hot spices, barbecue sauces, tomatoes, and fried eggs. The dish is so popular that each September, there is the annual Shrimp & Grits Festival held on Jekyll Island in Georgia.Expand

With more than 1000 calories and usually over 45 grams of fat per serving, Luther burger is one of the world's unhealthiest burgers, but its flavors and a unique combination of ingredients make up for it. The standard burger bun is replaced by a sliced, sugar-glazed donut (usually a Krispy Kreme). Aside from that, Luther is basically a cheeseburger topped with bacon, and it is typically served without vegetables or condiments. Many people believe that it was invented at Mulligan's Bar in Georgia, when the cook ran out of standard hamburger buns and used donuts instead. Interestingly, the burger was named after Luther Vandross, a popular R&B singer.Expand

Chili dog is an American creation consisting of a sausage in a standard bun, topped with chili sauce and other ingredients depending on personal preferences, such as onions or cheese. The dish is often sold at numerous street stands, local eateries, and sports stadiums. No one can really agree about the origins or the inventor of the chili dog: some claim it was invented in Texas, the chili capital, while others believe that the first chili dog was created at Art's Famous Chili Dog Stand in southern Los Angeles. Of course, there are other theories, so some like to say it must have been invented in New York at a baseball game. Chili sauce, the key component of the dish, is also a source of great debate: should it have beans or not, and is it the only allowed topping? Regardless of its origins, chili dog remains a staple of quintessentially American street food.Expand

Icebox cake is a sweet dessert consisting of heavy cream, sugar, and chocolate cookies or wafers. The heavy cream is typically whipped into stiff peaks and combined with cookies to form alternating layers of whipped cream and cookies. The concoction is then left in the icebox (refrigerator) to chill overnight. The cream is often flavored with vanilla. This cake was introduced to the United States of America during WWI, but its popularity peaked in the 1920s and the 1930s. Today, there are many variations on the cake, both in America and Australia, with added pineapples, bananas, or chocolate pudding.Expand

She-crab soup, somewhat of a cross between a bisque and a chowder, is a soup made with heavy cream or milk, crabmeat, sherry, fish or crab stock, and roe—a key ingredient in the dish that improves the flavor and is responsible for the color. The soup is thickened with a roux or puréed boiled rice, and it is usually seasoned with either mace, onions, or shallots. A regional specialty of Tidewater, Virginia, the South Carolina Lowcountry, and Georgia coast, it was first introduced to these parts by the Scottish settlers in the 1700s in the form of partan-bree, a famous seafood bisque, but it was not until the 1900s that the soup gained its present-day form.Expand