Eat, Sip, and Spin in Atlanta

Making some of the best music players on earth isn’t the only thing we do at Victrola. Our staff loves to travel, loves record stores, loves to eat, loves a fine cocktail, and loves to hunt for the best places to do all those things in every metropolis in the United States. We want to share our favorite places with you, so we invented Eat, Sip, and Spin in…to tell you about our favorite places to do those things.

New York and Los Angeles are considered the two centers of the musical universe, with the business and the best bands and artists congregating there. Nashville is probably third, due to the country music industry being headquartered there since records have existed. But you could make the case that the real third city of the music industry is Atlanta, long a hub of southern greats, from Otis Redding to Outkast, Future to R.E.M.

Talk to anyone who's been there and they'll talk about the sprawl--you spend at least as much time in traffic in the ATL as you do in L.A.. Because it's so spread out, though, there are cool pockets of great restaurants, bars, and record stores spread out over the whole metroplex. Here's where our staff goes when they hit the A.

Eat

Start your day at Sublime Doughnuts, a creative, indulgent doughnut shop with flavors that go well beyond the usual glazed dozen. It’s a fun Atlanta stop for breakfast, dessert or a late-day sugar run. Follow that up with the Busy Bee Café, an essential Atlanta soul-food institution serving generations of locals since 1947. Go for the fried chicken, oxtails, classic sides and the feeling that you’re experiencing a real piece of the city.

Take a break at Arden’s Garden, an Atlanta-born favorite for fresh juices, smoothies, wellness shots and plant-based food. It’s the perfect reset after a few heavier Southern meals. Then head to Souper Jenny, a warm, quirky neighborhood café serving rotating soups, salads and sandwiches made with fresh ingredients. It’s casual, comforting and very local.

Finally, finish at Heirloom Market BBQ, a tiny, chef-driven barbecue spot combining classic Southern smoking traditions with Korean flavors. It’s one of the most distinctive barbecue experiences in the Atlanta area.

Sip

Atlanta has a lot of bars that merge listening and drinking via hi-fi listening bars. Echo Room at Westside Motor Lounge is a purpose-built vinyl listening room with an audiophile-grade sound system, all-vinyl programming and a full cocktail bar. The music is the main event rather than background noise. Commune is a beautiful hi-fi listening bar in nearby Avondale Estates featuring vinyl DJs, carefully programmed music, cocktails, wine and seasonal small plates. This is the pick for an intimate evening where people are actually paying attention to the records. Stereo ATL is a coffee shop by day and cocktail-and-listening bar at night, with DJs, vinyl and a relaxed neighborhood feel. It’s more casual and social than a silent audiophile room, but music still drives the experience.

And if you're, for some reason, not looking for a listening lounge experience, try Kimball House. Located in a beautiful former Decatur train depot, it’s the place for elegant cocktails, oysters and one of the city’s best-known absinthe programs.

Spin

Atlanta's record store lineup is as stacked as their food and drink lineup. Start at Wax ’n’ Facts, a Little Five Points institution since 1976, with especially strong used selections in jazz, soul, R&B, hip-hop and rock. Criminal Records is an iconic independent shop with a broad vinyl selection, comics and plenty of Atlanta music history. It’s also right in the middle of the wonderfully weird Little Five Points experience. 

JB’s Record Lounge is more than a store, it’s a community-centered listening space with deep selections in jazz, soul, funk, Afrobeat and hip-hop, plus DJ sets and live events. And finally, hit up Fantasyland Records an old-school Buckhead shop operating since 1976, packed with used and new LPs, 45s, CDs and cassettes.