A local restaurant influencer discussed a decade in the business, a grant program was announced that could aid some long-standing local restaurants and spring menu items began to appear around town this week on the metro Atlanta food and restaurant scene.
ATL Bucket List turns 10
Alyssa Fagien still vividly remembers the first time she got 1,000 likes on an Instagram post in 2015, an occasion that marked an early milestone for her ATL Bucket List page.
Fagien is one of Atlanta’s most successful lifestyle influencers, with more than 400,000 followers on Instagram and another 100,000 between Facebook and Threads. On Saturday, she’ll celebrate ATL Bucket List’s 10-year anniversary with a party at Tesserae, the restaurant atop the Thompson hotel, from 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Credit: ATL Bucket List
Credit: ATL Bucket List
ATL Bucket List was initially meant to be a personal chronicle of Fagien’s journey as she got to know her new hometown, often posting about the Atlanta restaurants she enjoyed, Fagien told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. But her relentless positivity and casual-yet-delicious photography style quickly captured followers. Already working in digital marketing, Fagien continued to build her following at a time before the term “influencer” was widely known.
In the ensuing decade, the influencer economy around restaurants has become both a necessity and burden for business owners, depending on the influencers with whom they choose to work. Chefs and restaurant owners can tell endless stories about so-called influencers with tiny followings who demand to be treated like royalty. In some cases, restaurants have been outright scammed by people with no intention of promoting their restaurants.
Fagien knows about the negative side of the influencer economy but said she has always strived to do right by her restaurant partners. Another milestone in her decade behind ATL Bucket List was when restaurants and brands began asking to hire her to run their social media accounts. Fagien said she tries to highlight the unique aspects of the restaurants with which she works and has maintained warm relationships with her clients, including some of Atlanta’s top restaurateurs.
Credit: ATL Bucket List
Credit: ATL Bucket List
The influencer economy has matured and restaurateurs have become much savvier in their dealings with social media-first content creators, Fagien said, but she also acknowledged that the digital landscape can still feel like the Wild West. With no barrier to entry, the social media landscape is more competitive than ever, and there’s plenty of uncertainty in the industry, from the murkiness around TikTok’s future in America to the near-constant changes at the social platform X and ever-shifting algorithms at Instagram and Facebook.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
So far, Fagien has navigated it all to become one of Atlanta’s most followed sources of information on local restaurants, shopping and other lifestyle tips. Anyone interested in celebrating 10 years of ATL Bucket List can learn more about the anniversary party on the Instagram page or purchase tickets at the Thompson Hotel’s website. Tickets cost $45 and include the first drink. Food and drinks will also be available for purchase and there will be a DJ, DIY flower bar and permanent jewelry for sale.
Tesserae. 415 East Paces Ferry Road NE, Atlanta. 470-600-3500, tesseraeatlanta.com
City of Atlanta offering grants to ‘legacy’ businesses
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Some of Atlanta’s classic restaurants will be eligible for grants from the city’s new initiative to support long-standing, locally owned small businesses. The legacy business program will provide grants to local businesses that have operated within the city limits for 30 years or more.
The initiative will reimburse qualifying businesses for up to $5,000 in modernization costs, including line items like new equipment and marketing efforts. The businesses will also be added to a directory maintained by the city.
“I’m grateful for programs like this because they show that our city truly understands the importance of relationships,” Tracy Gates, owner of the 78-year-old Busy Bee Café, said at an event Tuesday evening celebrating the initiative’s launch.
“They clearly see that places like Busy Bee aren’t just businesses, they are part of Atlanta’s genetic makeup, and with their support, we can keep serving the community,” Gates said.
Georgia restaurants snubbed during week of recognition
It was a tough week for Georgia restaurants in terms of awards and recognition.
Aria was the lone Georgia restaurant to be named a finalist for the James Beard Awards on Wednesday, but the nomination was a big one. The venerable Buckhead fine dining establishment, from which chef and co-owner Gerry Klaskala recently announced his retirement, is one of five finalists in the nation up for the Outstanding Hospitality award.
Credit: Vemaps
Credit: Vemaps
Hours before the James Beard Award finalists were announced, the Michelin Guide made a splash with news that its next guidebook would cover the American South, its first-ever regional guide in the U.S. The new guide will include six Southern states and metro Atlanta, but not the rest of Georgia. This year’s awards ceremony will also move to a new city, as yet unannounced.
Also on Wednesday, Food & Wine magazine released its 2025 Global Tastemakers list. The list of “the 165 most delicious places to visit right now” included only one in Georgia: Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Read more about the James Beard Awards and new Michelin Guide:
Other items of interest
In an interview with UATL, Slutty Vegan founder Aisha “Pinky” Cole said she has returned to the plant-based burger chain, after briefly losing then reacquiring the company through restructuring earlier this year.
Arrivato Imports, an Atlanta-based company that supplies restaurants with high-end food items like caviar and wagyu beef, announced that it is now taking orders from consumers.
Buena Vida Tapas Bar in Old Fourth Ward and El Super Pan at the Battery have both launched new spring menus, while Muchaho in Reynoldstown has debuted a new cocktail menu.
Credit: IMPRINTS
Credit: IMPRINTS
New restaurant announcements
Varuni Napoli will open its third location at High Street in the Perimeter neighborhood of Dunwoody, representatives for the development announced. The Neapolitan-style pizza restaurant joins restaurants like Nando’s Peri-Peri and Cuddlefish, which are already open at High Street. The new Varuni Napoli will move into a 3,000-square-foot space that opens onto the development’s central green space. Representatives for High Street did not share an opening date for the restaurant.
Credit: Varuni Napoli
Credit: Varuni Napoli
Yeppa + Co. is opening a second location along the incredibly popular Eastside Beltline Trail near where the Beltline crosses Irwin Street, just across the Patagonia store and Krog Street Market. The restaurant announced the new location with a video on Instagram and did not offer further details, including when the new casual Italian restaurant is expected to open.
Acai bowls, paninis coming to Terminal South’s Switchman Hall
Wild Fryz, a restaurant chain centered on French fries loaded with different toppings, is coming to Woodstock’s Adair Park development, according to What Now Atlanta.
Tomorrow’s News Today reported several restaurant closures in the past week, including Earl of Sandwich at Lenox Square, Einstein Bros. Bagels on North Druid Hills Road, Snooze an A.M. Eatery in Sandy Springs and Mamoun’s Falafel in West Midtown.
Have insider info about the Atlanta dining scene? Send your tips to henri.hollis@ajc.com.
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