Atlantans eat out a lot -- Zagat's 2007 Restaurant Survey put Atlanta at seventh overall in the number of meals eaten out (3.7 per week), tied with Miami and ahead of New York and Boston. Long waits at popular spots aren't uncommon, but there are usually plenty of other worthwhile spots around if you're impatient.

And as you'd expect from a city as diverse as Atlanta, you can find nearly any type of cuisine somewhere in the Atlanta area:

Traditional southern meat-and-three restaurants like The Colonnade and Mary Mac's Tea Room contend with pho shops, tacquerias, Thai, Indian, Ethiopian, and other ethnic places, and with foodie havens like Bacchanalia, Joel Antunes, the Food Studio, Rathbun's, etc. for a seemingly endless stream of diners.

Of course, there's plenty of barbecue, soul food, and the like about, not to mention pizza joints of every description (Mellow Mushroom began in Atlanta before spreading like, well, mushrooms across the southeast, and Fellini's Pizza has provided slices to hungry Atlantans and jobs to struggling musicians for over two decades now). And then of course there's the Varsity -- the world's largest drive-in restaurant, when nothing but a burger or a chili dog and an F.O (frosted orange) will do.