Olivia Wakim

Food and Dining Reporter at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Food and dining reporter @ajc. Formerly @mdjonline and @redandblack [email protected]

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Articles

Top events, activities and dining in Atlanta this weekend

2 weeks ago | ajc.com | Olivia Wakim |Avery Newmark

Father’s Day is Sunday, and whether your dad’s a bourbon sipper, a golf champ or just loves a good chill sesh, there’s a little something around town (and just beyond) to make him feel like the legend he is.
Mukja Korean Fried Chicken closes its doors

2 weeks ago | ajc.com | Olivia Wakim

Mukja Korean Fried Chicken has closed after nearly five years, a Peruvian pop-up is setting up at a local brewery for the month, a Burger King employee goes viral for all the best reasons and more happenings from the metro area’s dining scene in recent days. Credit: Elena VeselovaMukja Korean Fried Chicken closes its doorsAfter almost five years of operation at 933 Peachtree St. NE in Midtown, Sean Chang of Mukja Korean Fried Chicken closed the restaurant on Tuesday.
Steak bar Luella to replace the Ivy on Roswell Road in Buckhead

3 weeks ago | ajc.com | Olivia Wakim

The team behind longtime sports bar Ivy in Buckhead is opening a steak bar this fall in its place. Owners Jamey and Benjie Shirah of Revival Restaurant Group traded sports bars for steak bars after they closed the Ivy in December after 14 years of operating as a nightlife destination in Atlanta. Jamey Shirah told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution they wanted to move away from the nightlife scene as they’ve gotten older and started families.
Taco Mac closes Midtown location, its second closing in a month

3 weeks ago | ajc.com | Ligaya Figueras |Olivia Wakim

Less than a month after closing its original location in Virginia-Highland, Taco Mac has shuttered the doors at its address on Peachtree Street restaurant in Midtown. As first reported by Atlanta News First, the Atlanta-based sports bar chain abruptly closed the restaurant Monday, with workers seen removing signage from the building.
Three Asian food stalls will debut at Ponce City Market in June, breakfast restaurant Bomb Biscuit opened in a new location, and more from metro Atlanta's dining scene.

3 weeks ago | ajc.com | Olivia Wakim

Market East will open at Ponce City Market next week featuring three new Asian restaurants, popular breakfast restaurant Bomb Biscuit opened in a new location, Hopstix launched an omakase experience and more happenings from the metro area’s dining scene last week. Ponce City Market welcomes a new wing of Asian restaurantsThe husband-and-wife team behind Vietnamese restaurant Vietvana is debuting three Asian concepts in a renovated wing of Ponce City Market dubbed Market East.
Late-night bites, food festivals headed to metro Atlanta in June

1 month ago | ajc.com | Olivia Wakim

Take a dumpling class, embark on a bar crawl through time and splurge on a live tuna-cutting experience this June in metro Atlanta. Murder, Mystery and MayhemPetite Violette’s latest interactive murder mystery party, “Murder Impossible: Nitefort’s Dead Reckoning,” is a nod to Tom Cruise’s final “Mission Impossible” movie. The performance is paired with a four-course dinner of French food. 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturdays through June 28. $75 per person. 2948 Clairmont Road NE, Atlanta.
Barbeque restaurant will open in 2026 near Mercedes-Benz Stadium

1 month ago | ajc.com | Olivia Wakim

A barbecue restaurant will land in the South Downtown development next year. Jason Furst and Sam Pinner of the sandwich shop Sammy’s will open Broad Street BBQ at 96 Broad St. The building borders what Furst said will become South Downtown’s main square, just across from where El Tesoro is also expected to open in 2026. ExploreFood and DiningThe announcement comes weeks after the longtime Atlanta friends debuted their first restaurant, Sammy’s in Adair Park.
Would an Atlantan ever choose Pepsi over Coke? Pepsi reboots its 'challenge'

1 month ago | ajc.com | Kelly Yamanouchi |Olivia Wakim

Editor’s note: This story has been updated. Deep in the heart of Coca-Cola territory in Georgia, PepsiCo is launching a new front in the cola wars — with the return of the Pepsi Challenge blind taste test. The skirmisharrived in the Peach State on Thursday — National Have a Coke Day, no less— and will run the next few days. This time, the longtime Coke rival is asking people out and about in Atlanta to sip from unmarked cups of Pepsi Zero Sugar and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar to decide which they prefer.
Ramen Station is latest restaurant casualty at Larkin on Memorial

1 month ago | ajc.com | Olivia Wakim

Grant Park restaurant Ramen Station closed last month at Larkin on Memorial after seven years in business. Ramen Station was a concept from Michael Lo and George Yu of Korean Wives Hospitality Group, which also includes Suzy Siu’s Baos in Krog Street Market and Salaryman in Toco Hills. Lo also owns Philly cheesesteak shop Nicky’s Undefeated in Tucker with business partner Walt Gebelein, separate from the Korean Wives brand.
Atlanta Thai restaurant Nan Thai Buckhead carries on family's tradition

1 month ago | ajc.com | Olivia Wakim

DeeDee Niyomkul, the daughter of restaurateurs Nan and Charlie Niyomkul, keeps three portraits of her parents from the ’70s hanging front and center on the walls of her restaurant, Nan Thai Buckhead. When DeeDee walks past the pictures, her customers often mistake her for her mother, Nan, despite the bell-bottoms and vintage look of the pictures.