For Valentine’s Day 2020, Scott and I took the day off work and headed to Buford Highway. In case you didn’t know, this ~6 mile stretch of highway in Doraville is considered to be THE place to go for international food and culinary diversity in Atlanta. You can find everything from Szechuan mapo tofu to Bangladeshi shawarma. Ever wanted to try Malaysian food? Buford Highway has got you covered.
We started our day at Paris Baguette for coffee and pastries.
Next stop (and a MUST DO whenever you’re on that side of town): the Buford Highway Farmer’s Market [5600 Buford Highway]. The first thing to know about the farmer’s market is that it’s not actually a farmer’s market. It’s a supermarket. An amazing 100,000 square foot supermarket with fruits you’ve never seen in person before…
You can find dragon fruit.
All the peppers in the world.
Raw cacao.
Amazing cheeses (for really amazing prices).
A jug of chili sauce the size of your head.
“Chinese spaghetti sauce” (an interesting cultural mash-up if ever there was one).
And even peanut gluten. Although why in the world you need peanut gluten (and wtf that actually is), I have no idea.
Oh and I forgot to mention chocolate. Belgian chocolate! (Isn’t she lovely?)
Next up it was time for the best drive-through taco I’ve ever been handed [5084 Buford Highway].
Then onto the Food Terminal [5000 Buford Highway], where the menu is designed to look like a magazine.
This hip slightly-industrial modern restaurant has tons of Malaysian options and a perky playlist.
Next stop: Sweet Hut Bakery & Cafe [5150 Buford Highway] where they have chocolate domes and all sorts of pastries. We picked up a few pastries for friends who just had their second baby, and some for us too.
Then we took a short jaunt over to Atlanta Vintage Books [3660 Clairmont Road]. We love bookstores, period – but this one is something special with it’s signed copy of Julia Child’s Joy of Cooking, extensive Jewish/Israeli section, and free-roaming TNR’d cat colony. We think it might also be subject to some sort of time warp, since we easily spent 2 hours pouring over bookshelves and it only felt like 15minutes. Fair warning: probably not the spot for you if you have cat allergies.
Final stop of the day: Matcha Cafe Maiko. I looooove matcha and this is the perfect stop for a matcha enthusiast. Scott went with a Matcha/Hojicha swirl softserve and I picked the ‘Matcha Kokuto Gelatin Float’ (an iced matcha latte with a rich brown sugar jelly on the bottom and matcha icecream on top).
I just spent a whole afternoon on Buford Highway and I’m already wondering how soon I can go back. There are simply so many things to try! If you need help planning your own trip down this international corridor, this article has some great ideas. So does this one.
Things I’d like to try next:
Unbidden Grace 