Many years ago, Austin, Texas coined a slogan that railed against the breakneck pace of development and gentrification that was upending a long-held secret of its unique charms, independent spirit, and small-town feel. The slogan "Keep Austin Weird" became the battle cry to not to become a mainstream big city with expensive real estate and soulless corporate enterprises putting the mom-and-pops out to pasture. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Austin is no longer weird.
And honestly, neither is our colossus of a city otherwise known as Atlanta. But here we still have a few weird pockets and one of them most definitely is East Atlanta. I recently heard some buzz about TKO restaurant in the Southern Feed Store food hall/collective in East Atlanta and made my way there. TKO offers street food-style versions of Southern and Asian flavors (with some Mexican and good ole USA) that are worth a journey into the hood. I started with the cheesy kimchee fried rice which brings just about all the flavor profiles into the game--sweet, savory, salty and umami. Then you have Dukbokki (Spicy rice cakes in gochujang sauce, and mozzarella cheese), eggroll taquitos, Korean Fried Chicken nuggets and sandwiches, and their signature K-Dogs (Korean corn dogs) which are all-beef hotdogs deep fried in panko and lightly covered in sugar. There's even a really fantastic smash burger that's worth the drive.
So if you are feeling "weird" and explorational, venture into the East Atlanta Village and check out TKO.
