The nominator: John Kessler

His credentials: Restaurant critic for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Follow him on Twitter @AJCFoodandMore.

Atlanta: The Optimist

The scene: A higgledy-piggledy assortment of old warehouses alongside a freight railroad gulch, Atlanta’s Westside has become the city’s most exciting dining locus. Its old buildings have great bone structure, including the one that houses this nouveau seafood restaurant. Here, a graceful vaulted ceiling and subway-tile walls and tables for 180 belie the space’s former life as a ham-processing plant.

The food: Platters of iced oysters served with house wheat crackers and hot sauce, fried clam rolls spiced with kimchi vinegar, and sustainable fish smartly and simply prepared. Swordfish gets little more than a dip in duck fat, while pan-crisped fillets of red snapper bob in an inspired bath of lime juice and Thai fish sauce.

**Dish to get: **The lobster roll, served on a buttery toasted bun, is the best in Atlanta—and supposedly available only at the adjoining Oyster Bar at dinner. Ask nicely and they’ll let you get one in the dining room (914 Howell Mill Rd.; 404-477-6260; entrées from $20).

The scene: Once a scruffy Decatur café with cinder block walls, Watershed has been made over as a stylish downtown spot serving zingy Louisiana food to a packed dining room and bar—the spillover from the 180-seater hangs out on a patio overlooking Peachtree Road.

The food: Many stick to the bar for spicy bites like catfish goujonettes in lettuce wraps, but there’s more going on in the back dining rooms, where you can taste Louisiana-born Joe Truex’s take on jambalaya, which combines fried oysters, butter-poached shrimp, and fried-rice fritters over aromatic crayfish étouffée. His scallop schnitzel with anchovies, capers, and a fried quail egg is brightened by a squeeze of lemon and a glass of terrific vermentino.

Dish to get: Watershed’s already-famous fried chicken, marinated for two days and fried in lard and ham fat, is served on Wednesdays only and goes quickly (1820 Peachtree Rd.; 404-809-3561; entrées from $18).

**The scene: **Upper King—the stretch of King Street just north of the well-touristed city center—continues to surprise locals and visitors alike with its proliferation of gems such as this grand two-level, 90-seat seafood restaurant set in a 1927 Bank of America building. A celebration of coastal Carolina mollusks and fish, it arrived in a wash of good will: James Beard Award–winning chef/owner Mike Lata runs city favorite FIG.