Atlanta: Southern Food Tour & Oakland Cemetery History

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Duration2h 30m

GroupUp to 14

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Eight Bites Through Atlanta's Food & Cemetery History

You taste eight dishes at three Grant Park restaurants while a local food expert connects each bite to Atlanta's history, then walk through Oakland Cemetery learning about the city's early notables. The tour is 2.5 hours, includes one cocktail, and keeps groups small enough that you're not herding through the cemetery with fifty other people. Comfortable shoes and a bottle of water are the only things you need to bring.

2h 30m

Step-by-step itinerary

Atlanta food and history tour

Meet outside Six Feet Under restaurant
Enjoy shrimp, grits, fried catfish, and okra
Walk through Victorian houses to Oakland Cemetery
Take guided tour of Oakland Cemetery
Sample modern pizza and cocktail at Firepit Pizza Tavern
Try two to-go desserts from James Beard bakery

The Experience

The smell of shrimp and grits hits you before you see the patio—that's where the tour starts, outside Six Feet Under restaurant in Grant Park, with your guide waiting across from Oakland Cemetery. You'll taste your way through three locally-owned spots over 2.5 hours, eight tastings total, each one tied to a piece of Atlanta's story. The first stop lands you at a table with a view of both the city skyline and the cemetery grounds, fried catfish and okra with a cucumber wasabi soy sauce, and the kind of patio that makes you forget you're in the middle of a walking tour.

Then you move through the Victorian houses of Grant Park—not the park itself, but the neighborhood around it—and into Oakland Cemetery for a 40-minute guided walk. Your guide points out the early notables buried there, the people who shaped Atlanta when it was still rebuilding, and how food ran through all of it. The cemetery is one of Atlanta's top tourist destinations, but on a small group tour like this, it doesn't feel crowded. You're learning how a city's food culture and its history are the same story, told in different ways.

The second restaurant brings you to Firepit Pizza Tavern, owned by Leslie Cohen, who won Cutthroat Kitchen—so yeah, she knows what she's doing. You'll compare a modern take on a dish early Atlantans would have eaten with a modern pizza, and there's a cocktail sample from a local distillery mixed in. By the time you reach the James Beard-nominated bakery for two to-go desserts, you've walked just over a mile at an easy pace with plenty of rest stops built in. The bakery is deeply involved in the local community and pushes for better working conditions in food service, which your guide will tell you about.

Wear comfortable shoes and bring water—the tour runs rain or shine, and Atlanta weather can shift fast. If you have dietary restrictions, flag them in your booking notes or call 24 hours before to sort out menu changes. Street parking is nearby the meeting point, and public transportation is an option if you'd rather not drive.

What’s included

Your 2.5-hour tour includes eight food tastings at three locally-owned Grant Park restaurants, one cocktail sample from a local distillery, a 40-minute guided walk through Oakland Cemetery, and a knowledgeable local guide who connects Atlanta's food history to the city's early notables.
Small groups keep the experience intimate, and your cemetery ticket price includes a donation to the Historic Oakland Foundation.
Walking is moderate—just over a mile with rest stops—and the tour operates in all weather.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Unexpected Atlanta Tours & Gifts

Is this one for you?Right for travelers who want to taste Atlanta's food culture and history in one morning without arranging multiple stops or learning the cemetery on their own. The 2.5-hour length and easy pace work for most fitness levels, though comfortable shoes and a bottle of water are essential, and you'll be on your feet the whole time.