Buford Highway: Atlanta's International Corridor food guide

Buford Highway runs northeast from the edge of Atlanta through Brookhaven, Chamblee and Doraville, and it is the best place in Georgia to eat food from other countries. It does not look like a dining district. It is a wide, busy road lined with strip malls, car dealerships and apartment complexes, and the restaurants are in the plazas, usually next to a grocery store. That plainness is part of the appeal: you come for the food, not the setting.

How did Buford Highway become the International Corridor?

Before the 1980s, the highway was a commercial strip of used car lots and fast-food restaurants. The first ethnic restaurant on the strip was a Cuban sandwich shop. In the 1980s, immigrants arrived, drawn by cheap apartments, available public transportation and nearby construction jobs in growing Gwinnett County. Latino workers and Asian business owners were drawn by low rents and steady traffic. Chamblee embraced the corridor's international character, while Doraville resisted it at first. The local chamber of commerce eventually gave the strip the nickname "International Corridor". Immigrant-owned businesses of every size line the road.

How do you explore it?

Treat a plaza as the unit. A single parking lot can hold a Chinese dumpling restaurant, a Salvadoran pupusa counter, a Mexican taqueria serving beef tongue tacos and a Korean barbecue restaurant, plus a supermarket where you can buy ingredients. Park once, walk around the lot, and read the signs. Look for menus taped to the glass, handwritten daily specials and photographs of dishes, which help when you do not know the language. Older strip malls along the road house long-established restaurants, including Cantonese barbecue counters, though new businesses have arrived since. Plazas change constantly: when an old favorite closes, a new restaurant from a different country often opens in its place.

What should you order?

Choose the dish the restaurant seems proud of. At a Salvadoran counter, try pupusas, griddled corn cakes filled with cheese, beans or pork, served with a tangy cabbage slaw. At a Chinese restaurant, ask about dumplings, roast meats and noodle soups. At a Korean restaurant, share barbecue and side dishes, called banchan. At a Mexican taqueria, order tacos by the piece, from simple to adventurous. Vietnamese restaurants serve pho and banh mi; Ethiopian, Peruvian, Thai and Brazilian restaurants are all within a short drive. Go with a group and order widely.

When should you go?

Lunch on weekdays is quieter and often cheaper, with specials. Weekend lunch and early evening are busy, especially at dim sum and Korean barbecue restaurants, where families gather. Many restaurants close one day a week, and a few close in the afternoon between lunch and dinner. Some of the smaller family places take cash only or have a card minimum, so bring a little cash.

How do you get there?

A car is the practical way. The corridor is long, and plazas are far apart. Rideshare is available. MARTA, Atlanta's transit system, has stations at Brookhaven and Chamblee, and the Doraville station is close to the northern end, but you will still need to walk or ride along the highway. Traffic on Buford Highway is heavy at rush hour, and the road is not pleasant for walking, so cross at signals only.

Who looks after the community? A community nonprofit that began as an Instagram page now tells the stories of the people and places on the highway and organizes events. It is one of the ways to learn who runs the restaurants and which are most loved. Eating at family-owned businesses helps them, and many have faced rent rises from redevelopment. Rating a dish and telling friends is a small way to help.

What about language, allergies and special diets?

Menus may be in several languages, and staff may speak limited English, but pointing and photos usually work. Ask for a translated menu or use a translation app. For allergies, the language gap makes caution wise: write down your allergy in the restaurant's language if you can, and consider choosing simpler dishes. Vegetarian and halal food is available, with several halal restaurants in the corridor, though you should confirm in person.

What do tax and tipping look like?

Georgia charges sales tax on restaurant meals, and the rate depends on the county. Tip 18 to 20 percent at table service. At a counter or a bakery, a tip is optional. Some restaurants add a service charge for large groups, which should be on the menu or the check.

What is a good first day on the corridor?

Start with a late breakfast or early lunch in Chamblee, where several plazas sit within a mile of each other. Have dumplings or noodles at one stop, then walk to a bakery in the same lot for pastries, which in Korean and Chinese bakeries often include soft buns with sweet or savory fillings. Visit a supermarket to see the produce, sauces and snacks from other countries, and buy a few things to take home. Then drive north to Doraville for a second meal, such as Korean barbecue or a Cantonese dinner. The corridor rewards curiosity: if a parking lot looks full, the food is probably good. Bring a cooler if you want to buy fish, meat or fresh noodles.

How do you keep track of a plaza full of kitchens?

Mosey is a food app for finding, rating and sharing places to eat, and a corridor of strip-mall kitchens is where rating by the dish earns its keep. Rate the pupusa, the dumplings and the banchan spread separately, and add a tag so you can find them again. Keep a list called Buford Highway plazas with one entry per parking lot you want to return to, and share it by invite link with the friend who has the car. The Explorer badge counts the cuisines you rate, so a day on this road moves it along.

More guides to read next:

• Atlanta food guide: Westside, Old Fourth Ward and the BeltLine
• Atlanta food halls and markets: Ponce City, Krog Street and Sweet Auburn
• Best brunch in Atlanta, Georgia (2026): where, when and how to go

More in the US food guides and the ranked lists of places.

On your next plaza stop, get the Mosey app and rate the first dish that surprises you.