4 Best Restaurants in Central and North Georgia, Georgia

At one of Clayton's designated "farm-to-table" restaurants, chef Jamie Allred's updated Southern cuisine highlights the region's best produce, meats, and spirits in a relaxed, down-to-earth environment. With exposed brick walls and a small wooden bar you'll want to huddle around, Fortify is simply about good food, fun cocktails, and a wine list that includes a few local selections. Menu favorites include the Grit Bowl with local grits, shrimp, sausage, and fried chicken; the Georgia pecan-crusted Carolina mountain rainbow trout; fried green tomatoes; and the Fortified Salad with local roasted beets.

Reservations are a must in the fall when the mountains are packed with leaf lookers.

Focused on local and seasonal cuisine, this popular Blue Ridge restaurant even harvests its own specialty produce, eggs, and honey. Chef-owner Danny Mellman and his wife, Michelle Moran, have created a sophisticated yet down-to-earth culinary destination housed in an airy cedar "cabin" downtown. The menu features soups, salads, and entrées like seared duck breast with mashed sweet potatoes, seared locally caught trout, and hand-cut New York strip. The lunch menu offers a variety of sandwiches like the Blue Ridge Hot Brown. Decadent desserts, craft beers, and carefully curated wines round out the menu. Farm-to-table dinners and cooking classes are regularly offered.

Hand-cut steaks, fresh seafood, and seasonal vegetables are the focus at this casual restaurant set in a cheerful old house in Nacoochee Village, just outside town. Shrimp and grits, whole fried trout, and slow-cooked ribs are customer favorites. There's also a nice array of signature cocktails and a wine list featuring several local wines.

Owned by chefs Peter Dale and Hugh Acheson, this refined but casual eatery evokes the atmosphere of a European café with its Mediterranean-inspired dishes that make creative use of local ingredients. Prosciutto-wrapped grilled figs, hummus with lamb, and slow-roasted beef hanger steak are a few favorites. The ever-changing vegetable plate is pretty spectacular, too. Wine is a focus at the bar, with flights available for those craving variety. Local craft beers from Creature Comforts and Terrapin also figure prominently.