Relax. It’s Labor Day. Let Atlanta Restaurants Do the Cooking for You

Labor Day arrives Monday, September 5, signaling the unofficial start of fall activities. Might as well squeeze in one last weekend of summer fun! Spend it in the grocery store and kitchen? We think not, because some of our favorite eateries are open over the holiday. Keep these Atlanta restaurants in mind if you’re returning from vacation, beat from a day of outdoor activities or just ready to let someone else labor over the stove.

For high-quality steaks and seafood, head to 101 Steak. Vinings’ newest chophouse is open regular hours all weekend and will be open for dinner on Monday from 4-9:30 p.m., offering mouthwatering dishes like the 32-oz. tomahawk chop, East and West Coast oysters and more than 100 wines by the glass.

Newcomer 5Church carries its weekend brunch service over to Monday for a special holiday treat. Cornmeal waffles, Southern fried steak, duck confit with cabbage pancake and more will be on the menu from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., with dinner service in the evening.

Out late on Sunday? Celebrate into the wee hours at Atkins Park Restaurant & Bar in Virginia-Highland or Ormsby’s in West Midtown. Both are staying open until 3 a.m. Monday morning. Atkins Park will cure your hangover with its full brunch menu available on Monday starting at 11:30 a.m.

Ponce City Market favorite Bellina Alimentari continues its monthly Bluesin’ Bellina live music series on Sunday from 4-7 p.m. Enjoy food, libations and great music from the Cody Matlock Band. Regular Monday hours stand.

Bid summer a final farewell with a special edition of Basque in the Sun on Sunday at Gypsy Kitchen. Enjoy paella on the patio, $5 glasses of rosé, $4 tinto de verano and half off select bottles of wine, as well as a live flamenco guitarist from 4-7 p.m. and a DJ starting at 7 p.m. Closed on Monday.

HOBNOB Neighborhood Tavern is open regular hours all weekend and Monday. Stop by and enjoy the brunch menu and $17 bottomless mimosas. Order half-price wings on Sunday from 5-11 p.m. and return for Monday’s date night special -- dinner for two for $24.95.

Johnny’s Hideaway, Atlanta’s favorite neighborhood nightspot, is open late on Sunday for a pre-Labor Day bash with live music from Cold Draft Beer. Monday regulars, Johnny’s is open for you as usual.

Whether you’re attending the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game on Saturday or going sci-fi at Dragon Con, be sure to make Ray’s in the City part of your itinerary – the downtown restaurant is open all weekend. Come Monday for the two-course 1.25-pound whole Maine lobster dinner available all day for $24.95. More? That dinner also is available on Labor Day atRay’s on the River and Ray’s at Killer Creek. If you’re craving Mexican food, visit Ray's Rio Bravo on Monday for half-priced drinks all day.

Smokebelly BBQ turns the corner from summer to fall by honoring barbecue and the start of college football season. Friday through Monday specials include $3 Bud Light drafts, $10 Bud Light pitchers, $15 Bud and Bud Light buckets and $5 Tito’s drinks. The Whispering Gypsies start in with live music at 8 p.m. Friday. Saturday, enjoy gridiron action on 16 TVs, along with enough barbecue to feed every college team in the country. Smoked brisket and an Irish whiskey are just the ticket for catching Sunday’s Texas vs. Notre Dame game. Cap off the weekend on Monday with waffle fries, mac and cheese and pulled pork as FSU faces off against Ole Miss. Beginning September 5, Monday’s mean 25-cent wings starting at 4 p.m.

Additional restaurants open regular hours on Monday, September 5:

• Affairs in Alpharetta
• Marlow’s Tavern (all locations)
• Sublime Doughnuts (both locations)
• The Big Ketch Buckhead and Canton Street (Roswell)
• Tin Lizzy’s Cantina (all locations) 

Labor Day Eats Never Looked so Sweet

Labor Day comes “late” this year - Monday, September 7 - squeezing in time for one last summer getaway or cookout before fall unofficially arrives. Some of our favorite Atlanta restaurants are remaining open on Labor Day for destination dining, serving sustenance for those returning from vacations and providing the fixings for labor-less holiday eating.

At Atkins Park Restaurant & Bar in Virginia-Highland, regular hours of 11:30 a.m.-3 a.m. prevail on Labor Day, but the Sunday fun is extended until 3 a.m. Monday morning.
 
Bantam + Biddy locations (Ansley, Crescent, Lenox and Avalon) are open normal hours serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Ansley restaurant is home plate for Monday Slider Night beginning at 5 p.m. At Avalon, guests can tilt back $2 Jekyll Brewing Big Creek Kolsch in the restaurant or take their brews out to the streetscape for a stroll and window shopping.
 
Chick-a-Biddy in Atlantic Station will be open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. and offering its usual lunch and dinner menus packed with all-natural chicken dishes, burgers, wraps and more.

If you’re heading downtown for Labor Day, swing by Der Biergarten, Glenn’s Kitchen, Max’s Coal Oven Pizzeria, SkyLounge, STATS or Twin Smokers BBQ.  Each will be operating normal business hours. Pay no mind to the villains and creatures you’ll see walking down Peachtree for Dragon Con though. 

The new Tin Lizzy's Cantina downtown location will be open as usual, along with all other Tin Lizzy's locations! Tacos, anyone?

Loyal to the core, Johnny’s Hideaway is open normal hours on Labor Day so Johnny’s friends can uphold their Monday night traditions. Team trivia begins at 7:30 p.m., the DJ spins dance tunes at 9 p.m. and food and drink specials twist the night away until 3 a.m.

With 14 metro Atlanta locations, all open as usual on Labor Day, there's a Marlow's Tavern close at hand with hearty American food and beverage favorites.

In addition to being open for lunch and dinner, MAX’s Wine Dive spreads out its popular 11 a.m.-4 p.m. weekend brunch over all three days of the holiday weekend.
 
Ray's Restaurants cover lunch and dinner on Monday, September 7. Ray's in the City, Ray's on the River and Ray's at Killer Creek will be open from noon-8 p.m. and offering Ray’s Dining Club cardholders triple points on Labor Day purchases. Newly opened Ray’s Rio Bravo in Sandy Springs stays open for a holiday fiesta from 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
 
Revival in Decatur will be open from 5-9 p.m. on Labor Day and serving its dinner menu of à la carte and family-style dishes inspired by the Southern culinary heritage of Kevin Gillespie’s family tree.

Nothing says end-of-summer celebration like a frozen cocktail on a stick. Saltwood Charcuterie & Bar has that - in pineapple margarita or cucumber melon mojito flavors - and more on Labor Day until 10:30 p.m.

Summer in the South is all about barbecue, sweet tea and cold brews. Sounds like Smokebelly BBQ in Buckhead, which is open 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.

Even the landlocked can wiggle into their flip-flops for a coastal holiday weekend both inside and out on the covered deck at The Big Ketch Saltwater Grill in Buckhead. Atlanta’s local beach house will be open on Labor Day from 11 a.m.-10 p.m. offering an ocean of seafood dishes and evening live music.

Firing up the grill this Labor Day? Pick up some White Oak Pastures pastured poultry or grass-fed beef for the backyard barbecue.

Relax! These Restaurants are Ready for You on Labor Day

What to do with your day off? Eat delicious food of course! Lucky for you, we have the inside scoop on just which Atlanta restaurants will be open to help satisfy those Labor Day cravings.

Atkins Park Restaurant & Bar in Virginia-Highland will be open from 11:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. serving Labor Day brunch specials including fried chicken biscuits with scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, tomato gravy and stone gound grits. Yum! If you’re more of a late riser, not to worry. They will also be offering their lunch, dinner and bar menus.

If you’re venturing out in Midtown on your holiday, make sure Bantam + Biddy in Ansley Mall is on the itinerary. Open during normal hours, breakfast, lunch and dinner will be served. If you’re in the brunching mode, Bantam + Biddy on Crescent Avenue will be offering Labor Day brunch until 3 p.m. followed by lunch and dinner.

Other restaurants to handle holiday weekend hankerings are Chick-a-Biddy, HOBNOB, 10th & Piedmont, G’s Midtown, Hearth Pizza Tavern, Der Biergarten, Game-X, Glenn’s Kitchen, Max’s Coal Oven Pizzeria, STATS, SkyLounge, Parma Rustic Tavern, The Big Ketch Saltwater Grill, Smokebelly, Q & Brew Lawn Party, Ray’s Restaurants, Marlow’s Tavern, Ormsby’s, The Pig & The Pearl, RA Sushi, Tin Drum Asiacafé and Tin Lizzy’s Cantina. 

Eating Out Sound Better Than Cooking Out? Check Out These Spots!

The year is steadily flying by and I have given up all hopes of trying figure out where all the time has gone. This weekend marks the unofficial end of summer, and, for a change, my husband and I have decided that we are not cooking out for Labor Day this year. It was an executive decision driven by the dread shopping for a grand feast, sweating over the grill (or in the kitchen) picking up half full bottles (of whatever), all the while playing the happy hostess. I think I’ll save all that for Thanksgiving, which at this rate, won’t be long. So, just in case you may be thinking the same thing, here are a few places that will welcome us all with open arms (and bars) on Labor Day:

La Tavola Trattoria: 992 Virginia Avenue, NE; 404-873-5430.

VITA: 2110 Peachtree Road; 404-367-8482.

Marlow’s Tavern, all locations: Alpharetta at 3719 Old Alabama Road, 770-475-1800; Kennesaw at 745 Chastain Road, NW, 770-425-8777; Midtown at 950 West Peachtree Street, 404-815-0323; Vinings at 2355 Cumberland Parkway, 770-432-2526; and Northlake at 4156 LaVista Road; 678-987-1197.

Ecco: 40 7th Street; 404-347-9555.