Between the Georgia World Congress Center and Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the new Signia hotel looks like one of those giant Vegas properties where you have to walk a 5K just to get to your room. Thankfully, you only have to take a few steps and a trip up to the fourth floor to get to Capolinea. And that’s great news because the red sauce restaurant serves fantastic tableside martinis that you’ll want to come back for every opportunity you can.

With great food, good prices, and a fun ambiance, we're happy to flock to Birdcage in Grant Park for date nights and social outings. Lighting fixtures are a mix of wooden bird cages and white chandeliers with plumes of bright pink feathers on top (which, considering the tacky track record of feather plumes, somehow manage to be tasteful). But their menu isn’t for the birds—their delicious, mostly Latin dishes are simple but bursting with flavor.

Midtowners who are actively trying to live that pedestrian life welcome Rwby as a new place to grab a few drinks. For those without a Midtown address, the headache of finding parking at this Juniper Street restaurant is rage-inducing. But once inside, a small bar framed in a large floral arrangement gives way to a handful of wooden booths in a cozy orange-tinted dining area. And food items like their cheesy, juicy burger are reasonable (for Midtown, anyway) prices.

This moody Buckhead mezcal bar and restaurant sits just off the perpetually busy Peachtree Street on the ground floor of an apartment complex. Pata Negra feels like stepping into a deprivation chamber, where all outside sounds and bright lights cease. Embrace it though, because reading the menu by candlelight is romantic. And instead of being a hindrance, the sexy, dark decor keeps the focus on the food. The Mexican menu is stuffed with phenomenal dishes like poblanas de pollo.

M by Tasuku Murakami inside Buckhead’s Umi is shaping up to be a worthy competitor to the city’s top omakase-only restaurants like Omakase Table, Hayakawa, and Mujo. A dark stairway inside the restaurant leads up to a small room so brightly lit, your eyes will need a moment to make out the eight seats around the L-shaped counter. The 21-course dinner kicks off with a few warm plates, like buttery lobster in a fantastic chimichurri that we’d love to have as a full entree.

Fans of Yalda in Sandy Springs now have a new West Midtown location for their Iranian favorites like tender lamb kabobs and herbaceous cocktails that blend pomegranate, sumac, and other Middle Eastern flavors. Family-style platters and shareable mezze spreads make this the perfect outing for a small group (be sure to get the smoky mirza ghassemi for the table). And the beautiful, moody dining room, dramatic accent lighting, and Persian art make this a place to impress the group.

Little Sparrow is the much-anticipated replacement for the popular JCT Kitchen space in West Midtown. It’s from the same owners of Marcel, so fans of the French steakhouse will find lots of similarities but with different spins. For example, Little Sparrow also has a free bread service but with unlimited freshly baked baguettes, and there’s only one steak selection, which comes in thinnish slices and served with super thick hand cut frites (we’re here for this).

Brush isn’t exactly new. But it makes our Hit List because it feels ripped-out-the-plastic-new since it left its old space in Decatur, dropped “izakaya” from the name, and picked up a totally different identity in Buckhead Village. And we like their glow-up. There’s also a dedicated omakase room (we'll update this when we've had a chance to check that out) and a streamlined Japanese menu with standouts like braised hamachi collar and tender duck in a miso broth.