Restaurants in Forest Park

New Orleans–born chef Nick Melvin brings a worldly twist to PARISH's Southern comfort-inspired menu, cooking all the food in a cauldron made from a tuba and using bead-covered banjos to stir. In the tradition of Southern solidarity, PARISH uses fresh ingredients from local vendors for its dishes. Enchanted Mountain trout is used for the cornmeal-crusted Georgia trout ($17), while grits from Jenny Jack Sun Farm ride shotgun with the Big Easy Fried Chicken ($14). Other Dixieland dishes include a crispy eggplant étouffée ($16) with pickled raisins and popcorn rice, and stuffed catfish ($17) served on a bed of smoked maque choux. Appetizers include a chicken and andouille-sausage gumbo ($8) and Creole frites ($9) made with okra grown in the Oglethorpe state.

Though amphibious turtles may have repurposed the pie as a weapon to be launched, Everybody’s Pizza situates itself as a proponent of pizza’s unifying powers. Since opening in 1971, Everybody's has made a commitment to freshness, evidenced by dough made daily, high-quality ingredients, and absolutely no artificial flavorings, colorings, preservatives, enhancers, arsenic, or extenders. The result is a menu marked by innovative edibility and top-notch taste. Sample Everybody's beloved chewy and crisp thick-crust pizza ($12.29 for a medium cheese) with an array of non-traditional toppings available ($1.89 each on medium pizzas), including "honeyroast" garlic, toasted sesame seeds, and golden raisins. Cuisineers hesitant to commit to a full crust can try Everybody's very thin pizza crisps, which include the buffalo chicken ($14.99), with onions, cheddar, and provolone, or the Key Largo ($14.99), with shrimp, bacon, sesame seeds, tomato, and a number of cheeses. Everybody's also offers two of its own eatable inventions—pizza salads ($13.95), which lay chilled mixed salads atop fresh-baked pizza like rose petals on a lover's bed, and pizza sandwiches ($9.95–$10.95), folded-over pizzas available in a slew of styles.

Moe's guests file along the cafeteria-style line instructing the meal-makers on the preferred type of bean or meat. Banish beany burrito cravings by indulging in an Art Vandalay ($5.49, $4.49 for junior size), a culinary hug for herbivores stuffed with traditional meat-free fixings, or opt for the fresh-pressed John Coctostan quesadilla ($6.09), filled with the grilled meat of your choice, beans, and shredded cheese. Shareable selections, such as the Billy Barou nachos ($6.59) loaded with tender meat, beans, queso and jalapeños, make excellent paperweights, while the under-12 crowd can nosh the hard or soft Power Wagon taco ($4.49).

Grape Wine Bar and Bistro's resident culinary mastermind and wine-whisperer, Lavender Morrison, perfectly pairs crafted sips with their gastronomic soul mates to entice visiting palates. Every month, a host of new and unusual wines are showcased in the Discover Wine special, which lets guests sip, sample, and savor sweet nectars selected by region or varietal. These handpicked vinos arrive in 3-ounce flights for optimal grape-blood supping and enthusiastic slurping. This month's toothy tribute to wines of Italy showcases an upstanding cast of key players, including Casteggio Pinot Grigio, Contisssa Vermentino, Masseria Salice Salentino, Gran Sasso Sangiovese, and Casteggio Moscato. Sippers keen for nibbling will be privy to a weekly rotating selection of gourmet small plates, with recent offerings including charcuterie and cheese, porcini-rubbed hangar steak, and a daily flatbread of the chef’s selection.

Long after dinner hours, guests at Taverna Plaka may feel as though they've stumbled into a Greek wedding party. Ouzo and wine flow as belly dancers swivel to Mediterranean techno spun by a DJ on the outdoor patio. Meanwhile, staffers lead revelers in throwing napkins, breaking plates, and cheering Greek chants. These festivities align with the restaurant's name, which pays homage to the ancient Plaka neighborhood in Athens, which, according to mythology, was the earthly place where gods once drank, danced, and exchanged balloon animals with mortals.

Proprietor Stelios Kyriacou's menus are equally authentic, anchored in old family recipes. Tzatziki, hummus, and eggplant spreads complement orders of horiatiki salad, lamb kabobs, and grilled salmon with lemon potatoes and spinach, as do specialty beverages such as the Greek Crush—a blend of Level vodka, blue curacao, and pineapple juice. Servers ferry flavors across stone-tiled floors between exposed brick walls and a bar backed by rows of Mediterranean spirits and neoclassical columns.

Order a hot cup of special-roast java, hand-roasted in small batches to ensure high quality (traditional brewed coffee starting at $1.65, lattes and mochas starting at $3, and signature coffees starting at $3.50), as you peruse the menu. Third-shifters and breakfastaholics can order a $4.50 daybreaker like the Catalan (a Spanish omelet with sliced potatoes and onions), while daytime diners who insist upon chronologically appropriate fare can have a Cubano panini (ham, pork, swiss, and Cuban sauce, $7.50). To keep a meal flavorful, light, and healthy, follow the happy-heart icons to a grilled treat like the Taaza Tango, a grilled Indian chicken kebab over a cold bed of mixed greens, spiced pecans, fruit, cucumber, and mango vinaigrette ($8.50, $5.50 for salad without kebab). Smoothies like the Caribbean Tango (mango, passion fruit, and bananas, starting at $3.95) cap off a meal and relieve sunburned mouths.