Grand China Atlanta, Atlanta

While growing up in Taiwan, Grand China Restaurant co-owners K.C. Chang and Tse-Chih Chang watched their mothers—“the best cooks in the world”—prepare fresh, delicious meals. While she tinkered with the balance of herbs and vegetables in her secret recipes, Tse-Chih’s mother dreamed of owning her own restaurant. As the mother of eight, she never had the time, but her daughter did. After Tse-Chih moved to the United States for graduate school, she opened a Chinese restaurant with her husband.

In business since 1978, Grand China Restaurant dishes sizzling plates of Chinese fare crafted with family recipes. As food trends evolved and customers grew more adventurous, the Changs have expanded their menu to add pan-Asian cuisine, including Vietnamese and Malay appetizers and Japanese and Thai entrees. The new menu earned Grand China the Best of Citysearch award for Best Chinese food every year from 2007 to 2010. Haute Living also called it one of the top five Chinese restaurants in Atlanta, recommending the scorpion or zombie cocktails. Like the food, the cocktails are made from scratch, using fruits, flavored rums, and top-shelf liquors rather than juices or mixes.