Our Go Green series showcases destinations working to protect the environment.

Eating green doesn’t just mean eating your veggies.

By Hope S. Philbrick

Several restaurants in Atlanta, Georgia, serve delicious fare and also help protect the earth in innovative ways. Whether you choose to eat healthy menu options or splurge on calories, you can feel good about dining at any one of them.

Bonus Go Green points to chefs who keep a garden steps away from their kitchen. It’s a green initiative that brings new meaning to ‘fresh’ as it yields, ahem, greens (alongside produce of other hues). Trust us: Down and dirty never tasted so good.

Atkins Park Tavern
This rooftop garden grows herbs, tomatoes and jalapeños nourished by composted restaurant waste and water that’s collected from the air-conditioning system.
794 N. Highland Ave. NE, 404-876-7249

Canoe
Chef Carvel Grant Gould led the effort to build a one-acre garden on the property which includes ten raised beds, two compost bins, a bee hive and two chickens. Old menus become mulch for the garden.
4199 Paces Ferry Rd. SE, 770-432-2663

Ecco
Ecco is the first restaurant in Georgia to have no dumpster—meaning it has zero garbage because everything is recycled or composted. That compost is put to good use on the roof-top garden, nourishing fresh herbs and vegetables that find their way into the tasty European-inspired dishes on the menu. Ecco was also the first restaurant to receive Green Foodservice Alliance certification in the state, a program of the Georgia Restaurant Association.
40 7th St. NE, 404-347-9555

Goin’ Coastal Seafood
Serves only seafood, fished or farmed, from the U.S. and Canada that can exist over the long-term without compromising species’ survival and the health of the ecosystem.
1021 Virginia Ave. NE, 404-941-9177

The Hil at Serenbe
Farm-to-table is a quick trip here, since most produce is sourced from the biodynamic farm within the Serenbe community. And talk about full circle: Chef Hilary White’s kitchen scraps are composted and put to use back at the farm where the food grew.
9110 Selborne Lane in Palmetto, 770-463-6040

La Tavola Trattoria
Part of the first Carbon Neutral Zone created in the U.S., La Tavola and 17 other neighborhood businesses helped establish the groundbreaking eco‐zone known as The Corner‐Virginia‐Highland by purchasing carbon offsets of its residual greenhouse gas emissions.
992 Virginia Ave. NE, 404-873-5430

Miller Union
Chef Steven Satterfield showcases local, sustainable ingredients. Composting and recycling diverted over 45 tons of food and other materials from landfills in 2010, including kitchen grease and oil collected for bio-fuel.
999 Brady Ave. NW, 678-733-8550

Milton’s Cuisine and Cocktails
Appetizer and entrée specials showcase each day’s harvest from the quarter-acre organic garden. With 2,400-feet of rows and more than 30 different heirloom vegetables and herbs, variety abounds.
780 Mayfield Rd. in Milton, 770-817-0161

Park 75
On the fifth-floor terrace Chef Robert Gerstenecker maintains six planters of edible flowers, herbs and heirloom vegetables including potatoes and rare peppers for pickled relishes and chutneys. Lettuces and radishes grow hydroponically (without soil). More than 100,000 bees produce abundant honey.
75 14th St. at the Four Seasons, 404-881-9898

Ruth’s Chris Steak House
All four Atlanta-area locations collect spent grease for bio-diesel fuel, use eco-friendly recyclable containers, have on-site recycling programs and use a paperless payroll system.
Multiple locations including 5788 Roswell Rd. NW, 404-255-3111

Ted’s Montana Grill
All locations are 99% plastic-free plus use low-voltage lighting, biodegradable to-go cups, containers and utensils, recycled paper table covers, biodegradable soap and more. Plus, the Downtown location recently installed solar panels to power the entire building, a move that will prevent 82 metric tons of carbon dioxide from reach the atmosphere annually.
Multiple locations including 133 Luckie St., 404-521-9796

Yeah! Burger
The menu features organic ingredients while the restaurant helps offset energy use with wind power, use of Energy Star equipment, water-efficient fixtures, use of reclaimed wood paneling and table tops, and 100% compostable cups, packaging and utensils.
Multiple locations including 1017 N. Highland Ave., 404-437-7845

-Photo: Chef Robert Gerstenecker tending his gardens at Park 75; photo courtesy Park 75

Hope S. Philbrick is founder and editor-in-chief of Getaways for Grownups. Her work has appeared in dozens of publications nationwide. She’s reviewed restaurants for several Atlanta-based newspapers and magazines for more than 10 years. When not writing, she can usually be found on the road or savoring something tasty.