I love chicken-fried steak. I like to spice up the flour with some cayenne pepper, paprika, and allspice. And I always make gravy: 3 Tbs flour into the hot fat for a minute, then 2 cups of milk and lots of pepper, stirred around till thick.
As for the restaurants mentioned above, I agree that OK Café makes the best chicken-fried steak. They are one of the few meat-and-threes left in Atlanta. They have good, fresh sides.
We also like the Colonnade, another meat-and-three, but their sides are not as good. No matter what main dish we order, I always get the same sides: salad and baked potato, like it’s 1959! They also have very good sweet potato fries, which my husband usually orders. The other sides are disappointing, and I really wish they would work on them, because we love a lot of their main dishes. They are probably the only place in a major urban area that sells fried chicken livers as a main dish, and they are AMAZING.
I’m not a fan of Mary Mac’s.
One place not mentioned is the Busy Bee, which makes some amazing food. The place is insanely small, noticeably run-down, and always crowded, so it’s best to go for a late lunch during the week—and don’t miss the fried chicken!!
As far as I know, there are no other real meat-and-threes in Atlanta.
[this post was last edited: 9/5/2016-23:52]