File Under: Bakeries, Something Different, Vegetarian Friendly. Features: Beer and wine, catering, counter service, outside seating, delivery, Wi-Fi. Hours: Breakfast, lunch, Friday dinner • Longtime Athens favorite has a great patio popular with dogs and kids. Biscuits, French toast, continental breakfast, omelets, great sandwiches, quiche, soups, burgers (veggie and non), small but good selection of beer and wine. Baked goods galore, including for special order. Friday night dinners are a chance for the kitchen to play around with more elaborate offerings.

File Under: American. Features: Full bar, catering, outside seating, reservations, Wi-Fi, take-out. Hours: Lunch and dinner. • Steak and beer, but also seafood, chicken, ratatouille and burgers at this somewhat upscale Watkinsville restaurant. Tap takeovers, mocktails, southern veggies for sides and gluten-free items. App-y hour from 2–5 p.m. brings food and drink specials.

File Under: Something Different. Features: Full bar, reservations, catering, outside seating, take-out, vegetarian friendly. Hours: Dinner. • Celebrity chef Hugh Acheson's flagship restaurant, in a historic house on Milledge Avenue with a big covered porch. The menu is southern-ish but chef-driven and up to date, changing weekly depending on what’s in season. Wine list by James Beard nominee; unpretentious but smart cocktails; excellent after-dinner drinks. Look out for specials, including picnic stuff during football season.

File Under: Something Different. Features: Take-out. Hours: Dinner and Sunday brunch. • Mexican-accented fusion restaurant does a not inexpensive but very popular all-you-can-eat brunch (with waffle and omelet station), plus dinner with steaks, seafood, pasta, jambalaya, shrimp and grits, escargot, chicken in a roasted garlic mushroom cheese sauce and more along the same lines. Specials change weekly.

File Under: American, Bars. Features: Reservations, live music, full bar, outside seating. Hours: Lunch and dinner, Tue–Sun. Monday dinner. • Country club-ish place does classic American food with a bit of a Southern accent, like meatloaf, steak sandwich, crab cakes and gumbo. A fair amount of fried stuff but salads, too. Big desserts. Nice patio. Earlybird specials.

File Under: American, Vegetarian Friendly, Bars. Features: Outside seating, art, full bar, vegetarian friendly. Hours: Dinner and weekend brunch. • Crowd-pleasing restaurant mixes Southern and Southwestern cuisine; veggie and vegan choices, plus fish and seafood are highlights. Large dessert case. Plan ahead for lines at brunch. Well-stocked bar, with American vodkas, gins and vermouths, as well as Armagnac, ice wine, Madeira, sherry and a long list of wines. Large outdoor dining area.

File Under: Mexican. Features: Full bar, outside seating, trivia. Hours: Dinner and Sunday brunch. • Huge bar with live DJs, loud music, gigantic TV for football games also serves a full menu, which recently changed from small plates to Tex Mex: elote street corn "ribs," jalapeno poppers, tacos, taco salad. Brunch involves fried egg tacos and "brunchos." Kids menu.

File Under: Downhome, Bars. Features: Outside seating, full bar, take-out. Hours: Lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch. • More refined takes on Southern standards, like shrimp and grits with gouda. Big salads, chicken and waffles (not just at brunch), shrimp burger, collard spring rolls. Cocktails that play on things like peanuts and Coke.

File Under: American. Features: Full bar, outside seating. Hours: Dinner and Sunday brunch. • Seafood, both on the raw bar (oysters, seafood tower, tuna tartare) and cooked (blackened salmon, étoufée, snow crab clusters). Also land-based choices, wedge salad. Brunch includes omelets, fish tacos and oyster shooters. Good, refreshing cocktails. And a new food truck that pops up around town.

File Under: American, Vegetarian Friendly, Bars. Features: Full bar, outside seating, Wi-Fi. Hours: Lunch, dinner and late night, seven days. Sunday brunch. • Big menu of food and beer with lots of vegetarian choices: loaded mac and cheese, southern fish and chips, tabbouleh salad, housemade pickles, a vegan Reuben, buffalo tofu taco, plus scores of unusual, well-described beers in the bottle and on tap. There's also wine and nice cocktails.