The Heart of the Table | The Art of Gathering

Foodie Friends on Buford Highway

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I’m embarking on a new year of writing that celebrates others like me, who LIVE TO EAT! Just such a person is 28-year-old Alex Rold.

Rold takes eye-popping, UNREAL, mouthwatering photos of all his foodie adventures in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s not the marketing analyst’s day job but perhaps it should be. I know his mother… yet I found my food-centric cohort purely through drool of mouth. Suffice it to say, I was hardly the first one to notice Alex’s keen eye for superlative places to eat. He was featured on television a little over a year ago, when he said his nosh hobby really took hold and sent him on a photographic tour of the famed Buford Highway.

For those unaware, Buford is a 7-mile path of restaurants, food halls, and markets that truly acts as a dream come true for anyone with taste buds. It’s a United Nations in food: Korean, Mexican, Vietnamese, Dominican, African, you name it!

A 7-Mile Culinary Pilgrimage

“If you’re not used to Buford, it can be overwhelming,” Rold told me. “The diversity you’ll find there... it’s the best Asian food, best true Szechuan food, I’ve had in my life. I’m there almost every night of the week.” He recommended we all try the numbing peppers at Good Luck Gourmet and Masterpiece, while Nam Phuong is definitely a favorite haunt for authentic Vietnamese.

Rold said his near-daily trek down the four-lane highway, stretching from just north of Atlanta to Duluth, has been the path toward more than just amazing food. Being food-oriented has also been the path toward the best friendships of his life.

The Core of Connection

“I recognize friends from the internet on Buford Highway all the time—people I never would have met were it not for our shared love of eating,” he said.

A quick glance at his community of fellow Atlanta food advocates yields recommendations for the best fried Korean chicken wings, massive Japanese pancakes, tandoori chicken, Pho, tacos, and loaded burgers in the city. I urge you to branch out and explore your own local highway—you never know who you will meet across the table.

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