Take a Brewery Crawl

Akademia Brewing Company

In addition to original beers and guest brews, Akademia serves wine, cocktails and offers brunch, lunch and dinner at its spacious location just off Atlanta Highway. The brewpub has outdoor seating on a large patio and often holds events in its main taproom. akademiabc.com

Athentic Brewing Company

The newest addition to Athens’ beer scene is located in Normaltown and officially opened in August 2020. The brewery offers indoor and patio seating and also sells cans of beer to take home. The company has a variety of beers, including fruit-filled Berliner Weisse and a coffee and cream-inspired brown ale. athenticbrewing.com

Creature Comforts Brewing Co.

Displayed through the windows of an old tire factory is the Creature Comforts downtown tasting room, where patrons can get year-round favorites such as Athena or Bibo, or try special edition brews. The brewery also sells 4- and 6-packs to go, and patrons can sit outside in the brewery’s expanded, covered patio area. creaturecomfortsbeer.com normaltown-brewing-co.business.site

Normaltown Brewing Co.

This brewery offers a constantly changing selection of beer on tap, and is located in the historic Chase Street Warehouses. It was the fifth brewery to open in Athens and the first in the Normaltown neighborhood.

Southern Brewing Company

At this Highway 29 spot, patrons can try Southern Brewing’s staple and seasonal brews in a huge indoor and outdoor space, like Hobnail, a popular IPA and the Red and Black sour. sobrewco.com

Terrapin Beer Co.

Since its founding in 2002, Terrapin has become Athens’ most widely distributed beer. Popular beers include Hopsecutioner and Luau Krunkles but visitors can sample more unusual creations, like watermelon-infused sours and chocolate milk stouts. A gift shop and outdoor grassy area distinguish the Newton Bridge Road brewery. terrapinbeer.com

Trolley Beer Tour

Take a fun tour to several of Athens craft breweries, where you can enjoy history, drinks and sightseeing all-in-one. Hosted by the Athens Trolley Tours, you will get to visit Southern Brewing Co., Akademia Brewing Co. and Terrapin Beer Co. on Thursdays and Athentic Brewing Co., Normaltown Brewing Co. and Creature Comforts on Fridays. The trolley runs every Thursday and Friday afternoon-evening. The experience costs $28 per person.

Q&A Pete Amadhanirundr and Ally Smith

Chefs and owners of Puma Yu’s Pete Amadhanirundr and Ally Smith opened Puma Yu’s at Southern Mill in 2022, after years of pop-ups, serving locally sourced Southeast Asian cuisine. Amadhanirundr serves as head chef, specializing in traditional and non-traditional Thai. Smith heads up the bar, serving lively cocktails. They share some insight on some of the best places to check out in Athens.

What do you recommend people try when they come in?

Pete Amadhanirundr: The best thing to do to experience Puma Yu’s is to come in with a set of your friends and just order everything. All of our dishes are really small and it’s not really carb heavy. Pair a dish that is slightly spicy and then pair it with a sweeter one that is coconut milk based. It can easily balance high acidic flavors in dishes.

What do you have in store for 2023?

Ally Smith: We are excited to continue doing collaborative stuff with different restaurants, purveyors and food/beverage people in town.

PA: This next year we are working on expanding everyone’s palates and comfort zones [customers]. The more people come and eat here, it helps us to push more boundaries with what they are comfortable eating.

What are some things you’d tell visitors in Athens not to miss?

PA: I would say for food and beverage for me, Tamez barbecue and Kike’s, which specializes in birria tacos and queso birria. I would say also try some classics like Food for the Soul and Kelly’s Jamaican. Go see a show at 40 Watt, Flicker puts on very fun shows and it feels very local. The parks here are good and we go to the park a lot with our dogs [Papaya and Baja]. The botanical gardens are one of the coolest things we have in Athens. 1000 Faces Coffee and Choco Pronto are two incredible coffee shops that I would put up against a lot of other coffee shops.

What cocktails are popular now?

AS : The Miss U is probably my favorite out of the specialty cocktails we have right now. It is super simple, with three ingredients. We do a lot of margaritas here, so I would say to get a margarita. We do tamarind, spicy or straight up. First time getting the ‘Teeny ‘Tini’ martinis, you should get the Puppy Brother. It’s as important to have a non-alcoholic menu as [is] an alcoholic menu. We have some mocktails that don’t imitate alcohol at all and some that do imitate alcohol. We have rum-ish, gin and tonic-ish and aperol spritz-ish. They are all non-alcoholic spirits.

What would you say about the Athens restaurant scene right now?

AS : There is a lot of youthful energy in the food scene that is popping up. I think there is a lot of excitement around new concepts and people trying to push some boundaries. It feels like an energetic buzz about other new exciting places opening up. Spring, summer and fall this year, there is going to be a really big boom of a lively food scene.

Interview by Melanie Velasquez