The big city of Atlanta is hiding a wonderful place in its shadow. The suburb of Dunwoody is just minutes from Atlanta, and offers guests affordable accommodations, delicious food, beautiful parks, and more!
Find out why the Atlanta suburb is one of Melanie’s favorite Georgia destinations!
For more fun and adventure in the Dunwoody area, check out the Kidding Around Guide to Travel in Georgia
While we were guests of the Atlanta Marriott Perimeter Center, and the City of Dunwoody, Georgia for the purpose of this article, all words and opinions are my own and genuine.
Looking for more places to spend the day with your family? Here’s our list of Day Trip Towns, just a short drive from the Upstate.
Find a place to stay in Dunwoody, GA. This article contains Stay22 affiliate links.
Why We Love Dunwoody, GA
I think I may have discovered the best of both worlds, just outside of downtown Atlanta. Whoever came up with the slogan for the town of Dunwoody, was a GENIUS. They were also eerily accurate. “Everything Will Be Ok” is not just a saying here. It’s a popular mural, but it’s so much more. This small town that sits in the shadow of the city of Atlanta seems to have a bubble protecting it from all the downfalls of big city life.
One would assume that with Georgia’s second largest mall, Perimeter Mall located there, traffic would be a nightmare. Any and every retailer, casual dining restaurant and hotel you can imagine is located in one area of town called Perimeter Center.
Imagine if you will, all the shops and restaurants on the busiest roads in town and multiply that by two. Now imagine that with no traffic nightmare to navigate. That’s Dunwoody, even during the weeks leading up to the busiest shopping holiday of the year.
It sounds incredible and too good to be true. But while we were there for three days, I never experienced a single episode of traffic induced rage. I only mention this emphatically because, often times when I mention travel to Atlanta I hear – “But the traffic!” I’m not sure how this is even possible, but it’s magical and much appreciated.
Where We Stay When We Visit Dunwoody
Right in the middle of the action was our hotel, The Marriott Perimeter Center was conveniently located next to the MARTA and across from the Perimeter center shopping area. The rooms were modern and clean and the bathroom had features I’d like in my own master bathroom! Bring your bathing suit no matter what time of year because the hotel has an indoor and outdoor pool. Marriott Bonvoy members can enjoy perks like a 2pm check out time, so if you travel a lot like we do, it’s worth signing up!
What’s Up Dunwoody
I don’t know about anyone else, but when I’m visiting another town I’m always sad there’s not a resource like ours to help me navigate the fun. Imagine how excited I was to find that Dunwoody has a site called What’s Up Dunwoody. During my trip to Dunwoody in 2019, I discovered they have a holiday display light tour posted for people to use! We used it, and it made me all the more happy that we provide info like this to people in the Upstate.
Dunwoody Parks
Dunwoody has some really nice parks to enjoy. We were able to visit two of them, and plan on going back soon to explore the rest.
Brook Run Park is the largest of the parks in Dunwoody and it has a ton to offer. Aside from a large playground area, the park offers a jogging trail, a skate park and ziplining. There’s also picnic shelters, a dog park and gardens to enjoy. The skate park has a level area where young kids can zip around on their scooters. We enjoyed just being spectators at the skate park, but plan on bringing stuff to participate next time. The zipline area of the park is open seasonally.
Dunwoody Park and Nature center has a nice play area for kids and parents to enjoy. It also has several unique things, like an outdoor fireplace with seating, an outdoor piano for visitors to play and a hammock post area where you can hang your own hammock up among the trees and relax!
You can also hop on the MARTA from Dunwoody and head into downtown Atlanta or Decatur while you are visiting.
Holiday Fun
Dunwoody is a great Holiday getaway destination. In addition to hosting the Southeasts largest mall, they also have a bunch of local holiday events to enjoy!
Dunwoody celebrates the holidays with fun (and free) things like the Holiday Light display at Brook Run Park. Over 75,000 lights were used in this year’s Holiday Lights display, and it’s FREE to enjoy! It’s open to walk through and enjoy through nightly, through December 27th from 6-10 PM.
For more holiday fun in Dunwoody, check out the Kidding Around Guide to Holiday Fun Near Atlanta Georgia.
Where to Eat in Dunwoody, GA
With tons of unique dining options it’s hard to decide on a place. We enjoyed food truck fare from A Little Nauti at Brook Run Park. They have s’mores churros on the menu and you have to save room to try them!
Village Burger
We enjoyed burgers at one of the area’s most popular burger joints, Village Burger. This no frills restaurant uses fresh ingredients for the food they serve and it’s obvious from the first bite. My burger was really good, and perfectly cooked. If they offer you the VB sauce on yours you should try it! Fresh cut onion rings and french fries are a perfect companion for the juicy burgers served here. They also have salads on the menu that looked really good!Save some room for the generous portions of frozen custard they serve up. We tried the chocolate, and it was so rich and creamy! This isn’t your run-of-the-mill burger place.
Cafe Intermezzo
The residents of Dunwoody are lucky, they have something we don’t. Cafe Intermezzo‘s slogan should be “The Happiest place on Earth”. Wait, that might be taken… okay what about “Happiest place in Georgia”? We enjoyed weekend brunch at Cafe Intermezzo and I’m not even sure what to brag on first! The drink order is traditionally what happens first, only it might take you awhile to browse the drink menu. With 40 pages of drinks to decide from, if you can’t find it on this menu it doesn’t exist. They even have Absinthe, on the menu in keeping with the European Cafe theme. The kids enjoyed hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and chocolate chips, and I ordered a mimosa.
Once the drink order is out of the way, you can browse the entree menu. Small tapas style plates, pastas, crepes, soups, salads, sandwiches and breakfast dishes make up the menu. We decided on Belgian waffles topped with fresh strawberries for the kids and The Chicken Salad sandwich with a side salad for me. Of course the kids loved the waffles! My salad came topped with a lemon Dijon vinaigrette dressing, that the waitress told me a lot of patrons are hesitant to try. Honestly, it’s their loss. That dressing was so good, I wish they bottled it to sell for us to take home. The chicken salad was also delicious, and served on toasted sourdough bread.
Make sure to save room for dessert, once you see the cake and cheesecake selections you’ll wish you had. When you’re done with your meal, request the “cake tour”. It sounds odd, but trust me it’s the only way you’ll be able to decide between the 50 different cake and cheesecake selections they offer on a daily basis. Take the tour even if you didn’t save room! They will gladly box up your selection and even send you on your way with disposable silverware to enjoy your cake later. The choices include tiramisu imported from Italy, several choices for fans of peanut butter, carrot cake, chocolate options, fruit filled cakes and more.
Hob Nob Neighborhood Tavern
If you’re looking for a more laid back atmosphere, Hob Nob Neighborhood Tavern is where you should head. When you enter this family-friendly tavern, you’re greeted by a *wall of board games to choose from to take to your table. If you stop in Sunday through Thursday for dinner, kids eat free with an adult entree purchase.
*The board games have been temporarily put away during the pandemic.
The appetizer menu includes an eclectic selection including things like BBQ pork rinds, southern spring rolls, pimento cheese and soft pretzels. Entree’s on the menu include pot roast, chicken pot pie, flat iron steak and other tavern style dishes like fish & chips and burgers.
Sunday nights is $1 pint night and the special of the day is a 4 piece fried chicken dinner with mashed potatoes and a vegetable side.
Let’s talk about that vegetable side dish for a minute. On our first trip to Hob Nob, the waitress ran down the details of the daily special, she mentioned vegetables and I figured it would be broccoli or something so I didn’t question it. When my food was placed in front of me, I was horrified to see green beans. These are one of the few vegetables I refuse, and I think it’s because of a long-buried traumatic canned green bean experience in my childhood.
But something happened, I don’t even know what guided my hand to grab a fork and try them, but I did. Oh my green beans, I couldn’t stop eating them. My fried chicken and mashed potatoes sat there getting cold while I ate every last green bean, my mama would have been so proud. Whatever you order, make sure you get it with a side of the Hob Nob’s garlicky green beans!
The Hob Nob was the very first stop we made when returning back to Dunwoody. We called ahead and ordered carry-out to bring back to the hotel. This time I tried the meatloaf entrée, and it was just as delicious as everything else we’ve tried there. I have also decided that next time, I am ordering an extra side of those green beans!
If you are looking for a place to visit any time of year, I hope you decide to visit Dunwoody, Georgia and The Atlanta Marriott Perimeter Center.