Fooooooood! Places to Eat at MODEX 2018

By Alex Batty, MHI Marketing Communications Coordinator |@mhi_alex

We all know the best part of traveling for work is the food. I mean, sales deals – good, networking – good, helping your company do better – good, blah, blah, blah. I’m here for trying cool new foods in cool new cities.

So I did the research (the googling) and here are some options for fooding at MODEX 2018.

Lunch Options

For lunch on the show floor you have the MODEX Bistro (show floor-ish) and food trucks (!!!) in the MODEX Backyard.

The MODEX Bistro is tagglined as “The Best Way to Eat, Meet & Network at MODEX 2018!” And from what I’ve seen, that’s actually really true.

The MODEX Bistro is a convenient and well balanced lunch option located next to the entrance to the show floor. The MODEX Bistro is a great place to sit down to a comfortable lunch and network with colleagues. You can pre-purchase tickets now for just $22 per person at www.bistrotickets.com/modex

Individual tickets are available for purchase, as well as private table packages. Tickets may be purchased for a single day or the entire show. As an exhibitor, a table reservation is a great way to host meetings with your team, clients or colleagues.

This year, we’re also introducing the MODEX Backyard in the C Hall and I’m actually really excited about it. Besides having real fake grass and give aways there will be food trucks! I love food trucks. I don’t know why they appeal to me so hard, but I just really like food you can walk with. On April 3, I’ll post again specifically about these trucks and the backyard… so come back again to see the crazy and the drooling.

There will also be food carts from vendors in the C Hall, so if you’re hungry, just mosey on over there. That’s where the seating to actually eat the food will be as well (REAL FAKE GRASS, BABY!)

Dinner Options

Disclaimer: I have never been to Atlanta, this is just a list of places that I used the magic Google box to find and am now craving so hard over.

In case you don’t want to read (but I’ll be so sad *bottom lip quivers* *sniffles*, but just want quick links, go to the bottom.

If you’re not from the South, I highly encourage you to try some traditional barbecue. It’s just… it was a revelation when I moved out here and tried some real Southern barbecue.

In North Carolina, where MHI HQ is, the question is always Lexington or Eastern style barbecue (and of course the only right answer to this question is Lexington. I take my barbecue sauce with tomatoes, thank you very much. *scoffs* Vinegar-based my foot.) But I have heard magical things about an Eastern-style pig-pickin(g).

In Atlanta, you can get all sorts of barbecues, from Texas to Kansas City to Memphis. You must have the sides with it, it’s mandatory. Live a little, indulge yourself. Hushpuppies and slaw are like the dip part of chips and dip. Yeah chips are good on their own, but so much better with good dip.

Here’s a list of Thrillist’s top barbecue joints: https://www.thrillist.com/eat/atlanta/best-bbq-in-atlanta-barbecue-restaurants-thrillist-atlanta

If you’re looking for vegetarian, Madras Mantra has got great reviews. Their Indian Vegetarian cuisine promises to be full of flavor. I was hungry just looking at their dinner menu and apparently their paneer is homemade *wipes drool off keyboard*: http://www.madrasmantra.com/

You can’t go wrong with a $2 taco, and Taquiera del Sol is doing it right. With locations all over Atlanta, they have a core menu that never changes, and weekly specials so you can try new things. http://taqueriadelsol.com/index.html

To try something new, how about Malay food? Mamak is Malaysian street food that is “crafted with love.” Now you can get a taste of Malaysia without the super long flight. http://mamak-kitchen.com/

Another adventurous cuisine (at least for most American homebodies) is Ethiopian. It’s amazing. I had it from a street vendor in London and now I look for a little Ethiopian place whenever I travel to a new city. Injera (bread) is so good that I looked up how to make it, but it takes 36-48 hours to properly ferment and… I’m lazy. http://destaethiopiankitchen.com/index.html

For those who need to be gluten-free, try Arepa Mia. Traditional Venezuelan food that I cannot recommend highly enough. I haven’t been to this place (Atlanta newbie here) but I’ve had arepas (stuffed cornmeal patties) and they are delicious. http://www.arepamiaatlanta.com/

If none of those are tickling your fancy, here’s a mapped list of the essential winter restaurant spots to hit up in Atlanta: https://atlanta.eater.com/maps/38-best-restaurants-in-atlanta or TripAdvisors highest rated restaurants sorted into categories like local cuisine, moderately priced, or cheap eats: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g60898-Atlanta_Georgia.html

(P.S. I showed @mhi_morgan the draft of this post, and now she’s just shaking her head exasperatedly at my crazy. *shrugs* At least she’s nice about it.)

QUICK LINKS

Barbecue: https://www.thrillist.com/eat/atlanta/best-bbq-in-atlanta-barbecue-restaurants-thrillist-atlanta

Venezuelan (gluten-free): http://www.arepamiaatlanta.com/

Ethiopian (vegetarian options): http://destaethiopiankitchen.com/index.html

Malaysian: http://mamak-kitchen.com/

Tacos: http://taqueriadelsol.com/index.html

Indian (vegetarian): http://www.madrasmantra.com/

General Lists: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g60898-Atlanta_Georgia.htmlhttps://atlanta.eater.com/maps/38-best-restaurants-in-atlanta

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