Deciding on where to go to lunch while at work is often a chore. What’s close? What’s cheap? What’s quick? And while all of those questions are valid I’d much rather ask myself what’s good? I like the following three restaurants because of a few reasons. They all have delicious food, all are in different parts of the city, and all are casual.

Muss & Turner, Smyrna

It was here that I learned about the magic of ‘The Egg’. They are a neighborhood joint with a fabulous menu. They have an egg smoker/ grill and cook some of their meat on it, one in particular is The Bucky Goldstein which a beef brisket sandwich and it is to die for. The brisket is über tender and covered in a Carolina glaze topped with fried onions. It might not help you work efficiently in the afternoon but it will satisfy every taste bud! The next go to sandwich for me is Swifty’s Dream, which has a lot more kick to it because it is slow smoked pork shoulder topped with spicy horseradish slaw. And with every sandwich you get to pick your type of pickle: new, dill, or old; not many restaurants let you pick your preferred pickle but this place aims to please and that they do.

Bantam & Biddy, Midtown

Chicken can sometimes scare me. I can easily blame this on the movie Food Inc. where it showed the horrors of Tyson chicken farms. So when I eat at a restaurant where they focus on the quality of their poultry I get pretty excited. Bantam & Biddy is just this sort of place. I go for the roasted chicken or fried chicken (happens to be GF too!) and to compliment these all-stars they have great cheddar mac & cheese, duck fat fries, and loaded mashed potatoes. I have often wanted to try other things on the menu because it all looks equally delicious but when I crave chicken this is where I come and as we all know sometimes you just can’t override a craving.

6 Feet Under, the Westside

There are several locations for 6 Feet Under but the view on the upstairs outdoor patio is just too amazing at this particular location I don’t think I could go to another. You see all of Midtown and Downtown and since you can’t see the miles and miles of traffic you can actually appreciate the view. Is is a seafood place so if you don’t like things that come from the ocean I would stop reading. The first time I came here my table ordered mouse toes, which sounds totally disgusting but they were delicious. It’s sweet peppers stuffed with shrimp wrapped in bacon, amazing right?! Then I had the oyster po’ boy, my first ever, and I’m not sure I knew what I was getting myself into because the thing was HUGE! It was good but overwhelming after having feasted on mouse toes. The second time and now my favorite thing to order is the blackened shrimp tacos with avocado. Overall this place just has a fun atmosphere and good food. Coming here for lunch or after work should be a no brainer.