Mary Mac's Tea Room is a restaurant in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
,
Georgia
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* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
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, serving
Southern cuisine. The restaurant is located in the
Midtown district at 224 Ponce de Leon Avenue NE. The current owner is Harold Martin Jr.
History
Mary MacKenzie opened the restaurant in 1945. Just after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, enterprising women in search of a living, many of them widowed by the war, were establishing restaurants throughout Atlanta. Calling their establishments "tea rooms" was a polite way of elevating their endeavor. In 1945, Mary Mac's was one of 16 tea rooms in the city, and as of today it is the only one that remains. In 1962, Mary Mac's became one of Atlanta's first integrated restaurants in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement.
The restaurant is known for continuing the cooking traditions of MacKenzie and her successor, Margaret Lupo, who owned the Tea Room from 1962 until 1994. It has hosted many famous visitors, including
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣 识一切 瓦齐尔达喇 达赖 喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...
,
John Lewis
John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...
,
James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
,
Beyonce,
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
,
Alan Jackson, and
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
, who ate at Mary Mac's so frequently he had a dessert named after him: Carter Custard.
On March 6, 2024, the roof of Mary Mac's suddenly collapsed following storms and heavy rains. No one was injured in the collapse. The restaurant re-opened in May following extensive and ongoing repairs.
Cuisine
Mary Mac's serves classic Southern cuisine.
See also
*
Culture of Atlanta
*
List of Southern restaurants
*
Tourism in Atlanta
References
External links
''Mary Mac's Tea Room Website''
{{Authority control
Restaurants in Atlanta
Tourist attractions in Atlanta
Restaurants established in 1945
1945 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)
Southern restaurants