5 Seasons - Great Local Dining & Beer

This is one of our favorite restaurants in Alpharetta.  Obviously, the food and beer brewed on site at 5 Seasons is delicious.  The thing that most people don't recognize is that 5 Seasons is one of the most environmentally friendly dining experiences in Atlanta.  They source much of their food locally and a good bit of the menu is organic.  The seafood is generally from the Florida gulf coast and is brought in daily.  I'm not too sure about the sustainability there but it sure is tasty.

If you are on the north side of Atlanta, you can probably get to one of their locations fairly easily.  5 Seasons currently has two locations and they expect to expand to  three locations in early 2009.  They first opened in 2001 in the Prado in Sandy Springs.  The second location is close to home in Alpharetta on Old Milton Parkway.  The new location is set for the intersection of Marietta Street and Howell Mill in Atlanta's booming West End.  I'm looking forward to seeing the beer list there.

Their website says the owners' shared vision is:

• Casual, Welcoming Surroundings
• Abundant Handcrafted Beers, On-demand
• Menus Changing With Local Growing Seasons
• Authenticity Rules, With Everything Prepared In-house  

I'd say they do a great job hitting on all four points.  5 Seasons hits a home run with their environmental efforts.  Yes, there are lots of things that restaurants can do to clean their image but without an in-depth investigation, it looks as though 5 Seasons is doing the right things.  They also compare favorably to other restaurants of their caliber on price.

Check out their webiste for events such as monthly Wine tastings and Beer & Cheese tastings.  These events are priced affordably and you may see me there pretty soon.