Every Falcons Sunday follows the same script. You fight for parking, you file through the gates, and then you stand in a concourse line trading twenty minutes of pregame for a hot dog. There is a better way to do this, and it starts a couple of blocks from the stadium at 190 Marietta Street.
CTR Food Works is the food hall inside the reimagined former CNN Center, and it sits closer to Mercedes-Benz Stadium than most of the stadium's own parking. Eleven chef-driven kitchens, the largest bar in Georgia, and 500 seats, all about a ten minute walk from the gates. Eat like you mean it, then stroll over with time to spare.
Why eating before the game beats eating at the game
Stadium food asks you to choose between missing warmups and eating standing up. A food hall solves both problems. Everyone in your group orders from a different kitchen, nobody compromises, and you sit down like a human being. When the group cannot agree between fried chicken, tacos, and Szechuan noodles, the answer is: nobody has to agree.
The math works too. Order at the counter, food arrives in minutes, and you walk out on your own schedule instead of the concession line's.
What to order when kickoff is coming
Some of the lineup, built for a pregame clock:
- Southern Belle Chicken Co. is chef Joey Ward's globally inspired take on fried chicken. The crispy sandwich travels well and eats fast.
- Patty & Frank's does smashed burgers and premium beef franks, which is about as game day as food gets.
- Mimi Taqueria turns out tacos and burritos with house-made sauces when you want something you can hold in one hand.
- The Sparrow brings wok-fired noodles and dumplings for the table to share while you argue about the point spread.
- La Tropical presses Cuban sandwiches that were engineered by history itself to be eaten on the move.
- Fuzzy's runs a proper raw bar. Oysters and a cold drink before a night game is a veteran move.
Browse the full lineup on the Food & Drinks page, because eleven kitchens do not fit in one list.
The bar situation
The CTR Bar anchors the atrium with 80 seats and a serious cocktail program, and it holds the title of largest bar in Georgia. Pregame beers, halftime of the early games on the way to a 4:25 kickoff, or a post-game debrief: the bar covers the full arc of a football Sunday.
Know the hours before you go
Game day timing matters, so here are the real hours:
- Sunday through Wednesday: 11 AM – 9 PM
- Thursday through Saturday: 11 AM – 11 PM
For a 1 PM Sunday kickoff, arrive when doors open at 11, eat at 11:30, and walk over at 12:30. For Thursday night and Saturday games, the hall pours until 11 PM, so the post-game crowd has a landing spot. Sunday night games are the one caveat: the hall closes at 9, so make it a pregame stop.
Getting there without the parking headache
Park once. The hall sits at the corner of Marietta Street and Centennial Olympic Park Drive, and the easiest spot is The Center Parking Garage, directly across the street from the hall. Leave the car there before and after the game, with the Omni and Centennial Olympic Park decks as backups on sold-out Sundays. If you are riding MARTA downtown, the walk from the station passes our front door on the way to the stadium. Directions, parking details, and transit notes live on the Visit page.
State Farm Arena is even closer, directly across the street, so this same plan works for Hawks games and concerts. That guide is coming next.
Bringing a crew
Group dinners are what a food hall is for. Five hundred seats means a tailgate-sized party walks in without a reservation, without a group menu, and without the one friend who always orders wrong holding everyone hostage. Kids eat here easily too: picky eaters can have plain chicken strips or plain cheese pizza from Flora D'Italia while the adults eat well, and nobody has to leave the table to make it happen.
If your company hosts clients on game days, the hall also books private events, from reserved sections up to full buyouts. Details are on the Private Events page.
After the final whistle
Win or lose, dessert helps. Morelli's scoops the small-batch ice cream that made it an Atlanta institution, and DessertBox covers the French pastry end of the celebration. If the game went the wrong way, both kitchens are equally effective.
Not just for football
Everything above holds for the rest of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium calendar. Atlanta United supporters get the same two-block walk for every home match, and stadium concerts are where the pregame meal matters most, since arena food lines during a show cost you songs instead of snaps. The formula does not change: eat first, walk over, enjoy the event instead of the concourse.
The short version
Eleven kitchens, one giant bar, 500 seats, a couple of blocks from the stadium. Check the calendar for watch parties and game day events, look up hours and directions, and make CTR Food Works the first and last stop of your next football Sunday.