“Athens is like an oasis of cool in the middle of nowhere.” That’s Athens, Georgia, and that’s according to producer Andrew Lauren, whose new film, The Spectacular Now, is a Say Anything–style love story set in the town (out Aug. 2). Amid fields 70 miles east of Atlanta, Athens is home to the University of Georgia and known for music—it spawned the B-52s and R.E.M.—but it’s got great food too: “It’s New York caliber,” Lauren says of places like Dawg Gone Good BBQ, which is the place for ribs (224 W. Hancock Ave.; 706-207-6562; entrées from $9). The best beer is brewed at Terrapin, which has a Frisbee lawn (265 Newton Bridge Rd.). “It was the perfect sweet, sophisticated town,” Lauren says.
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