Atlanta Guys Dinner Group

10/13/2026

Council/Board Member of The Week

This week we are honor our council/board member Christian Rodriguez

Christian and I met fifteen years ago when we opened up Barcelona W**e Bar Inman Park together. He was so great and easy to work with back then, and he hasn’t changed on how he approaches things. Calm, open-minded, strategic and with a team-first mentality.

Christian is a chef, student (currently working on his MBA at UGA), a son, a brother and husband to his wonderful and beautiful bride Melissa.

Christian is one of the nicest guys you’ll meet and we are so lucky to have him as part of our Atlanta Guys Dinner Group, on our council and as a board member.

Christian-thank you for always showing up, for all that you bring to the table and for being a friend and brother.

Love ya, bud.


Jonathan Russell

10/05/2026

This is going to be a good one.

Draw Change “unlocks potential, nurtures imagination, and strengthens self-esteem for children experiencing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) through healing, art therapy-based programming”!

If you have yet to try out Brainwave Pizza, I highly recommend it. It’s so good, that it made “The List”! The bar pie with hot oil brings me back to CT every time.

Interested in joining a great, diverse group of guys every other month to give back and break bread? We would love to have you. Know someone that would benefit from being around a great group of men? Send them our way.

10/05/2026

AGDG Member of the Week

Please help us thank one of our long-standing members, council and board member, and brother, Todd Semrau for his years of dedication to our Atlanta Guys Dinner Group and to the organizations that we support.

Todd is one of our original members who always shows up with a generous heart, a passion for helping others and a keen sense of how we go about our initiatives.

Todd was born in Michigan and has made Atlanta home for quite some time where he was a restaurateur, is the founder of Urban Eats Restaurant Consulting, and is the VP of Oakhurst Commercial Realtors.

Todd is the father to two amazing kids and the husband to the beautiful Michelle Semrau.

When Todd is not working or at one of our dinners, you can find him on his bike where is he also active in Atlanta’s monthly Critical Mass ride.

We are so grateful for Todd’s support and efforts over the years and are thankful for who he is and all that he does for our group.

We love you, brother.

Todd Semrau

09/30/2026

We are so excited for the rest of 2026, as we have some wonderful partners lined up to finish up the year.

If you or someone you know would like to join an amazing and diverse group of guys who get together every other month to break bread and give back, please email us at: [email protected]

Feel free to visit our website to learn more and to donate to our efforts.
atlantaguysdinnergroup.org

Please note, our December Open Invite is open to all.

Look forward to seeing everyone.

We are most grateful for your support.

Jonathan Russell

09/28/2026

Atlanta Guys Dinner Group
Member Spotlight!

This month, we are proud to highlight Michael “Mike” Benedetti.

Mike is the co-founder of our group, is a board-member-at-large, is on our member council, is our paella chef, and always an active voice in all that we do.

Mike is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. He is as affable as they come. His laugh and positive energy are contagious.

Mike is a son, an identical twin and brother to three other siblings.

Always working hard at his craft, Mike has rose through the ranks of the film industry, having produced a wonderful short, and most-recently, a meta-horror thriller that is currently in editing.

Mike is married to the beautiful Savannah Andries.

We are lucky to call him a friend and a brother!

Thanks for all that you do for our group, Mike.

09/04/2026

So excited for the rest of 2026.

Great dinners and the end-of-year December Open Invite are planned.

Know a great guy that would love to join us? There are no dues. Only requirements are that they love supporting the community, enjoy trying new restaurants and being around some great and like-minded guys. The only costs are the dinner and any donations that they wish to make to the monthly charity/cause we are supporting at the time.

We are always looking for new members, partnership collaborations and sponsors.

Questions?-email us at [email protected]

07/23/2026

The Atlanta Guys Dinner Group is excited to support Families First Back-to-School Bash!

If you are looking and able to support a wonderful organization helping to ensure that the kids in our community are ready to start the new school year with confidence and smiles, please consider donating.

https://secure.givelively.org/donate/families-first-inc-atlanta-ga/back-to-school-bash-2026

Families First

05/22/2026

Well, our 2nd Annual Paella Fundraiser is in the books, and we could not be any happier with how it turned out. The space was packed with the most incredible and generous humans, delicious food, and an amazing raffle and live auction lot.

The Atlanta Guys Dinner Group started out as just a couple of guys wanting to go support other local chefs, owners, and staff who had come in to support us when I opened up the first Atlanta Barcelona W**e Bar in Inman Park, a place where I was so fortunate to forge so many wonderful lasting relationships. From those dinners, this group just organically grew with like-minded guys who wanted to dine out, give back and be a part of something special. Fast forward thirteen years later, and here we are, a GA-registered nonprofit that supports other local nonprofits, causes and individuals, all while supporting local eateries during our bi-monthly guys dinners and twice-a-year open-community initiative drives.

First, we have to thank solomon for so generously hosting us in her beautiful space. Please be sure to visit Chow a la Carte for daily pop-up dining experiences.

Next, we wild like to thank Amy and Addy Holler for taking the time to bake the most incredible sweet treats that were enjoyed by everyone. You know they are good when you sell out.

I would like to thank my beautiful friend Michelle Fabulich who made that call years ago, and got us on our path, asking if we wanted to support the kids in her nonprofit, “Children Helping Chlidren” which we call our first “official” partnership dinner. Here we are, 87 (official) partnership dinners down (and tons more to go).

We would not be who we are without the guys who have made up this group, both past and present, with many from the beginning still actively involved. Thank you for availing yourselves and showing up to support the cause.

A BIG thank you to all of those that contributed to our raffle and live auction lot. Your generosity is so greatly appreciated, and we know that all the winners are in for a real treat. **Facebook did not upload the original post due to so many tags, so we will tag them in the replies individually. Please be sure to support them and tell them that we sent you.

Banner Butter
Souper Jenny
Gypsy Kitchen
Tuk Tuk Thai Food Loft
O-Ku Sushi
Ocean Wave
Marlows Tavern
Lyla Lila
Kamayan ATL Filipino Restaurant

Distillery of Modern Art
pizzeria
Moxie Burger
Minhwa Spirits
Persian
Buttermilk Kitchen
family wines
Tiger Sun Atlanta
The Bronx Bagel Buggy
Rreal Tacos
El Tesoro
& vine

To my good buddy Michael Benedetti, who was sitting next to me at dinner many years ago when we knew that we had to do something with this and here we are. He never says no, always shows up and is the maestro behind the paella pans. Love ya, bud.

To our council and board brothers-you all are the best and help to make this all so easy to do. Thank you for always showing up, for the continued support, and for being a part of this.

For the partners of the guys in the group-thank you for letting us borrow them and for your support, as well. We continue to promise to have them home at a decent hour and in one piece.

Lastly, we could not continue to do what we do without the ongoing support of our friends, family and the support of those in the community that we serve. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Be sure to follow us and our future events here, also at atlantaguysdinnergroup.org, and on IG at atlanta_guys_dinner_group

For all membership, collaboration and sponsorship inquiries, please email us at [email protected]

05/09/2026

We are only 8 days away from our big event and there is still time to purchase tickets.

Have a product, service, tickets to an event or restaurant that would like to donate to our raffle lot? You can email us at [email protected] to coordinate.

Looking forward to seeing everyone.

Get ready to dig into some delicious paella and support a great cause at our 2nd annual fundraiser bash!