Gay-owned Radial Café has been named a state winner of the 2011 Restaurant Neighbor Award granted by the Georgia Restaurant Association and is now in the running for a national award.

Other state winners are AmRest LLC (Applebee’s), Arby’s Restaurant Group, Homegrown Restaurant Concents that includes Doc Chey’s Noodle House and Osteria 832.

The Georgia Restaurant Association recognized Radial Café for its many community service projects, including serving Christmas dinner to 65 homeless children who are supported by CHRIS Kids. Each child received also received a "Christmas Day Gift Bag" with movie tickets, candy and mittens.

Also, for the past decade, Radial Café has fed 180-200 members of the LGBT community walking in the Martin Luther King Day Parade. Radial Cafe also was instrumental in helping For the Kid in All of Us through its annual projects Backpack in the Park and Toy Party, helping the nonprofit collect more than 5,000 toys for Christmas and 1,600 backpacks filled with school supplies in the summer to be given to children in need.

Just Thursday night, the restaurant was the venue for the East Point Possums “Grub for Giving” fundraiser for Atlanta Pride and Positive Impact. Click here to see photos of this event.

Frank Bragg, a longtime LGBT activist, purchased the restaurant from Philip Palmer, also a gay activist, last year when Palmer moved to England with his partner. Bragg said he is planning to expand the restaurant to serving dinner in addition to its popular breakfast and lunch menus.

Radial is also the first Georgia restaurant to be certified by the Green Restaurant Association.