Bankhead Seafood Ugly Christmas Sweater Competition Hosted by Killer Mike, Part 1

This was one of the first holiday events at the newly reopened Bankhead Seafood. The legendary Westside spot first opened in 1968 and closed in 2018, and Killer Mike and T.I., who both grew up eating there, bought it and brought it back. The doors officially reopened on November 17, 2024.

The new Bankhead Seafood still has the famous fried fish with mustard and hot sauce and the hush puppies people remember, but now there’s a rooftop and a full bar, plus new grilled and steamed dishes from Executive Chef Sabrina Thompson.

Mike has said bringing the restaurant back was about keeping a piece of the community in the community’s hands. Hosting an ugly sweater contest for the neighborhood fit right in with that mission. It was fun, it was family and it felt like the old Bankhead.

More Than a Restaurant

For generations of Westside families, Bankhead Seafood was where you went after church, after work or after a long week. Bringing it back was about more than fish. It was about preserving a piece of Atlanta history and creating a place where the neighborhood can come together again.

Events like this ugly sweater competition show exactly that. Families, neighbors and friends showed up in their wildest holiday looks, laughed together and celebrated the season. That is what community spaces are for.

Who do you think had the ugliest sweater? Watch part one and vote in the comments.