Monday, July 11, 2011

Restaurant Roundup

It's been a bit slow news-wise in my world of late, but I've noticed a few things I wanted to share...

Urban Flats in Lindbergh City Center has re-opened. After opening in late 2008, the restaurant closed at the end of 2009, and had remained vacant. This past February, I announced the restaurant would be re-opening with a new owner. Ironically, Orlando-based Urban Flats filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in March. If I had a few more zeros at the end of my bank balance, I would be investing in something other than this sinking ship.

Elbow Room, a popular Buckhead dive bar on Pharr Road, is scheduled to re-open in a few days, after having been closed for about a month. Apparently, storm damage caused a pipe to burst in the restaurant and in the process of fixing this, the restaurant underwent a small-scale renovation.

Nancy's Pizza at Grandview and Peachtree re-opened this past Saturday after having been closed for a couple of weeks related to storm damage.

Park Bench is still supposedly opening on Irby Avenue in Buckhead, although the nagging issue of enough parking remains the Achilles heel for their opening. There is simply not enough parking in the area to meet the city requirements for them to open. Whole Foods and Henri's Bakery already lease their spaces to other bars and therefore can't accommodate Park Bench's needs as well. As best I can tell, the inside is completely done so I guess we'll just have to wait 'til they build a deck on the old Rio Bravo property...

There, a new restaurant scheduled to open in the bottom of the Alexan apartments at TOWN Brookhaven, is far from opening. I was told in May by the restaurant's proprietor that they hoped to open in late July / early August, but little progress has been made of late. The latest wrinkle is a "STOP ORDER" order posted on the door, citing there was no permit on record for the construction. No telling if or when there opens, but it looks less and less likely.

Marble Slab Creamery will supposedly open in TOWN Brookhaven in the coming months. Last year they closed their Buckhead Triangle location (where Pinkberry opened soon after) and the new Brookhaven location is only a few minutes away. Not quite a replacement, but surely an option for some wanting to see their ice cream smashed on a marble slab rather than just dug out of a container as at nearby Bruster's.

Quiznos was once open in the same shopping center as Nancy's Pizzeria, and Radio Shack on Peachtree, then it closed. Earlier this year, some lunatic reopened it, and now it's closed again. Note to anyone with money: don't reopen it... as a Quiznos, Subway, or Erbert & Gerberts. Please, don't make like Nike, Just (DON'T) Do It.

Lastly, Havana Grill, the pseudo-replacement of the Havana Sandwich Shop, has closed. I drove by the restaurant earlier this week and it was cleared out but I'm not sure when exactly their last day was. Debbie Benedit opened Havana Restaurant in late 2009 in the Crossroads shopping center, at the corner of Clairmont and Buford Highway. In late March 2010, William Bendit opening Havana Grill in a former Long John Silver's at Northeast Plaza on Buford Highway. William Benedit is the brother of the late Eddie Benedit. Both brothers, along with their father Guido Benedit, originally opened Havana Sandwich Shop on February 9, 1976. Debbie is Eddie's widow. There were conflicting reports about which was really the authentic Cuban eater. Evidently Debbie has come out on top.

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23 comments:

Jim Brams said...

Great roundup as always, Eli.

SB said...

Yes great work Eli, thanks a ton.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of Red Tags, Barcelona in Inman Park has one on their project as of yesterday...

Atlantan99 said...

@Nativenapkin,

Hmmm that's interesting, wonder why they have one? They were scheduled to open later next month I thought...

Anonymous said...

It looks like Newt's Cafe is going to open soon at Town Brookhaven. That would be a great addition. Also, any word on why New Yorker Deli on Pharr Road closed? I thought that was an institution. Any place looking to fill that space??

Atlantan99 said...

@Anon,

It's actually called Newk's Express Cafe and this will be their first location in Georgia. Judging from their website, looks pretty basic, nothing special as best I can tell.

A friend of mine lived nearby to the New Yorker and was devastated by its closure. It was sudden and remains a mystery in the neighborhood. It was open one day and closed the next. It looks to me like Kim King Associates is clearing out the center, as the New Yorker is one of many recent closures in that center. Perhaps the plan is to clear everyone to make way for redevelopment? I feel like it was the plan years ago and perhaps it's back on track...

Thanks for reading and for the comments!

LOL said...

Park Bench was open on Friday night and it was slammed.

Carl Muth said...

There is actually another Newk's going up in Lawrenceville.
Newk’s Express CafĂ© - Lawrenceville
911 Duluth Hwy
Lawrenceville, GA 30043

Billy said...

Welcome back! Another opening...Cibo e Beve is scheduled to open on July 21 (unless delayed like most restaurants).

Anonymous said...

"THERE" is the worst restaurant name I've ever heard.

Anonymous said...

Park Bench had a soft opening last week and it was awesome!! Looks great in there!

Mike H said...

I can already imagine the conversations: "Let's go to 'There'", "there...where?!"

Anonymous said...

Exactly, "Where" would have been an even worse name...

The Orkins said...

Newk's is good. I have been to the one in Jackson, MS. It reminds me of Cafe Express in Dallas and a little like Zoe's. It is a good place to grab a quick lunch or dinner - and kid friendly.

Bryan Marquardt said...

New Yorker is opening at Terminus.

Anonymous said...

Jack's New York Deli is what is actually opening at Terminus!

Anonymous said...

Where in Terminus is this opening? I haven't seen any construction on the Piedmont Rd side other than Subway...

Atlantan99 said...

Hello,

Jack's New Yorker is opening in Terminus 200, (the building next to the upcoming Subway) This restaurant is not related to the New Yorker Marketplace & Deli that abruptly closed on Pharr road earlier this year.

Sorry about the confusion and thanks for reading.

Anonymous said...

Looks like you need to step things up a bit. Your competition is slamming you these days with more info.

Anonymous said...

Um, no new material in 3 weeks, (tap, tap,tap) is this thing still on?

Atlantan99 said...

Note to all : I refuse to simply repost news from other sources and call it my own... that being said, I will have original posts up soon.

Anonymous said...

Really phoning it in these last few weeks...
Just sayin'.

Anonymous said...

The Orkins... Newks is nothing like Zoe's... except for the fact that they both have a greek salad........

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