Friday, October 26, 2012

FIVE GUYS Rolls into Former Mexican Joint in CNN Center

Lorton, Virginia-based FIVE GUYS Burgers & Fries will soon open a new location at CNN Center in
downtown Atlanta.  The new restaurant will take the place of the former Don Juan's Mexican Cantina ( on the Centennial Olympic Park Drive side of CNN ).  Don Juan's had been in the center for many years but I'd wager a guess that having a Moe's Southwest Grill ( within CNN Center ) and a Baja Fresh Mexican Grill ( adjacent to the Centennial Olympic Park) was not good for business.

Five Guys has blanketed Atlanta with locations both intown and in the suburbs.  Growing markets south of the city like Newnan and Douglasville as well as northern cities like Rome and Buford  are all home to Five Guys restaurants .  Last year the chain added another intown location with its opening at the Spire condominiums on Peachtree Street. Earlier this summer, a location did close on Roswell Road in north Buckhead but its closure has been blamed on new family ownership having no desire to continue the operation.  

Currently the chain has over 40 locations in the state but apparently sees room for more.  If you're looking to open a franchise and want to walk right in to an open and operating unit (or units as the case may be), The Shumacher Group currently has a listing for two locations.  The two Five Guys restaurants are both open and operating and are "in great residential Metro Atlanta suburban locations."

No word on when the CNN Center location will open but I anticipate an opening sometime in the first quarter of next year.

With Googie Burger in Centennial Olympic Park and the original Grindhouse Killer Burgers a short distance away in the Sweet Auburn Curb Market, who do you think serves the best burger downtown?  Where do you eat most often when downtown?  What one concept or restaurant is missing from CNN Center or downtown Atlanta as a whole?  Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.  

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is F2O still opening in the CNN Center?

Atlantan99 said...

Hi Anon,

I recall hearing a rumor of that happening over a year ago but nothing concrete came together that I know of. Wishful thinking though.

Thanks for the comment for reading the site.

CNN Ex-pat said...

As a former denizen of CNN Center and its surroundings, I'm pretty sure it will do well. NOBODY, and I mean NOBODY, but tourists/out-of-towners-who-didn't-know-better ate at the Don Juan. You always knew if a really big convention was in town if you saw more than 2 tables occupied at the DJ. I can't believe it lasted until just recently. Five Guys will do well there for a couple of reasons. First, the Wendy's there is the most god-awful Wendy's on this Earth. Terrible and slow service, horrible quality, everything you don't expect from a Wendy's. The CfA right next to it runs circles around it in both speed and quality, and you dreaded ever having to work on a Sunday when that option wasn't there, thus Wendy's reaped the benefits. So anybody looking for a burger (as nobody else but the full-service sit-downs offered those) now has a far superior option. Second, as a tourist destination, 5 guys will get the interest of people where it hasn't reached yet. Think of a East coast version of In-and-Out, the novelty of it will do well for tourists and GWCC patrons. Googie Burger is rather good, but an afterthought to the people stuck in CNN Center, they don't like leaving the four walls. I thought a Zaxby's would do well there, and would tie into the regionality of the place. From Arby's (and used to be Wendy's), to Moe's to CFA, all are Georgia companies, so Zaxby's would have fit in well.

Anonymous said...

What will go in Blimpie's old space? What will go in the book store's old space? Wouldn't Popeye's be wildly successful in CNN Center? Why does it take so long for them to replace restaurants at CNN Center?

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...