Thursday, March 20, 2014

Sandy Springs Gateway Grabs Some Grub

Sandy Springs Gateway has announced the first few tenants that will open in the 21-acre mixed-use project on Roswell Road next year.

Asheville, North Carolina-based Tupelo Honey Cafe will open a new 6500 square foot restaurant, the group's first in Georgia.  I heard talk over a year ago that the restaurant was targeting Atlanta for future expansion, but at the time, had heard they were looking closely at Decatur.  Now, with seven locations open across North and South Carolina as well as Tennessee, Tupelo will open first in Sandy Springs although they are undoubtedly still seeking additional sites in metro Atlanta.

Tupelo Honey Cafe is most popular for breakfast, but serves lunch and dinner as well.  The full-service restaurant features assorted soups and sandwiches and some of the best sides around.   Tupelo Honey will likely compete for breakfast and lunch business with Buttermilk Kitchen to the south, and Egg Harbor Cafe to the North.  

Birmingham, Alabama-based Urban Cookhouse will join Tupelo Honey in the project and represents another growing regional chain.  Urban Cookhouse was started by husband and wife team Andrea & David Snyder in 2010, and today has three locations in Alabama. David and Andrea both previously worked at Zoes Kitchen, also based in Birmingham.  David departed after working his way up from front line employee to Director of Operations at the about- to-go-public fast casual eatery.  Andrea worked in a marketing capacity for Zoes and later for sister concept, Maki Fresh.

Urban Cookhouse features fresh, local fare including wraps, sandwiches, seasonal soups and salads, as well as a variety of larger entrees. Urban Cookhouse is a fast casual restaurant and is open for lunch and dinner.

Hil Rogers of Verde Taqueria will open an as yet unnamed 3500 square foot restaurant that will feature an unspecified cuisine.  My guess is casual Mexican, but who knows?

CVS Pharmacy will also open a freestanding pharmacy in the project because the Walgreens across the street was feeling a little lonely.

A release obtained by ToNeTo Atlanta also mentions a "specialty grocer as the anchor," which I've previously confirmed to be Phoenix, Arizona-based Sprouts Farmers Market. Neither the developer nor the leasing company would confirm Sprouts as the anchor, but industry sources confirm the Sprouts lease was signed months ago.

With demolition underway, plans call for construction to be completed next spring.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Urban Cookhouse is awesome! I've dined at their location at The Summit in Birmingham several times, and the food is excellent. Excited for this, and the other restaurants, coming soon!

Jenna S. said...

Where on Roswell Rd is this mixed-use project going to be?

Atlantan99 said...

Hi Jenna,

This project will be closest to Windsor Parkway, adjacent to the former Eckerd / Rite Aid.

Thanks for your comments and readership.

SB said...

Agreed with above. I ate at Urban Cookhouse at The Summit in B-ham also and was impressed. Among QSR's for a weekly lunch at work, it's one of the best I've been to.

Anonymous said...

Urban cookhouse is a great place to eat. Their first location was in downtown homewood in Birmingham. They strive to use local whenever possible. The salads are really good. As far as Zoe's is concerned they recently relocated the corporate office to Dallas, supposedly to be more centrally located. John cassimus who took Zoe's from 1 store to around 30 stores now focuses on maki fresh and Jensei sushi.... He recently franchised a jensei in Oxford ms. Jensei is by far one of the best sushi restaraunts I've been to especially in the south...... Atlanta should beg John to open a jensei in the city...... It's pricey for sushi but it's all flown in daily..... It's hard to get a table about every night in Birmingham unless you go real early.

Anonymous said...

Restaurants should use local and be owned by locals. The country is full of chains!

Traffic will make the area impossible to cross and not to mention lack of clean air.

Way too many grocery stores!!!

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