Friday, January 29, 2016

Atlantic Station's Diner Closed...Temporarily.

Ron Eyester's troubled eatery continues to struggle.

Diner, the worst of all Ron Eyester creations, remains closed due to "a heating mechanical issue."  

This is not the first "temporary closure" for the the restaurant, in fact, it's at least the second one just this month.

On January 6th at 2:14PM, the following message was posted to the restaurant's facebook page: 

"Due to an unforeseen maintenance issue, we will be closing for the remainder of the day. We will reopen tomorrow at 9am. Sorry for any inconvenience and we hope to serve you tomorrow!"

On January 19th at 9:24AM another similar message:

"We will be CLOSED today. Catch us tomorrow for a big breakfast & hot coffee when we reopen at 8am!!"

Although I've been unable to confirm it, online resources suggest the restaurant may have remained closed from the 19th through now.  

The restaurant recently adopted a new branding message: "Creative Eats Kind Vibes." Despite that, patrons continue to be unimpressed with both.  

In one review (left without a response on the Diner facebook page) a patron recounts having had a bad experience whereby she and her party had their meal comped.   She then recalls "the owner chase us down saying "hey is all u gon tip him? You didn't pay for dinner so tip more! I was so embarrassed!"

While I agree that one should tip more than usual if not paying for the meal, if this account is accurate, it seems like something other than "kind vibes" are offered in Diner.  

Another patron who visited the restaurant for the first time earlier this month later called that choice the "worst decision ever."  

The restaurant has a total of 83 reviews on Yelp with a paltry 2.5 star rating. 

Last year Eyester, aka @TheAngryChef, was forced to close his two more established and far more popular restaurants, Rosebud and The Family Dog, both in Morningside.  

Tom Murphy of Murphy's is opening a concept in the former Rosebud space.  Benji Shirah, a minority owner of Buckhead's The IVY, recently reopened The Family Dog...as The Family Dog. 

This past October, following news of the sales/closures of The Family Dog and Rosebud, Eyester seemed committed to correcting the issues at Diner in an interview with the AJC. 

“I have Diner to consider and the stability of Diner is not great right now. But my saving grace is that the Hines group, who just bought Atlantic Station, are very supportive of the concept. And they really want to see me make it work."

How much slack will Hines continue to allow Eyester? Should Diner stay closed, what should replace it?  How often do you visit Atlantic Station?

Please share your thoughts below.  

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

This guy ranks near the top of the dumbest Atlanta business people...and there have been a lot of them.

In no particular order:
1) the boneheads behind the Buckhead Boneheads
2) the flatliners that reopened Urban Flats in Lindbergh after it failed the first time
3) the less-than-Visionaries that spent millions trying to recreate their darling ghetto club and spent millions to open Vanquish/Reign only to close it less than 2 years later
4) Eyester - who apparently thought that Atlantic Station was a similar demographic to Morningside (not even close!) and spent MILLIONS to open Diner (after I don't know how many delays). A restaurant with no sense of concept or heart. "Just put anything fake glitzy in there - the black folks will enjoy it." That's what it seems like he was thinking. (and given the success of the laughably bad Cheesecake Bistro, he may have had something there...I digress)

Anonymous said...

In related news, former Eyester spot Family Dog re-opened under new management last night.

Anonymous said...

Funny to think Eyester spent MILLIONS to open Diner. From what I've heard, Atlantic Station and North American Properties helped him quite a bit to get the place open and are still waiting for money...like his staff (which turns around a lot)...
I'm so surprised that place is still open. I used to never go to Atlantic Station, but I've been impressed recently. Atlantic Station has/had a good thing going, establishing a new atmosphere and things seemed to be moving in a great direction. That space deserves something better.

ImAndy said...

I just love any article you post about this particular person. Maybe sometime I'll compile them all and rank them in order of which I like most.

Anonymous said...

I sincerely do not wish any small businesses to fail, and I wish him all the best, however I do agree with the previous poster that these trials and tribulations are quite entertaining.

Anonymous said...

Nothing stimulates Eli's schadenfreude better than someone on the path to losing everything.

Edric Floyd said...

Spoken from someone who doesn't identify himself but calls out another by name?

That's so pathetic.

Anonymous said...

"2) the flatliners that reopened Urban Flats in Lindbergh after it failed the first time"

Oh man, that place. You can't mention it without the tagline on the outside window: "Fresh, Fun, and Hip!" Because nothing says *not* fresh, fun, and hip like putting that on a sign.

Anonymous said...

hopefully the new owner of Atlantic Station will be able to stem the revolving door of tenants here. The project is being squeezed, much more authentic experiences at WSPD and PCM, this feels like a mall w/o a roof.

Anonymous said...

YES!~ #EYESTERSUX,

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