Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Bits & Bites

The first brick & mortar location of Select Shades, a new independent sunglass retailer, recently opened at Inman Quarter. The business, which also hosts corporate gifting outings has a second location in the works for The Battery Atlanta. The Inman Quarter store will celebrate its grand opening Saturday March 18th with   complimentary wine, food, and live music. The store will be awarding gifts and promotional giveaways from their favorite brands.

The second location of Smoke & Duck Sauce opened this past weekend in Suburban Plaza. The Asian fusion barbecue restaurant features a number of unique offerings, chief among them a brisket fried rice, my personal favorite.  The original Smoke & Duck Sauce opened this past fall on Powers Ferry Road near the Wildwood office park.  

Poké Perfect, with European headquarters in Amsterdam and U.S. headquarters in Atlanta, has officially signed a lease on its second Atlanta area location.  The new Poké Perfect will open this summer in West Midtown's Westside Provisions District, in the former Yoforia space.   Poké Perfect will feature  a variety of signature and create-your-own Poké bowls utilizing fresh ingredients such as salmon, ahi tuna, avocado and a variety of toppings. In addition to serving the Hawaiian-inspired raw fish and sushirittos, Poké Perfect will expand its menu in Atlanta to offer cooked proteins to fill the colorful bowls. As I was first to reportPoké Perfect will open its first Atlanta location in Decatur in April, followed by the Westside Provisions District site later this summer.  Poké Perfect also plans to open a third Atlanta location in Inman Park "winter 2017."

The Sonny's BBQ on Buford Drive in Buford will soon begin renovations that will bring the restaurant up to date with the brand's updated logo and branding.  

Legacy Ventures Restaurants plans to bring Max's Coal Oven Pizzeria OTP for its second location.  The pizzeria, with one location in the Luckie Marietta District downtown, has signed on to take over the short-lived Varasano's Pizzeria at Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody. Concentrics Hospitality Solutions (now Concentrics restaurants) conceptualized and operated the original Max's from inception in June 2009 until April 2010, when Concentrics and Legacy Ventures dissolved their partnership. The new location will be larger than the downtown restaurant at just over 5,000 square feet and is expected to open "early summer." 

Shortly after reports surfaced that a previously announced Popeyes acquisition was dead, the suitor, Restaurant Brands International announced it had, in fact, purchased the chicken chain.  Restaurant Brands, the Canadian parent of Burger King and Tim Hortons, announced Tuesday that it is buying Atlanta based Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen for $1.8 billion.

A new McDonald's restaurant is planned for Buford Drive at Old Peachtree Road in Lawrenceville.  The new freestanding McDonald's will be built at 2370 Buford Drive, in an outparcel of the Publix at Old Peachtree shopping center.  The new, nearly 4,000 square foot restaurant will be built in place of a former Peoples Bank & Trust branch which is being demolished.  The new McDonald's should be open by early summer.  

Goodwill of North Georgia plans to relocate its Roswell store on Alpharetta Highway to a former Office Depot store nearby.  The new store would anchor the 10779 Alpharetta Highway shopping center and is expected to open "later this summer."  In addition, the previously announced new Goodwill planned for a portion of the former Ingles Supermarket in Tucker, is also slated to open "later this summer."     


Metro Diner is planning a number of new Georgia locations in the coming months.  The Jacksonville, FL based eatery entered the Atlanta market this past fall with a location in Roswell. A previously announced location in Athens is no longer happening but locations are expected to open in Pooler (Savannah) in April, Macon in June and in Augusta later this year.   The Pooler location will be at the new Tanger Outlets complex, while the Macon restaurant will occupy a former bank on Northside Drive.  

A new bubble tea & waffle joint called Boba Bee recently opened in the former Bambu that was also a bubble tea place in Asian Square.

Atlanta Brunch Fest is returning for a second year, this time at Atlantic Station.  The event will take place on Saturday March 11th from 12-5 pm (VIP entry at 11 am).   The event will feature over 30 restaurants, including Buttermilk Kitchen, Einstein’s, and Hampton and Hudson providing samples of brunch items. Tickets are now on sale.  VIP tickets are $65 in advance and $75 after March 2nd. No VIP day-of event tickets will be available. General Admission is $15 in advance, $20 after March 2nd and $25 day-of. Sales tax and ticket fees will be added.  More details and the link to ticket sales can be found here

Pho King opened its second location today at Plaza Midtown. The new pho restaurant replaces Dressed, a failed salad joint, and joins the existing Pho King on Peachtree Road in south Buckhead.  

Hopstix, a new pan-Asian eatery and brewpub will offically celebrate its grand opening next Saturday March 4th.  The restaurant is located at 3404 Pierce Drive in downtown Chamblee, just off Peachtree Road. The concept, from award-winning homebrewer Andy Tan, combines elements of sushi and beer bars with the experience of a chef-driven restaurant.  

Taco Bell plans to significantly demolish its existing restaurant at 429 Ponce de Leon Avenue and rebuild it.  The new restaurant is expected to be slightly larger and will sport the brand's latest logo and design elements.  

A new indoor trampoline gym called Adventure Air Sports is planning to open at Town Center Plaza, on Barrett Parkway across from Town Center at Cobb, in Kennesaw.  The gym will open on the backside of the center, in space 3500 which was most recently home to Worship with Wonders Church.  The space is about 38,000 square feet and is behind and below Marshalls. Tennessee resident Chris Brown is developing the project and has reportedly developed similar parks around the southeast.  The business will sell "adventure time" by the hour and will offer patrons Dodge Ball, Foam Pit, Balance Beam, Trapeze Bar, Ninja Course, Performance Trampoline and Performance Wall, among other offerings.  Brown and his contractors have been hard at work turning the space into the activity complex.  Before it was a church, the property was a gym and part of the renovation process included filling in the large pool that had most recently been used by a scuba diving school. Brown tells me he is committed to opening March 31st.  

Pita Mediterranean Street Food plans to open a number of new locations in the coming months. The quick serve Mediterranean eatery with five locations currently open plans to add new locations in Duluth, Johns Creek, Columbus and Sharpsburg.  The Columbus Pita will be located on  Whittlesey Boulevard at Columbus Park Crossing. The Sharpsburg Pita restaurant will be located in the Kroger anchored Thomas Crossroads shopping center and will occupy the former "the mix" frozen yogurt space.  Locations planned for Duluth and Johns Creek are labeled only as "coming soon."  Pita currently has locations in Peachtree City, Newnan, Dunwoody, Roswell and Marietta.  The Johns Creek and Duluth locations may very well be labeled as coming soon due there being franchise agreements in place for those territories but locations not yet been secured.   

Juice joint Kale Me Crazy is officially going regional with new location planned for Cary, North Carolina.  The new Kale Me Crazy will open at Waverly Place, a Whole Foods Market anchored outdoor lifestyle center.  There are currently eight Kale Me Crazy locations open in the greater Atlanta area with a ninth planned for The Avenue East Cobb.  

Marshalls plans to close its existing store at Brookwood Square in Austell this Sunday, February 26th.  The Austell store will "reopen" March 2nd at Parkside West Cobb, a new center on Dallas Highway, adjacent to the Avenue West Cobb.  Marshalls is also expected to open a new store in the Kroger Marketplace anchored Dawson Marketplace shopping center in Dawsonville March 2nd.  


A new Asian eatery calleed Nova Sushi Bar & Asian Bistro plans to open later this year at Buckhead Triangle in Buckhead.  The restaurant will occupy the former Dr. Tattoff clinic between hhgregg and FedEx Office in the popular Buckhead center.  The nearly 2,600 square foot space, which before being Dr. Tattoff, was part of FedEx Office, will have to be built out for use as a restaurant which may take a few months.  The restaurant has filed one permit with the City of Atlanta which indicates it plans to spend at least $180,000 to convert the space. 

A loyal reader sent me the following video which includes a limited, yet entertaining, look inside Lenox Mall Square in 1989.  It's amazing to see how much open space the mall once had in comparison to the Lenox Square of today.  

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

that is indeed lenox mall as I remember it (through most of the 90s)

Anonymous said...

It has always been Lenox SQUARE, not "Mall".

Anonymous said...

just out of curiosity, what's in the Piccadilly space now?? I go there so seldom that I figured it still looked like that 1989 video...

~mindspringyahoo

Ham said...

As strange as it may seem for some unknown reason I had actually seen that video before. Was it previously posted here? Maybe I just randomly found it while exploring some local history or something, but either way it brought back some memories.

I clearly remember Lenox only being one level and the old Piccadilly Cafeteria. While the expansions and improvements have allowed Lenox to stay relevant in a changing retail environment I regret the loss of some of the things that mad it unique.

Anonymous said...

must read if you're into Lenox Square history: go to Southern Israelite's online archive, search on Lenox Square, and there's a long article all about it in the Aug 21, 1959 issue.

~mindspringyahoo

Anonymous said...

What's the difference between demolishing and significantly demolishing?

Shmigga said...

Last thin we need is a McDonald's built near Publix.

Atlantan99 said...

@Anon RE: demolishing,

Permits for the project suggest that the building will be heavily renovated to the extent that the work is labeled as "significantly demolish." Essentially, not a completely new building but, but close to it.

Thanks for your comments and readership.

Anonymous said...

They never demolished Lenox square.....in late 93/early 94.... they added a second floor to the main hallway of it..... it stayed open throughout the renovations. It was quite an amazing transformation to watch happen. I lived less than a mile from the mall and watched the renovations visiting weekly. The sculpture at neimans was a great sculpture there was also a huge glass sculpture at the main entrance. I enjoyed going to eat at that micks above CPK many an evening...... and shopping at rain across from micks on the other side of the atrium.....

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