This Sunday, October 28, Willy's Mexicana Grill will close their restaurant at Midtown Place, the Whole Foods Market anchored center across from Ponce City Market in Midtown. The 1,363 square foot restaurant opened in early 2012 in place of a failed Qdoba, a similar restaurant, then owned by fast food chain Jack in the Box. The Ponce Willy's was smaller than typical locations and never did as well as the company had hoped, according to sources close to the Atlanta based chain.
Parking at Midtown Place is also challenging, especially in the out-parcel where Willy's was located. The opening of Tacos & Tequilas Mexican Grill, a full-service restaurant offering similar fare to Willy's, directly above the quick serve restaurant was also likely not good news for the burrito joint.
The Ponce closure is only the fourth in the company's 23 year history. Willy's previously closed a corporately owned restaurant at The Mall of Georgia in Buford and along Roswell Road in north Sandy Springs. The one and only ever franchised Willy's, a location in Gainesville, Florida, closed in 2014.
Willy's distributed an email to patrons announcing the Ponce closure:
"Thank you for being a loyal guest of Willy's on Ponce de LeonRoadAvenue. We have made a decision to close this location on Sunday Oct. 28 at 4 p.m. We take great pride in the food we serve and being a part of the community. We are humbled and grateful for all the support and relationships that have been built and have been honored to serve burritos here for the last 6 years."
Just up Ponce, near The Bookhouse Pub, Chipotle Mexican Grill operates a freestanding location. Just a little further up the road is a Moe's Southwest Grill. In the middle lies the building that formerly housed Tortillas, the burrito joint with a cult-like popularity upon which Bell St. Burritos is modeled. Tortillas closed in 2003, with co-owner Charlie Kearns saying "The burrito war has been fought and won. We didn't win it."
Willy's continues to operate a pair of nearby locations, one at 1071 Piedmont Avenue adjacent to Piedmont Park (2.2 miles away) and another at 1230 Caroline Street in the Edgewood Retail District, also 2.2. miles away.
ToNeTo Atlanta reported October 17 that the Moe's Southwest Grill in Ansley Mall was closing and would be replaced by Atlanta's third Chopt Creative Salad Co. Sources say Moe's is actively scouting for a replacement location nearby, but there is no indication that Willy's plans to do the same for their Ponce outpost, at least not anytime soon.
Following the closure, Willy's will operate 30 restaurants in Georgia, mostly in metro Atlanta, but with outposts in Athens, Columbus, Cartersville, and Peachtree City as well.
Are you sad to see Willy's close at Midtown Place? What is your favorite quick serve burrito joint? What would you like to see open in place of Willy's at Midtown Place?
Please share your thoughts below.
8 comments:
Put a Jack-in-the-Box there! That place becomes a destination!
Tacos & Tequila turned out to be a fantastic restaurant, and this surely hurt Willy's traffic. I can see parking in that horrid lot for several hours of dining and drinking with friends, but it's not worth risking your life to park and dodge traffic for a burrito. It's next to a mattress store, also, so that couldn't have helped! :-)
There's also a Willy's in the AT&T building at Cypress and 3rd.
Now where will employees at PCM go for a lunch that doesn't cost our third born son? RIP Willy's...
Half of the reason Olive Bistro left was the terrible parking in the shopping center and poor management. I wouldnt be surprised to learn that was a factor for them leaving as well. Olive Bistro is opening a new place underneath the Lowes hotel a much better location, im sure Willys will find a better location as well.
I’m not the biggest fan but I will miss it. I went there fairly often mainly because the parking lot at the Ponce Chipotle is so so much worse, to the point that I’m surprised it’s even legal, and I’m not really into Moe’s.
That parking is a nightmare. I only go to that shopping center if I have to (Home Depot or Staples). Not worth the traffic to grab food there.
Sort of an end of an era for me. One of the first places I took note of, and visited as I was getting familiar with the Poncy Highland area. Back in 2012, heart of the recession, half of the current existing restaurants didn't exist.
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