Tuesday, July 17, 2012

A Bonehead Opening in Brookhaven

Atlanta-based Boneheads is opening in TOWN Brookhaven.  Boneheads will open between AT&T and Moe's Southwest Grill.  Raving Brands (now known as Big Game Brands), the restaurant's
original owner, sold the concept to BH Acquisition, LLC in late 2009.  At the time of the sale, the chain consisted of eight locations and its new owners expected the concept would take off in "multiple markets in the second half of [2010]"

Today, the chain has a total of four locations open under the Boneheads Grilled Fish Piri Piri Chicken branding and a seemingly rogue California franchisee of a fifth location who has tweaked the branding, "Boneheads Be One."  Sean Lupton Smith, formerly an Atlanta Bread Co. franchisee was heavily involved in the original Boneheads restaurant at Peachtree Battle and later in Roswell.  Lupton Smith, a native of South Africa, helped create the original menu and recipes.  Former Boneheads locations in Atlantic Station and Roswell operate today as Fishook Grille, and are operated by Lupton Smith, independent of both Big Games Brands and BH Acquisition LLC.  Fishhook has strikingly similar branding, messaging and menu but its name change is meant to reflect a new direction for the two unit chain.  

According to the Boneheads website, new locations are also coming soon to Tampa, Florida, Austin, Texas, and Long Island (Mineola) New York.

Boneheads original location in Peachtree Battle is now the lone Atlanta location of Maki Fresh, a fast caual Japanese eatery started by Zoës Kitchen founder John Cassimus.  The two remaining Boneheads locations in Atlanta are located in Dunwoody at Perimeter Place and near Sandy Springs on Powers Ferry Road. Neither location does especially "well" and I'm told Powers Ferry has been up for sale repeatedly within the past couple years.

Personally I think TOWN Brookhaven has more than enough restaurants and that many currently won't make it long term.  Places like The Cup, Swirll, Newk's, Stir Crazy and Tre'za all have me wondering how long they will survive.  Slacks, a restaurant I had reservations about before they even opened, has already closed.    Given Boneheads track record of closures, an abundance of restaurants and a shortage of parking, I question the thought process in another restaurant opening in the project.  One thing I noticed on the Boneheads website and wanted to mention was that they list the location as  "Buckhead (TOWN / Brookhaven)" One of the most misleading/and honestly untrue things I've heard is that Brookhaven is somehow Buckhead, and / or business people from Buckhead are likely to travel to Brookhaven on a regular basis for lunch.  That is simply not the case, but seems to be the hope behind new restaurants and the pitch from those at Sembler.  

I have seen the center busy, but only on Friday and Saturday nights. Noche is by far the most popular dining option followed by BUA and Moe's.  These three concepts do well at all hours, any day.  Newcomers like Cafe at Pharr / Baci seem to have found a following as well.  I doubt Boneheads finds this same success, but who knows?  What do YOU think?  Share your thoughts in the comment section below.  

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17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you serious? Newk's is always busy. I understand some of the others but Newk's never lacks for business.

Anonymous said...

Was at Newk's today for lunch and the line was out the door. The center itself is always busy, including weeknights - last Wednesday night parking was tough. Completely agree about Stir Crazy and Treza (sadly) though. Swirll seems to do well with the parent crowd. I'm more perplexed by these small clothing boutiques. Not sure how they are surviving at all.

Anonymous said...

And yes, I agree that there are too many restaurants. I can't believe Publix didn't have a restriction on the number allowed.

Anonymous said...

Would love for the Powers Ferry location to become a Jimmy John's!! Work on that for us (kidding - well not really) :-)

Anonymous said...

Yeah, not sure how well Boneheads will do there, never been that impressed with it but I'd give it a chance. I never really understand why Noche is always so packed, its nothing special, but you're right they are consistently busy. I had a terrible dinner at Bua with very unfriendly service and wouldn't go back, and that Moe's is severely lacking in quality. I think Willy's will put the hurt on them once they open down the street. Newk's is pretty good and does well from what I've seen so I would be suprised if they closed as they seem fairly busy consistenly. Honestly the only restaurant I actually really like in Town Brookhaven is There restaurant (terrible name) as the menu is interesting and a good price point.

Anonymous said...

way too many dining options there. And for the life of my, I can't see how The Cup is still open.

S said...

Town Brookhaven = Food Court Brookhaven. How does the county allow this? Any retail center I know of (I work in commercial real estate) has restrictions on # of dining establishments due to parking requirements. Like Edgewood Retail District can not add another food place nor Lindbergh Plaza (Home Depot/Best Buy one). How can Food Court Brookhaven get away with filling it all with food with no parking?

Anonymous said...

I could be wrong, but I believe the gentleman's name is LupTon Smith

Anonymous said...

Newk's = The people who started McAllister's Deli. They know what they are doing.

Atlantan99 said...

Hi Anon RE: LupTon Smith,

Yes, you are correct and the change has been made.

Good catch, thank you!

Anonymous said...

What should go there ... a bead shop? Kaufmann Tire?

Nothing wrong with eateries.... especially decent ones.

I also found out that TB Publix is a main "training store"... hence why it is also overflowing with employees. Its a great Publix and can certainly survive all the reataurants.

Anonymous said...

Tre'za is one of my favorites so I hope they find a way to stay in business. I was at Bua on a Thursday night and it was nearly full. Town Brookhaven is generally busy and as others have noted, Newk's often has a line out the door at lunch. As for Bonehead's, I wish something else was opening instead - maybe Brugger's bagels. I would rather see it in Town Brookhaven than at the Prado.

Anonymous said...

A bagel place would be great in TB, there is none in the area and I think people would love one. We always have a hard time finding parking to go anywhere there so I really don't think overall it is too many restaurants. I agree Stir Crazy and the Cup are odd in that they are still open, but who knows. We love TB.

Amy said...

Actually, Moes is not doing a strong business at all. Noche does well everywhere in Atlanta as it is a local based concept with decent food and a fun atmosphere. It also appears to be reasonably priced as tapas places. The Cup is a joke and not even open during mornng hours for people to get coffee. Some others might be busy, like Newks but they have to do a substantial business all 7 DAYS and NIGHTS to pay the high rental rates they are paying at TOWN. Remember, just because you see a line one day or the other, it needs to be consistent. In addition, I work in the true Buckhead area and no one travels all the way to TOWN for lunch as it is over 15 minutes to get there at that time of the day.

Mickey Roberts said...

I don't know anything about Boneheads, but I do wonder if Sti Crazy and Olive Bistro can survive; their food is great but I don't see the crowds except on weekends. The best kept secret at TB is THERE; I've been twice, and while service can be somewhat sketchy, the food is on par with any of the better restaurants in their category; I would put THERE's food on par with any restaurant in Decatur, Kaleidscope, Empire South, etc.

Anonymous said...

I don't know what "true" Buckhead is, but I work at Peachtree and Lenox, and I go to Town Brookhaven 2-3 times a week for lunch. I agree there are too many eateries, and introducing another one is not the right thing to do, but Newk's, Tre'za, Baci, Noche seem to be doing great business. I also agree that I don't know what the leasing agents are thinking, but it's also the fault of the early restaurant owners for not negotating their leases properly, i.e., including language that prohibited similar restaurants, and/or limiting number of.

Scott Pufahl said...

I would like to clarify a few comments made in the original blog. I have owned the Powers Ferry location since July 2010, and it has never been for sale since. I will continue to operate it for many many years and then hand it over ( well, maybe I'll sell it ) to my loyal employees to operate after that. So it will probably not be for sale in the next 20-30 years. The business is very healthy as we serve between 350-400 customers daily and perform 30-40 catering events in any given month. I would request you stop by for a visit as I would be more than happy to buy you lunch and talk about the Boneheads Powers Ferry location at your convenience.

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