Tavern 360 at 360 Pharr Road has closed. The restaurant opened earlier this year as Olde Towne Tavern before getting into a legal dispute with the franchisor and changing their name. The space in which they opened may be about the most cursed restaurant space in Buckhead. Tib's Grill, a higher end concept from the makers of Popeyes, was slated to open there, but abandoned the buildout halfway through. Spondivit's later renovated the space for their needs but didn't last long. Harry Bissett's, of Athens fame, opened in the space in 2008, closing only a few months later. Saskatoon, a peculiar concept in and of itself, foolishly opened in the space in early 2010 before closing in early 2011, making way for the current tavern concept.
Earlier in the week, if you were to call the restaurant, their answering message indicated they are not open Monday through Wednesday, and even when open, they have limited hours. As of ten PM Friday night, the restaurant seemed closed and as best I could tell, liquor and beer had been removed from the bar, a telltale sign of a closure. As of 6pm Saturday, "Space Available" signs were posted by the Shumacher Group and agent Steve Josovitz, the same agent who has leased the space repeatedly, a result of his close relationship with AFC Enterprises, who apparently still holds the lease.
Oddly, though I'm told a management / ownership change had already occurred, the branding on the restaurant's exterior signage continued to reflect Olde Towne Tavern, not the more generic Tavern 360. Additionally, the Suwanee location, which was opened by the original owner of the Buckhead location, Robert Moravek, continues to operate under the Olde Towne branding, despite a message on the restaurant's website making clear the two are not affiliated.
All in all, a very odd series of events and a very challenged location.
What do you think would do well in this space when the current establishment closes? If you live nearby, what would make you dine, shop or patronize this space? Should something other than a restaurant open? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
9 comments:
I'm not sure that even a spectacular restaurant concept could perform well in this Buckhead space now. Maybe it could have done well back in 1995 when people actually went to this area of Buckhead. Or maybe when Buckhead Atlanta is finally complete in 2085. Until then, this space should be used for anything but a restaurant.
This place has gone from beyond cursed to radioactive now.
I've said it before, Modern is next. Aside from a silly name, Modern's largest problem is curbside perception. The place looks absolutely dead from the outside. Compare it to Twin Peaks that has exterior lighting that even if nobody was in there it looks like it is busy. If I drove by Modern wanting to give it a shot I would think it wasn't open based solely on how it looks outside.
@Anon,
Great minds think alike. Modern wont last a year. Space is boring, food is ok, looks dead all the time.
The Olde Town Tavern seemed to be doing fine there. It was a great place to grab a bite and watch the game. I don't know why they were so quick to pull the plug.
I don't know why a sports bar/restaurant can't succeed there. I enjoy driving Pharr Road much better then the parking lot that is Peachtree Road in Buckhead. There's plentiful parking, little traffic.
That whole stretch of Pharr from Piedmont to Peachtree is an embarrassment right now, with a bunch of crap from end to end. Can't we have some forward-thinking developer come in and clean the whole stretch up??
Actually, Tibs did a soft opening. It was that complete. I work nearby, and we walked up there one day thinking it had opened. We sat down, and orders were taken. When the food arrived, the waiter asked what "group" we were with. He was shcoked when we asked what he meant. According to the waiter, the event was only open enmployees of various entities associated with Popeye's. They still served us, and it was great. Spindivits came in and redid the whole place. Then bissett's came in and changed it around again.
In my opinion, this needs to be like the Wing Factory on Roswell. A place where the kids from the baseball park just down the street can come after the game. Olde Town was too "nice". A true sports bar with a reasonable price point would succeed here.
As a total aside, what chances of success do you give Lime on West Paces? Although it was opriginally packed, it seems completely empty now. I don't think iot will make it until Spring 2013. Of course, this is no surprise in light of the consistent complaints regarding horrible quality.
@ Anon RE: Lime,
All Atlanta area Lime Fresh locations ( Buckhead, Peachtree Hills and Midtown) are DeathWatch material. Their food is ok but overpriced and 2/3 of their locations are poorly located. The midtown one is the only one in a pretty good spot, with plenty of walk by traffic and not a ton of competition but even it is not that busy. Atlanta is home to too many chains and local outfits already that Lime simply doesn't stand a chance. I'm with you, closed by Spring...summer at the latest.
Thanks for your comments and for reading the site.
Whoever advised them to go into this space should be out of the real estate business as they clearly werern't working in Olde Towne's best interest.
Diddo, for anyone who puts another restaurant in this space.
True this location is challenging & has too many square feet.
BUT the last two: Saskatoon & then Olde Town / Tavern 360 had horrid service. Had increasing record breaking HORRID service. Being excited ‘bout the closeness - I gave Olde Towne two tried early on. The service & food got logarithmically worse. I watched two dolt lazy managers & hostess lay around & crack jokes whist the waitress ran around trying to serve a few other customers. Staff appears to hate each other. The manager bitterly changed the keg for our then didn't even tell her it was ready so 15 mins for a beer. Sticky uncooked batter on the fish & chips for my buddy & cold in the center Salmon BLT for me. Felt ill that night. Bad pop music on the PA. Worse than a Barrett Parkway experience.
Finally, why don’t the dolt owners place a “free garage parking” rather than free valet which many folks hate?
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