Thursday, July 18, 2013

Thank Goodness! FRIDAY'S Plaza Lands Two New Restaurants!

The plaza formerly known as FRIDAY'S Plaza will soon welcome two new restaurants. 


Front Row Seafood & Sports Bar and The Crab Boil will both open soon in the largely vacant center located off Tilly Mill Road near Peachtree (Industrial) Boulevard. 

Front Row Seafood & Sports Bar will replace Barnacles Seafood Oysters & Sports.  Barnacles had been a landmark eatery in the center for years before closing suddenly.  The restaurant was auctioned this past January by its then owner, the FDIC.  The 9,500 square foot restaurant has plenty of parking and visibility from PIB.  Its neighbor is adult entertainment establishment Oasis. 

Front Row has its signage up and appears to be within a few weeks of opening.

The Crab Boil (originally named The Boiling Crab) will open in the space where T.G.I. FRIDAY'S operated for many years.  The over 9,300 square foot restaurant was leased a few months ago to Greek Island Taverna whose owners spent tens of thousands to renovate, paint and update the space but apparently ran out of money and never actually opened for business. 

An industry source told me that the owners of Barley's on Peachtree Street are the ones opening The Crab Boil.  Interestingly, Barley's, which had been on Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta for a number of  years, seems to have closed.  The restaurant tweeted on February 14th

"Barley's Sports Bar and Lounge will be temporarily closed for renovations.. We look forward to seeing each of you after our small changes."

Strangely though, the restaurant seems closed for good as its phone number has been disconnected, its website is no longer up and appears for sale by GoDaddy.  For what its worth, Google still shows the restaurant as open and displays their hours as if you could dine tonight 'til midnight.

As far as The Crab Boil goes, they will serve Louisiana seafood and according to its signage, have a musical component as well.

The restaurant is described on its twitter as :

"Not just any Seafood Boil, but the kind that will keep you awake at night thinking about when you can get some more. NOTHING LIKE THE CRAB BOIL IN ATL!!!!"

According to an events page on The Crab Boil website, the restaurant may open as soon as next week.

Among other previous tenants in Friday's Plaza was a six-screen Cineplex Odeon movie theater that opened in 1987 and closed in 1998 and another restaurant called The Pool House.

In the early 2000s there was talk that the center would be redeveloped as "The Village at Tilly Mill Crossing" but those plans never materialized.  Perhaps these two new restaurants will lead to a renaissance of the center?

What makes sense for this aging, yet well located center?  What would you support / like to see opened in one or many of its vacant spaces?  Will one of these new restaurants fare better than the other?  Please share your thoughts below.

12 comments:

Patrick said...

Good to hear there will be some new occupants. I thought the Pool House was an actual pool hall. There was also Thai/Chinese restaurant, and a Japanese sushi restaurant.

Atlantan99 said...

@Patrick,

I think you are right about the Pool House, restaurant and billiards.

Thanks for the comments and for reading the site.

Anonymous said...

Too bad so many of the other businesses were chased out during the "redevelopment" that never happened. Books Japan left and went all the way over to Cobb Parkway @ Windy Hill, next to Tomato Grocery, and opened a 2nd location over in the H-Mart BrandSmart sc in Dunwoody before folding. At one point there were a number of Japanese bookstores in the Atlanta area, Books Japan was the last.

There was also another Asian grocery, don't know what happened to them, and an Asian video place. The Philippine grocery went further up P'tree Industrial (and now is on Buford Hwy?). The travel agency ended up in the HMart/Brandsmart sc as well.

djm said...

Years ago there also used to be a store that sold ceramic kamado style cookers that I believe were manufactured in India.

Anonymous said...

before the Greek Taverna debacle, there was the restaurant/club that spent a lot of money on the place solely based on representations made to them that they could be open until 4 am. Lo and behold, that advice was wrong when both Doraville and Dunwoody residents convinced the Dekalb Commission to deny the licenses. the Greek place came a few years after.

Barnacles had good food but no following. A newer rough crowd of customers chased loyal customers away. Interesting whether two similar sounding places can make it there. I give both 6 months. They need the black crowd to patronize and Doraville police will scare them away.

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear new restaurants will be moving into that plaza area...but they sound very similar in concepts. Both are seafood so have to see how that goes.

While reminiscing about Friday's Plaza, Beningan's (was located where Oasis or Barnacles)& many many years ago, Great Games an arcade was in the plaza. Good times growing up in the area. Oh how that shopping center has dwindled...GOOD LUCK to its redevelopment!!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous July 22, 2013 @ 2:10 P.M.

Yuck.

Since when does Doraville needs a "black crowd" in order for a restaurant to be successful??? Doraville is predominately Caucasian, get your facts before assuming things.

Anonymous said...

I've lived in Doraville for just under 2 years and I am happy to see the shopping center opening businesses. I would love to see a grocery store chain like Publix, Kroger, or Food Lion there! Looking forward to patronizing both Front Row and The Crab Boil!

Anonymous said...

Had dinner at the Crab Boil today with party of 4, the place i must say is really nice and the food is good, by far the best Louisiana style seafood around here and I have eaten at many places in Atlanta. Will be recommending to other family and friends.

Anonymous said...

crab boil sucks. strippers as waitresses. i give it 6 months. too expensive. food is mediocre.

Anonymous said...

I had dinner at The Crab Boil few nights a go with friends and family. Their food was amazing. We had 10 pounds of Crawfish, 2 pounds of Snow Crab legs, 2 pounds of Dungeness Crab, and a pound of Mussels all jazz it up hot. Their boils come in a bag with full of flavors & you can tell they have quality fresh seafood. We all loved it & recommend this place. I read some of the comments about being expensive. If you like cheap quality seafood then go to Buford Hwy & at every corner you see cheap Asian seafood spots imported from China. You always get what you pay for. Nice friendly staff. We will be back.

Anonymous said...

The only real New Orleans seafood in style, taste and price is New Orleans seafood located on both Lawrenville Hwy and Candler Rd. The Boiling Crab is aweful coming from a New Orleans native.

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