Sunday, January 12, 2014

Treza Has Closed in TOWN Brookhaven

Treza becomes the latest restaurant casualty in TOWN Brookhaven.

Ft. Lauderdale-based Treza Fine Salad & Wood-Fired Pizza Co. closed its TOWN Brookhaven location last night.  The casual pizza and salad eatery opened in late 2011 and closed for a short time in April 2012 for a rebranding effort that included a new logo, renovated dining room and new color scheme.

Treza has two corporate locations in Arkansas but they operate under the name ZAZA Fine Salad + Wood-Oven Pizza Co.  The Arkansas locations have their own separate website with no mention of the Atlanta location.  

Jim Bullock, then vice president of franchise development, was quoted in 2012 saying "The goal is to open 100 restaurants within the next five years, mostly in the Southeast, with 12 open by the end of 2012."

Although I'm aware of at least one restaurant at The Summit in Birmingham that was "under construction," and others where there were letters of intent in place, such as Tuscaloosa, Huntsville, and Montgomery, none of them ever opened.

Treza has been on the DeathWatch for much of its existence and its closure comes as a surprise to few who were familiar with the restaurant and its location amidst the food court that is TOWN Brookhaven.

In case you've lost count, TOWN Brookhaven is currently home to more than a dozen quick serve, casual and higher end eateries.

Soon Lucky's Burger & Brew will open in the failed Slack Hoagie Shack space giving the beleaguered center its first true burger joint.

Boneheads is the next most likely to close given its poorly executed concept and limited market penetration.


What are your thoughts on the Treza closure?  
Do you think Treza would have been successful elsewhere in Atlanta?
What would you like to see happen to the Treza space?  
What is your favorite restaurant in TOWN Brookhaven?

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I picture you waking up with such immense glee at another restaurant closing in TB that you can barely contain yourself. I think you give great info most of the time and at other times I just shake my head and your apparent joyfulness of everything that closes at TB.

What exactly would you LIKE to see at TB? What would make you happy? Cause it clearly isn't restaurants.

Lisa said...

Ive been to ZaZa in Little Rock and the food was significantly better. The folks at TB swore up and down to me that there was NO association with ZaZa despite exact same branding and menu!!

Atlantan99 said...

@Anon,

I get no joy from reporting closures in TOWN Brookhaven or anywhere else for that matter. I feel like I know what I'm talking about and have a good feeling for what kind of concept will or will not make it.

If you are the frequent reader you say, you will recall my prior posts on Treza and the reasons I felt they were doomed.

As far as TOWN Brookhaven goes, I think most people would agree, there are just too many restaurants. Some are sure to close. Treza happened to be the weakest link.

I'm not sure what would do well in the Treza space, but yet, for the sake of the current and upcoming restaurants in the center, I do hope it's not another restaurant!

Thanks for your comments and readership, I appreciate them both.

Atlantan99 said...

@Lisa,

That's rather strange as for sure they were once connected / owned by the same company. My guess is that perhaps the ZaZa restaurants are no longer affiliated with Treza and have distanced themselves from the name given Treza's troubles.

Thanks for your comments and readership, I appreciate them both.

Anonymous said...

The design of TB is too car-centric. There should have been a concentrated parking area with all of the shops around it so everything was equidistant from where you parked. Just terrible execution all around save for a few spots (Cinebistro, Noche, LA Fitness)

mindspringyahoo said...

We liked Treza the one time we ate there (which may have been summer of 2012 or so). Definitely liked it more than the Olive Bistro.

Definitely a glut of restaurants, most don't have good visibility, there are some where people are barely aware of their existence.

I wonder if the theater had been a regular theater instead of an expensive Cinebistro, if it would have lured more people to TB.

Amy said...

I believe if someone eats there once in 2 years and did not go back, they did not really love it that much. The rents at TB are wuite high and with over a dozen places to eat, they need to busy 2 meals a day at least 5 days a week. That is not the case and never will as that part of the city is not as dense, yes very car centric.

Anonymous said...

Interesting....I love Olive Bistro and couldn't stand Treza lol Im betting Boneheads is next to go.

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed Treza and will miss their salads and pizza. I ate there pretty regularly. I always hoped it would take off and make it. I think Boneheads is next to close followed by Marble Slab and maybe either Baci or Olive. What TB is misising is a good deli/bagel shop - Goldbergs or something similar. I agree on the parking comment- one central lot or deck would have been a much better design. What is needed is something to draw in crowds to do an activity and eat before or after- an ice rink in the winter or a bowling alley - some form of entertainment since CineBistro has good food. Or maybe something like a pottery painting place or art place like Sips n Stokes.

Anonymous said...

@Atlantan99-

100% disagree with you on TB having too many restaurants. Exactly why does it have too many compared to any other concentrated area? There's a lot of people in a short distance and it actually has a variety of different types of food in a small area.

Most of them have steady business throughout the week and are packed on the weekends (it's often a 45 minute wait at many of them). You can barely get into TB on a weekend so many people are there.

Now, are some of them not successful? Absolutely, like Treza and I agree on Bonehead's dying soon.

However, the problem is NOT that TB has too many restaurants (otherwise the restaurants wouldn't be busy).

It's that it may not have some of the right restaurants for the market.

Sounds like you need to head back to TB on a Friday night.

-J

InAtl said...

The new apartments they are building next to the CineBistro will also ad more patrons to the mix.

Boneheads is a odd name, but the fish is actually very good for the price. And the staff there is nice. I think of it as a sort of healthier alternative to fast food.

Anonymous said...

We went to Treza a few times but honestly what kept us from going back was the female staff who were either rude or grossed us out preparing the food without pulling their hair back - just seemed unsanitary sometimes.

Anonymous said...

The staff at this place was unprofessional and and screwed up our order everytime we went in. The pizza itself was great but even after it "rebranded", the staff continued to be a problem. Why bother go to all the trouble of opening a new place and then not training your staff correctly and/or not paying them enough to get quality people. These workers were losers.

Anonymous said...

I still miss Treza - the pizza and salad were great. The bottom line is that the place was poorly managed. It was clear employees were allowed to be rude, turned up the music too loud and simply didn't care. It all equates to poor restaurant management.

Anonymous said...

The food at Treza was great when executed properly, which it usually was. And there were actually decent manager/s there. It depends on when you went. Meaning opening era versus rebranding era versus ending era.

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