Tuesday, May 20, 2014

My Two Cents on Where Buckhead Eatery Should Relocate

Buckhead bar & restaurant will soon be forced to close.



Buckhead Bottle Bar (& Bistro), located at the corner of East Paces Ferry Road and Bolling Way, in the heart of Buckhead, will soon be forced to close.   The bar, which opened in 2011 with partners Zaza Pachulia, Ian Winslade and A.D. Allushi was sold to new owners over a year ago and is drawing a far more urban crowd .  When it opened, Zaza, then a member of the Atlanta Hawks brought much of the funding while Ian Winslade brought chef expertise as he was previously at the now defunct Bluepointe.  A.D. brought experience in club, lounge and restaurant management, having been involved in a number of establishments around town.

Buckhead Bottle Bar, along with neighboring Al's Cafe Agora, were reportedly both given six months to vacate at the end of last year.  Al's had already purchased a new property in preparation for the move but was forced to relocate sooner than planned due to a burst pipe during our recent freezing weather.  Al's has now been open for a couple of months in the former Rama 5  / Thai Silk about a block away from their original location.  

Plans call for the current Buckhead Bottle Bar & Bistro, former Al's Cafe Agora and a handful of other spaces to be leveled for new development.  

With Al's now relocated to their new home,  and with no public announcement coming from Buckhead Bottle Bar regarding their move, I have a new location I think would be perfect for them: the former Urban Flats at Lindbergh City Center on Piedmont Road.  

The restaurant & lounge space has great street visibility and would offer great synergy with established tenants like Wet Willie's and Tongue & Groove.  Over the years, Buckhead Bottle Bar has morphed into a multifaceted establishment.  Originally billed as a bar and restaurant, the establishment now features more of club / lounge type feel (complete with multiple bouncers) and also offers hookah on their outdoor patio.

With plenty of parking within the Lindbergh City Center deck and great street visibility this location seems perfect.  The former Urban Flats location also offers a good sized patio with great visibility on Piedmont Road.   The current location is less than two miles from the former Urban Flats, and truly only involves a single turn; a right onto Piedmont Road from East Paces Ferry Road.  

Urban Flats has been closed since 2012 and its former space has been vacant since then.  Sources say that Buckhead Bottle Bar needs to vacate their current location by July.  


What are your thoughts?  
Where should Buckhead Bottle Bar reopen? 
Should it reopen?  

18 comments:

SB said...

Oh Lindbergh City Center......

Where's all those art galleries and stores they planned on?

Billy said...

Buckhead Bottle Bar was popular with the older single locals and cougars in the area and I don't see them going down to Lindbergh where it's even annoying for the young crowd to park and pay in that deck. I guess valet could work for that crowd though. Too bad there isn't an option in Buckhead Atlanta near the current location...that is their demographic.

Anonymous said...

what about the modern loacation in tower center? whats the latest there?

Anonymous said...

What's going to happen to Mitchell Gold? I was told they would be able to stay but not sure how that would work.

Razing this building and the old electronics building across the street with the fenced in parking is a good thing. Let's hope they repave this block as well, as these roads are absolutely terrible.

Anonymous said...

Don't we already have enough nightclubs at Lindbergh City Center? Tongue and Groove, Taco Mac and Wet Willies is more than enough. What about something for the over 30 crowd? There are thousands of commuters who pass through Lindbergh every day or work there and there is nothing for them to do. When I get to Lindbergh, I rush to go home because there is nothing to do. I am still mourning the loss of places like Bobby G's Chicago place and My Panini, which lasted only a short time due to the pathetic parking situation at Lindbergh. It's a disgrace that there aren't more options at Lindbergh other than mediocre chains and club places. I'd love for a nice fast casual restaurant to open there. The neighborhood desperately needs it.

Anonymous said...

Just like other mixed used developments in Atlanta, LCC hasn't succeeded because there is no demographic diversity. If BBB was already drawing an urban crowd, they'll fit right in nicely with the crowd at LCC.

Dan said...

Yeah the space 'Modern' vacated last year could also be another great spot for them to relocate too.

Such a shame that space remains empty....especially with Farm Burger and Twin Peaks appearing to do well.

Anonymous said...

I never understand people's obsession with the parking situation at Lindbergh. It was built as a transit-oriented development. Doesn't adding a bunch of easy, free parking kind of defeat the entire purpose of a TOD?? That place not reaching its potential should not be correlated to parking. Maybe it was just ahead of its time.

Anonymous said...

I'd love to read you explain your defiinition of an "urban crowd".

Anonymous said...

Urban crowd just means predominantly black. And, no, just saying somewhere draws a primarily urban crowd is not "racist".

Anonymous said...

Transit oriented in Atlanta means car oriented.

Anonymous said...

While intended as a TOD, Lindbergh is more appropriately classifed as a Transit-proximate Development simply because Atlanta wouldn't (and won't anytime soon) support a full TOD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit-proximate_development

Anonymous said...

Love your blog and have commented sporadically in the past. Like some other readers I take exception to the term "urban crowd". Are you suggesting "African-American". The irony is that the urban crowd you refer to is from Stone Mountain, Lithonia, etc. Anything but "urban" but in fact African American.

Anonymous said...

Taco Mac is a nightclub? It draws a MUCH different crowd than T&G or Wet Willies. Definitely a little older for sure.

And don't get me started on Bobby G's, the guy couldn't keep the place afloat and instead decided to blame it on everything else, including race and parking.

Anonymous said...

What I'm saying is that whoever is running the show at Lindbergh City Center, whether it's the city of Atlanta or Buckhead CID or MARTA, they need to make a much more concerted effort to fill the vacant spaces left by places like Bobby G's and the Firkin Pub. The Firkin Pub exterior is still up 3 years after they closed. How pathetic is that? They don't even have a 'For Lease' sign on the outside of the former Bobby G's. Does that mean that whoever is running the show at Lindbergh City Center has given up on that place??

felix from dunwoody said...

Really troubled by this use of "urban" as code for Black. The author of this blog comes across as harsh and a jerk sometimes, but now this racial coding is a little too much

Anonymous said...

Felix, it's common practice to use "urban" for black. Radio station WVEE/V-103's format is classified as "Urban Contemporary", with no disrespect intended. It's hard to understand how someone would find this offensive and/or "a little too much."

felix from dunwoody said...

Common practice doesn't mean it's right. If you mean Black, just say Black. Otherwise you're just hiding behind words and can claim, oh, no, I didn't mean Black if somebody DOES get offended.

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