Monday, October 31, 2016

Chuy's Joining Crowded Cumberland Corridor

Chuy's to open in Akers Mill.

Austin, Texas-based Chuy's plans to open a third metro Atlanta location next year. The Tex-Mex joint entered the Atlanta market in the fall of 2011 with a location in Dunwoody and added a second location in Kennesaw in early 2014.  

The new, roughly 6,500 square foot restaurant will join Grub Burger Bar, LongHorn Steakhouse and Old Navy in occupying portions of the former Circuit City space in Akers Mill Square shopping center on Cobb Parkway.  
Inside the upcoming Chuy's at Akers Mill Square
A Chuy's representative indicates that the new location is expected to open late in the first quarter of next year.
Upcoming Bonefish Grill at Akers Mill Square 
A new Bonefish Grill is also opening in the center, but in a newly constructed, freestanding building beside Hooters and Mattress Firm.  Bonefish seems far better situated for success in this new location than in their Emory Point location which closed in early 2014, after just over a year in business.  

Akers Mill is also home to a former Sports Authority which closed along with the entire chain early this year following the sporting goods retailer's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. The Sports Authority space, which itself was a portion of a former kmart, could be subdivided too, as it may be difficult to find another junior anchor to take the junior anchor space.
Vacant Sports Authority at Akers Mill Square 
The Cumberland/Smyrna/Vinings area has seen increased interest from restaurants in anticipation of the upcoming relocation of the Atlanta Braves from Turner Field to nearby SunTrust Park.  

In addition to Bonefish and Chuy's, recent restaurant openings in the area include Smoke+Duck Sauce, an Asian-inspired American BBQ restaurant, and a second location of Buckhead's Piu Bello, both on Powers Ferry Road near Wildwood Office Park.  Otter's Chicken opened this past April in place of an old Doc Green's on Cobb Parkway by Parkway Pointe.  Late last year, Buffalo Wild Wings  opened a new restaurant on the front of Cumberland Mall.  
Smoked brisket w/ egg fried rice & pickled cucumbers from Smoke + Duck Sauce 

Also nearby, Wade's, a new restaurant from Smyrna resident Jason McClure, is planned for Concord Road, while a new Golden Corral is under construction in an outparcel of the Target on Cobb Parkway, beside the new Zaxby's.  

The Battery Atlanta, the mixed-use component of the SunTrust Park development, is expected to bring a number of new restaurants to the area as well.  Confirmed restaurant tenants include Wahlburgers, an expanding burger joint from by chef Paul Wahlberg and his actor brothers Mark and Donnie Wahlberg, Goldbergs Bagel Co. & Deli., PBR (Professional Bull Riders Association) Bar & Grill, CRU Food & Wine Bar,  an as yet unnamed steakhouse from Linton Hopkins' Resurgens Hospitality Group, The El Felix,  Antico Pizza Napoletana and the  Terrapin Taproom featuring Fox Bros. BBQ.  (I have heard rumblings of a number of additional restaurant and retail tenants and hope to have something more to report in the coming days.) 

Are you a fan of Chuy's?  Are you excited for another dining option in the Cumberland area?  What area restaurant are you most looking forward to?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below.  

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I saw the sports authority in Sandy Springs is already being reopened as Dicks. Also saw a coming soon for Wet Seal at perimeter less than a year after closing.

Anonymous said...

Not to pick on a place, but I've had Chuy's numerous times and to me the food is terrible.

Everything has like eight pounds of salt on it, they use poor quality ingredients (their cheese is gross) and nothing ever really tastes fresh.

This is speaking about the Dunwoody location. For their sake I hope their other locations are better.

skigator93 said...

Wow - that's a lot of restaurants in one shopping center!

I have been told there is a sign on the Sports Authority Perimeter location announcing that Dick's is coming soon. I guess Dick's didn't like the Cumberland location?

I like having such a massive choice of restaurants in that areas though since I work nearby.

Mike said...

I guess think of it this way...Akers Mill & Cumberland is national retailer hell with its 21 Mattress Firms, so it's better it goes in here than to invade Vinings, "downtown" Smyrna, or other areas people actually care about.

Greenwave said...

I agree with what Anon @ 10:40 am said. Chuy's in Dunwoody is absolutely disgusting. Very bland. El Azteca is so much better. I don't have much hope for Chuy's in Cumberland.

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