Saturday, January 20, 2018

[UPDATE] Crazy Cuban to Reopen...Soon

A fire at the 14th Street Convenience Store on September 17, 2016 destroyed it and heavily damaged Crazy Cuban Sandwich Shop next door.  Now, nearly a year and half after the fire, the popular Cuban eatery is finally inching towards reopening.  Although permits have not yet been filed with the City of Atlanta, a job for "interior demolition" of the site is out for bids with a "bid date" of January 30th. 
Photo courtesy of Crazy Cuban Facebook page 
Aldo Ramirez and his wife opened the shop in early 2010 at 290 14th Street, just off I-85.  Local foodie website Foodie Buddha called its opening "an attempt to fill the Grand Canyon-esc void left by the departure of Kool Korners."   Kool Korner [Grocery], as many longtime Atlantans will recall, was a popular Cuban eatery at 14th & State Streets, about a block from where Crazy Cuban opened.  

Kool Korner, which  Ildefonso and Lucia Ramirez opened in 1985, closed in late 2008 when the building it occupied was sold.  A Moe's Original Bar B Que and local restaurant Better Half, among other tenants, later opened in the building erected on the site of the former Kool Korner.  

Ildefonso, along with his son Bill, reopened Kool Korner in 2009 in Vestavia Hills, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama.  The restaurant closed in 2015 after the Ramirezes were unable to agree on a new lease.  In 2016, Kool Korner reopened, again in Vestavia Hills.  

Aldo Ramirez, who like Ramirez family behind Kool Korner, is Cuban, is not related to them, but seems to share their will to survive and thrive.

In the months since the fire destroyed his business, Aldo Ramirez has sold sandwiches from a cart in the parking lot of his burned-out restaurant.  

The silver lining in all of this may be that Ramirez will now double the size of his restaurant from 657 square feet to about 1,500 square feet.  When Crazy Cuban reopens it will occupy not only their old space, but the convenience store space as well.  


If all goes well, sources say the restaurant could reopen later this spring.  

Are you excited for the reopening of Crazy Cuban?  Where is your favorite Cuban eatery in metro Atlanta?  Have you been to the new Kool Korner in Vestavia Hills?

Please share your thoughts below.  

2 comments:

Jim said...

Yes! They build the best Cubans in town and it's been horrible for the restaurant since the store next door burned. Can't wait for them to open again, have occasionally been grabbing one of their great sandwiches from the cart outside the burned-out store.

Anonymous said...

"their will to survive and thrive"

Gag.

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