Sunday, April 29, 2018

Ciao! Bar Americano & Bar Crema Belly Up in Buckhead

Less than six months after opening, Bar Americano and Bar Crema have closed.  The sibling Italian concepts, a restaurant and coffee, gelato & panini cafe, were located at 56 East Andrews Drive in the recently renovated Andrews Square center in Buckhead's West Village.  The two restaurants opened shortly before Thanksgiving in space previously occupied by bars & restaurants in the East Andrews Entertainment District.  

The twin concepts represent a rare misstep by Ten Apart, the restaurant group behind Decatur's The Pinewood, Ponce City Market's The Mercury, and late-night bar concept Deep End, on North Avenue across from Ponce City Market.  Together the two Italian concepts occupied about 5,600 square feet in adjacent spaces within Andrews Square.  

The group announced the closures Saturday night via a post on Instagram [first noted by the AJC]: “With a heavy heart, Bar Americano and Bar Crema are closed for business. We appreciate all of your support and all of your love. Thank you; we love you.”   Saturday was the last day of service for both concepts.  
ToNeTo Atlanta dined at Bar Americano this past January and was shocked to hear that more was spent on the build-out of it than The Mercury, a chic Mid Century Modern restaurant that oozes character.  Bar Americano, on the other hand, lacked authenticity, was rather loud, and featured food that was good, but not memorable.  

Sources close to 10 Apart claim that the two Buckhead concepts were hemorrhaging cash, so much so, that the group was reportedly pulling $20,000 a week from their other more successful restaurants to keep their Buckhead outposts afloat.  

Bar Americano also struggled with changes in management, having gone through at least three general managers since opening.  
While the group's Buckhead struggles were seemingly well known to some within the 10 Apart world, some were seemingly very out of the loop.  Saturday morning, whomever ran the Bar Americano facebook page invited patrons to join the restaurant next Saturday May 5 for a viewing of the 144th Kentucky Derby.   Additionally, the facebook page was rather active with postings and comments [none mentioning the closure] while the Instagram page had only three posts, one of which was the closure announcement.  

Neither 10 Apart, nor any of its partners, have made any further comment on the closure, and the group is currently not represented by any public relations firm.  

Are you surprised by the closure of Bar Americano and Bar Crema?  What would you like to see open in place of the two concepts in Andrews Square?  Do you Buckhead has too many restaurants?

Please share your thoughts below.  

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I never made it to either concept... but for Italian it wouldn't be my first thought to go there. I had heard good things about their brunch though.

cafeej said...

Previous spots did well as they catered to local clientele (principally just-out-of-school frat boys). These concepts were too upscale.

Anonymous said...

Bar Crema had been on my list of places to try, as I'd heard good things about their coffee. I guess now I'll never get a chance.

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