Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Bits & Bites

The new Starbucks at The Plaza at City Springs plans to open this Friday April 20. An existing Starbucks in a former First Federal Savings bank closed in advance of the new opening.  The new Starbucks features mezzanine seating on its second floor.   There is no word on the future of the former building, but despite its parking challenges, we hope its unique architectural elements save it from the wrecking ball.  
The new Cinco at Perimeter Mall plans to open on Cinco de Mayo: Saturday May 5.  The Perimeter location, the fourth overall for the local chain, replaced Chico's which closed in 2016.  Cinco is a casual Mexican restaurant with existing locations in Akers Mill near Cumberland Mall, Vickery Village in Cumming and in Suwanee.  

Nowak's is the new name of Morningside Kitchen in Morningside.  Blaiss Nowak, son of Hal's on Old Ivy owner Hal Nowak, purchased the restaurant in January.

OTP Tap & Grill has closed in Holcomb 400 on Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell.  The 3,600 square foot restaurant was located in the same center as the Ballard Designs Outlet and an LA Fitness.  The restaurant opened in summer 2014 by Sal Mangino, owner of Mona Lisa Pizza in Johns Creek.  Gyro City Grill will open in place of OTP Tap later this summer.  There are existing Gyro City locations in Dacula and Hiram.  Steve Josovitz and The Shumacher Group, Inc. represented the seller in the transaction.   


The Shumacher Group also sold Eclectic Bistro on Piedmont Avenue near the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.  Eclectic opened in 2012 in place of longstanding eatery Tierra.  The 2,350 square foot restaurant has seating for 45 guests in the dining room, a 30 seat patio, and a bar with additional seating.  Sources close to the restaurant indicate that plans are in place to keep the name (at least for now) but convert the restaurant into a more gay-oriented concept to take advantage of the "gayborhood's" clientele.  Popular gay retailer store Boy Next Door Menswear is located adjacent to the restaurant.  

Two more Atlanta Atlanta area Burgerim restaurants are planned for Alpharetta and Athens.  The first location of the Israel-based mini-burger franchise is expected to open soon at the Shops at Metropolis on Peachtree Street in Midtown.    The Midtown location will open along Peachtree Place in a roughly 2,700 square foot space behind Taco Mac.  The Alpharetta location is planned for Old Milton Mall, where it will join Jerusalem Bakery and FedEx Office among other tenants in the center on Old Milton Parkway.  The Athens location is opening in the former East West Bistro on East Broad Street.  In Athens, Burgerim will occupy the roughly 3,500 square foot first level of the two level restaurant space.  Jacksonville, Florida-based Metro Diner had previously announced plans to open in the East West Bistro space, but later abandoned their plans for undisclosed reasons.  Steve Josovitz and The Shumacher Group, Inc. represented franchisee Brian Locklear in leasing the Athens Burgerim location. 

Select Shades plans to open their second Atlanta area location this weekend at The Battery Atlanta at SunTrust Park.  The locally based business has an existing location at Inman Quarter (IQ) in Inman Park.  The stores carry an assortment of sunglass brands from Ray Ban and Gucci to lesser known brands like Krewe, Shwood and Raen, among others.   

Birmingham-based Steel City Pops is bringing their "Prize Pops" to Atlanta this spring.  Visit the company's downtown Decatur location this month and next month and have the chance of winning one of over 5,000 prizes!  Prizes include 3,200 free dip prizes, 1,600 free pop prizes, 600 four pop bag prizes, 400 12 pop box prizes, 200 free t-shirts and  40 Steel City Pops “Steel Card” winners.  A “Steel Card” is a card made of stainless steel, custom engraved with the name of the card holder, that entitles the him or her to visit any Steel City Pops location (including vending carts) once every day that they’re open for an entire year (12 months) and receive their choice of up to four pops.  [The approximate retail value of the Steel Card prizes is up to $4,967 each.]

Target plans to spend at least $1.1 million to renovate its existing store in Barrett Pavilion shopping center on Ernest Barrett Parkway in Kennesaw.  The 125,000 square foot store is reportedly one the the retailer's stronger performers in the Atlanta area and its renovation follows the recent renovation of the Target at Peachtree Square in Peachtree Corners.  The renovation will reportedly not include the entire store, which industry experts indicate usually run $6-7 million.    

Jason's Deli is opening a new location in East Cobb's Merchants Festival  shopping center.  The new Jason's Deli will open in place of the shortlived Sage Social Kitchen & Bar on the Johnson Ferry Road side of the project.  The 6,900 square foot space has been vacant since early last year, before which it was occupied by Sage, and was home to Chequers and Houlihan's prior to that.  Sage lasted less than six months in the Target anchored center but surely a name as well known as Jason's Deli will have greater success.  Sources indicates that Jason's has been interested in the market for quite a while and had earlier expressed interest in the former Caribou Coffee/Einstein's Bagels spot nearby, but eventually walked away from the deal.  Taqueria Tsunami from Marietta-based Fork U Concepts is expected to open in the former coffee & bagel shop instead.  Jason's Deli could open late this fall.  

A new Cook Out is planned for Saint Augustine Road in Valdosta.  The new freestanding restaurant will open in an outparcel of Hobby Lobby anchored Valdosta Mall Corners, to the right of an existing Steak & Shake restaurant.  According to the Cook Out website, the Valdosta restaurant would be the North Carolina-based chain's 37th in Georgia.

The new Salata at Liberty Park Village in Alpharetta will celebrate its grand opening on Wednesday, May 2.  The quick-serve salad eatery joins Tex-Mex restaurant Chuy's which opened in the project this past January.  This mark's Salata's fourth location in metro Atlanta, joining existing locations in Atlantic Station, Sandy Springs near Northside Hospital and East Cobb.  Additional Salata locations are planned for Peachtree Center "The Hub" downtown, and Peachtree Corners Town Center, among others.

Copper Cove Indian Bistro has closed its restaurant in Buckhead.  The restaurant, located on Fulton Drive just off Pharr Road, opened in 2014
The Domino's Pizza at 44 10th Street quietly closed earlier this week. The restaurant is "in the process of moving to an all new location" according to a pre-recorded message on their answering machine.  The new location, 955 Marietta Street NW, is about two miles from the now closed location.  Retailer Gear Revival and a Verizon store were both prior occupants in the 955 building that sits between Vietnamese eatery Le Fat and bartaco.    

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting about Eclectic restaurant. It and Boy Next Door, I believe, are both scheduled to be demolished for Piedmont Park expansion.

Anonymous said...

Shout out to my hometown Valdosta!

Anonymous said...

Um, ..."convert the restaurant into a more gay-oriented concept".. what the hell is that? What makes a restaurant 'gay'? Are there certain foods one should eat (or avoid) to be more (or less) 'gay'?

Anonymous said...

@Anon 9:53: Cosmos?

oden said...

Music featuring Rick Astley

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