[SHOOT!] Star Bar to Shutter After Nearly 30 Years in Business

Beloved Atlanta bar and live music venue Star Community Bar is slated to close after its New Year’s Eve show, according to a post on its Facebook page.  

[NON-RENEWED?] Ippolito's Reportedly Not Offered New Lease for Longstanding Kennesaw Restaurant

Ippolito's Neighborhood Italian will close its Kennesaw location effective Wednesday, January 1. The restaurant, located in a nearly 5,000 square foot corner space in Town Center Plaza along Ernest Barrett Parkway, has been in business 18 years.  The center, anchored by Marshalls, TJ Maxx and HomeGoods, is also home to a freestanding Olive Garden restaurant.  

[UPDATE] Shuttered Atlanta Area Bojangles' Still on the Market

On the heels of our report December 4 that Charlotte-based Bojangles' had closed not one, but four, Atlanta area restaurants, we received inquiries about the sudden change in paint color of the affected restaurant's awnings and what it might mean.  ToNeTo Atlanta drove by the former Bojangles' restaurants on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in Duluth and Holcomb Bridge Road in Peachtree Corners and noted that the formerly orange awnings were now royal blue.  Could someone have already leased one or all of the former restaurants?

[CLOSURE ALERT] Galaxy Diner Has Closed, Hopes to Reopen Not Far Far Away

Earlier today, Galaxy Diner on Henderson Mill Road in Embry Hills closed.  The restaurant at 3320 Henderson Mill Road was situated in an outparcel of Embry Village shopping center, where anchor Kroger is currently undergoing a significant expansion.  On a sandwich board inside the restaurant, ownership thanked patrons for 15 great years.

[ICYMI] Fry's Electronics Quietly Pulled the Plug in Duluth

Fry's Electronics earlier this month abruptly closed its store in Duluth and the entire chain may soon meet a similar fate.  The Duluth store, located on the rear side of Gwinnett Place Mall and visible from I-85, reportedly closed shortly after Thanksgiving, surprisingly well before the peak holiday shopping season. The nearly 150,000 square foot store first opened in 2004.

[CLOSURE ALERT] Roswell Loses "The Meats" as Arby's Shutters

Arby's has closed its freestanding restaurant on West Crossville Road in Roswell.  The roughly 3,200 square foot restaurant, located in an outparcel of the Trader Joe's anchored Roswell Crossing shopping center at 665 West Crossville Road, originally opened in 1999.  Local sources indicate the closure came without warning in the last week.

[THAT'S ALL FOLKS] After Nearly 40 Years, Popular Southern Eatery Shutters in Marietta

Folks Southern Kitchen has closed its longstanding restaurant at the corner of Windy Hill Road and Cobb Parkway in Marietta.  The restaurant, which Cobb county records indicate opened in 1982, closed as of December 26, according to signage on the restaurant's door.  The approximately 5,400 square foot restaurant is labeled as "Folks Inc #10" in county records, indicating that it was the fledgling chain's tenth unit.  

[EXCLUSIVE] Chick-fil-A to Replace Piccadilly Cafeteria in Conyers

In a rare move, Chick-fil-A plans to relocate rather than rebuild an existing Atlanta area restaurant.  The Chick-fil-A at 1610 Highway 138 in Conyers is slated to close in 2020 and be replaced with a new restaurant nearby.  The existing restaurant has been in operation since 1990 and sports the same classic Chick-fil-A design which debuted in 1986 at the corner of Briarcliff & North Druid Hills Roads in Atlanta. [The Briarcliff restaurant was demolished in 2017 and reopened in early 2018 with the brand's latest look on the same site.]

[CLOSURE ALERT] Marietta Seafood Joint Calls It Quits After Seven Years

Pier 213 Seafood, a locally owned restaurant at 35 South Marietta Parkway in Marietta, closed abruptly Monday night after nearly seven years in business.  The freestanding restaurant, located adjacent to La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant, opened in early 2013 and was not far from the Marietta Square and the new-ish food hall, Marietta Square Market.  

[OPENING ALERT] Delayed Duck Donuts to Finally Debut at Toco Hills

The newest Atlanta area Duck Donuts will finally celebrate its highly anticipated opening at Toco Hills Promenade.  The doughnut and coffee shop, the fourth in metro Atlanta, is opening in a 1,800 square foot space adjacent to Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe. ToNeTo Atlanta first reported April 6, 2017 that the new Toco Hills location was at that time expected to open later that fall. 

[ALERT] HUGE New Mixed Use Development Proposed to Replace Tin Roof Cantina, Cafe Bombay

A Miami real estate firm is proposing a huge redevelopment near the North Druid Hills Road Target.  Related Group has submitted plans to the City of Brookhaven to not only have the nearly seven acre property annexed into Brookhaven, but to also have it rezoned for several developments.  Related wants to replace Briarcliff Station, a dated shopping center home to popular Indian eatery Cafe Bombay among others, Tin Roof Cantina, an auto care business and a former car wash, with  "Manor Druid Hills," which would bring several new residential and commercial uses to the property.

[CLOSURE ALERT] Moe's Deserts "The Oasis" in Sandy Springs

Moe's Southwest Grill has shuttered its short-lived prototype restaurant on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs.  The corporately owned restaurant at 6090 Roswell Road is just under a mile north of I-285, and occupied a freestanding building adjacent to Mellow Mushroom and Rumi's Kitchen, among others.  The Moe's, originally a franchise location, first opened in late 2011.   

[OPENING ALERT] Capital One Cafe Opening Today at Lenox Square

Capital One Cafe plans to open its first Atlanta area branch today, December 18, at 9AM at Lenox Square in Buckhead.  The  branch, which ToNeTo Atlanta exclusively reported on this past February, replaced Panera Bread, which closed December 17, 2018 after more than 15 years in business.   The new Capital One Cafe is the first in Georgia and 40th overall for the growing banking concept.  

[UPDATE] Pier 1 Closing Two Atlanta Stores But Still Hiring?

Struggling furniture and home decor retailer Pier 1 Imports  has begun liquidation sales at two of its Atlanta area stores.  The company, which recently dropped the "Imports" from its name, had indicated in April it would close 45 stores this fiscal year, raising that number to 57 in June, and approximately 70 in September, before saying that the actual closures could swell to close to 150.  Based in Fort Worth, Texas and established in 1962, Pier 1 today operates nearly 1,000 stores nationwide.

[UPDATE] Hao Chinese Replaces Papa Chow in Southwest Atlanta

A popular Chinese takeout eatery in southwest Atlanta has been reconcepted into a full-service restaurant.  Papa Chow, a Camp Creek area mainstay for more than ten years, was last week rebranded as "Hao Chinese Cuisine," with a more diverse menu and table service.  The restaurant, located at 3830 Princeton Lakes Court, is situated in a small strip center just off Camp Creek Parkway.   Owned by serial restaurateur Gary Lin, Hao is the third in a series of similar rebrands Lin has completed in metro Atlanta.

[EXCLUSIVE] Location Revealed for Flip'd by IHOP in Atlanta

IHOP Restaurants today announced plans to launch Flip’d by IHOP, a new fast-casual concept in the U.S. The new brand, slated to make its debut in metro Atlanta, "aims to fill a gap in the restaurant space by focusing on freshly-made breakfast foods and beverages with speed and convenience in mind."  Flip'd units will be about 2,000 square feet, roughly half the size of typical IHOP restaurants, a spokesperson told ToNeTo Atlanta by email Wednesday morning.    

[UPDATE] Lidl Looks to Get Things Going in Woodstock

About a year after the Cherokee County Commission approved variances to its code to accommodate a new Lidl store in Woodstock, the German grocer appears to be gearing up to break ground.  Earlier this week, development plans for the new roughly 29,000 square foot store were put out for bid with a deadline of December 19.  This timeline suggests that construction could begin as soon as the first half of 2020.   

[CLOSURE ALERT] Four Fewer Places for Bo Time in Metro Atlanta

Bojangles' this week closed four of its restaurants in metro Atlanta.   The Charlotte, North Carolina-based chicken chain reportedly closed the four restaurants without prior notice to customers and due to them all being "underperforming," according to a company spokesperson.    

[BATTER UP!] Locally Owned Edible Cookie Dough Shop Opening in Chastain Park

Batter Cookie Dough will early next year open their second permanent brick & mortar shop.  The new location will open in Powers Ferry Square along Roswell Road in Buckhead where it will occupy the former Bon Glaze doughnut shop which closed abruptly this past September.  Located adjacent to bartaco and not far from center anchor HomeGoods, Batter Buckhead is slated to open in February.  

[UPDATE] Tokyo Valentino Opens As... Tokyo Valentino, in Sandy Springs

This past October we reported that a new location of "adult novelty store" Tokyo Valentino would be opening on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs.  Our report, which detailed Tokyo Valentino owner Michael Morrison's current and past legal issues, among other things, was met with significant criticism by Morrison.  We published our report October 19, after which both Reporter Newspapers and CBS46 published subsequent reports on October 21 and 22, respectively.