[CLOSURE ALERT] Del Taco Shutters Atlanta Area Restaurant After Four Years

In an email to customers, Del Taco early Tuesday announced it had permanently closed its restaurant at 12996 Alpharetta Highway in Milton.  The freestanding, approximately 2,700 square foot restaurant was built in 2015 and opened March 30, 2016.  No explanation was given for the abrupt closure, but COVID-19 is not believed to have been a major factor.  

[EXCLUSIVE] EXCITING SOCIAL INTERACTION COMING TO WESTSIDE NEXT SUMMER

An entertainment concept from Social Entertainment Ventures will help anchor the new Star Metals Atlanta project on the city's red hot Westside, according to a release from SRS Real Estate Partners, which is handling the retail leasing of the project on behalf of owner The Allen Morris Company.  The specific concept is not being revealed yet, but will span 10,000 square feet over two floors of the new project located at 1050 Howell Mill Road.  Since launching in 2012, London-based Social Entertainment Ventures (SEV) has created several entertainment concepts including Bounce, AceBounce, Wonderball, Flight Club, Puttshack & the soon to debut Hijingo, a modern bingo concept.  

[UPDATE] Metrotainment Cafes Closes Several Restaurants, Some Permanently?

Several readers reached out to ToNeTo Atlanta with questions about the recent closure of Sugar Shack in Brookhaven.  Newly installed signage at the shop's front door indicates that the business is closed and thanks customers for 10 years of business.  The closure, which many figured was due the COVID-19 pandemic, seemed worded as though it is permanent rather than temporary.  ToNeTo Atlanta reached out to Tori Allen of Tori Allen Public Relations, who handles media inquiries on behalf of Sugar Shack owner Metrotainment Cafes.

[UPDATE] Vincent's Serves Final Meal in Marietta

After nearly sixteen years serving diners, Vincent's Italian Restaurante at 3412 Ernest W. Barrett Parkway in Marietta closed Saturday night for the final time.  Ownership made the announcement via the restaurant's facebook page where the community was thanked for their years of patronage and specials were offered on both food and wine.  Vincent's occupied a roughly 4,600 square foot freestanding building and first opened August 21, 2004.  

[EXCLUSIVE] RaceTrac to Finally Open on Site QT Wanted

A new RaceTrac is coming to a long-vacant site at the intersection of Windy Hill and Austell Roads in Marietta.  The property was most recently a used car lot, but has been vacant for several years.  Planned for and located at 15 Windy Hill Road, the new RaceTrac is slated to be the brand's "5.5K" model, a roughly 5,400 square foot convenience store paired with a sixteen pump fueling station.  A recent review of Cobb County real property records reveals that the site has an interesting history involving, surprisingly, QuikTrip Corporation, easily RaceTrac's most significant competitor in the Greater Atlanta modern convenience-store market.  

[CLOSURE ALERT] After 10 Years, Ri Ra Closed, Likely Permanently, in Midtown

Midtown Irish pub and restaurant Ri Ra has closed.  Sources tell ToNeTo Atlanta that the restaurant closed this past weekend after just over ten years in business. The closure, which sources say was already planned for May, was accelerated due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. The roughly 7,000 square foot restaurant bore the 1080 Peachtree address, but was actually located on the rear side of the 1010 Midtown residential building at the corner of 12th Street and Crescent Avenue. 

[UPDATE] The Pinewood "Closed Indefinitely" in Decatur

The Pinewood in Decatur has closed.  The restaurant, located at 254 West Ponce de Leon Avenue, first opened in 2012 and closed as of this past Thursday, according to a post to the restaurant's facebook page.  The restaurant, the first of several  opened by the group that came to be known as 10 Apart Hospitality, was officially sold in January to former investor, Decatur resident and longtime patron Teresa Dau. [Decaturish has an in-depth report on what they called Pinewood 2.0.] 

[EAT!] Order Takeout or Delivery on Tuesday to Support the Restaurant Industry

COVID-19 poses a significant threat to the future of restaurants, an industry that employs more than 15 million Americans.  In metro Atlanta and across the country, friends, family, co-workers, chefs, servers and countless others now find themselves in incredibly challenging positions.  Many are suddenly out of work while others, still employed, saw their hours, tips and pay drastically cut. 

[CLOSING TIME] Office Depot in Tucker Will No Longer Be "Taking Care of Business"

In a move that by all accounts was pre-planned and has nothing to do with the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the Office Depot store at Briarcliff Village shopping center near Tucker is closing.  The store, which co-anchors the center also home to Publix and TJ Maxx, among others, is slated to close as of May 16, according to materials reviewed by ToNeTo Atlanta.  The Office Depot store is nearly 26,000 square feet, far larger than the chain's current format which is closer to 20,000 square feet. 

[UPDATE] COVID-19 Claims Local Restaurant Victim

It is with great sadness that we report that Saturday night was the last night for Napoleon's Grill and The Vista Room in Oak Grove.  Owner Sean Keenan announced the closure late Saturday on the restaurant's facebook page and in an email to customers.  Sean, along with his wife Nancy, are Northlake area residents and created Napoleon's to serve the neighborhood, which it has done for the past ten years.  Despite briefly adopting carry-out/drive-thru and delivery options earlier this week, the business could simply not survive. 

[UPDATE] Publix Pushes GreenWise Market Debut in East Cobb, Likely Ending Further Development

In a move many saw coming, sources tell ToNeTo Atlanta that Publix has pushed the highly anticipated debut of  its GreenWise Market store in East Cobb to "at least May." June 17  The 25,000 square foot store anchors the new Sandy Plains Marketplace project on Sandy Plains Road near Shallowford Road.  A Publix source told ToNeTo Atlanta in February that the plan was to open the store April 8. Our February emails to Publix's local media relations contact seeking confirmation of the date were never answered, and in light of recent events, we have not attempted again to seek confirmation, knowing there are more important things to worry about.   

[EXCLUSIVE] Franchise Featuring Icing Topped Cookies Entering Atlanta

A new cookie company is coming to Atlanta. Crumbl Cookies, a Utah-based franchise, is slated to open their first Atlanta area location in Alpharetta in the coming months.  The new shop, to be located in Village at Park Bridge shopping center at 4190 Old Milton Parkway, will occupy suite 2L, a roughly 1,200 square foot space most recently home to a franchise of College Nannies+Sitters. The Alpharetta location is not yet listed anywhere on the Crumbl Cookies website, but site work is well underway on renovating the space.

[SPECIAL] My Commitment to the Metro Atlanta Community

When I launched this site more than a decade ago, my intention then, as it is now, was to report on metro Atlanta's commercial real estate community with an emphasis on restaurant, retail and hotel openings and closings.  I am working on several stories and I do have plenty of new content in the immediate pipeline but it's hard to remain focused on my usual content when there is so much awful news in the world, especially in my normal areas of coverage.  

[SPECIAL] Local Restaurant Owners Take Action to Help Keep Their Employees Solvent

Husband and wife owners Christian and Kristy Favalli have been overcome with emotions this week as they, like so many other restaurants in Atlanta and around the country, made the difficult decision to close their doors.  The couple, owners of legendary Buckhead Italian eatery La Grotta, employ almost thirty people (some of whom have been with the restaurant since its opening in 1978) and the thought of them being without work for an indefinite length of time did not sit well with the Favallis.  

Christian Favalli at left with members of his culinary and management team 

[EXCLUSIVE] Athleta Stretching Further in Atlanta Expansion

Athleta, the athleisure and yoga apparel company from The Gap, Inc., is planning to open its fourth Atlanta area location later this year.  The new store coming to East Cobb will open adjacent to Whole Foods Market in Merchant's Walk shopping center at 1311 Johnson Ferry Road.  The roughly 3,800 square foot store will open in a large portion of what was most recently an outpost of The Cook's Warehouse, an Atlanta-based small business, which closed at the center in 2018.  

[UPDATE] Atlanta Businesses Respond to COVID-19 & A Call to Action

As many of you know, our normal coverage is primarily of restaurant, retail, hotel, and grocery store openings and closings.  Given the current once in a generation times, times you hope skip a generation or two, we wanted to take some time to point out a few good things happening in the world during this challenging time.

[UPDATE] Chick-fil-A to Sell Select Sauces in Retailers and "Some" Restaurants... in Florida

Wednesday we shared news that Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A plans in April to test the sale of bottled versions of some of their popular sauces at Florida area restaurants and grocery stores.  This news was (unsurprisingly) met with tremendous excitement and enthusiasm... and disappointment, due to the limited nature of the test.  The company plans, as it has in years past with other items, to test the product in select locations, this time exclusively in Florida at Chick-fil-A restaurants, as well as Publix, Winn-Dixie, Target and Walmart stores.

[EXCLUSIVE] Local Restaurateur Bringing Speakeasy and Neapolitan Pizza to Buckhead

The group that previously ran the Andrews Entertainment District in the Buckhead Village is returning to Buckhead.  Stephen de Haan, formerly President of the Andrews Entertainment District, plans to bring his new concepts, Red Phone Booth and Amalfi Pizza to Buckhead Place later this year.  The new concepts, both of which currently exist in Downtown Atlanta, will occupy the former Gordon Biersch at Buckhead Place near the intersection of Peachtree and Piedmont Roads in the heart of Buckhead.  

[UPDATE] Grand Champion Being Replaced by Bayou'Q in Roswell

Grand Champion BBQ has closed its restaurant on Canton Street in Historic Downtown Roswell.  The restaurant, located at 982 Canton Street, opened in early 2016, and reportedly closed quietly in the last few weeks, according to local area sources.  ToNeTo Atlanta could not find an announcement of the closure, but the Canton Street location has been removed from the company's website.  The Roswell outpost is the second the local group has closed in the past few months following last year's closure of the food stall at Inman Park's Krog Street Market.  

[UPDATE] Wendy's "Refresh" in Progress at Toco Hills

The dated Wendy's at Toco Hills is getting upgraded, but not to the degree that we previously reported it would.  The restaurant, located in an outparcel of Toco Hills Promenade at 2957 North Druid Hills Road, opened in 1979, and it shows.  In 2017, we reported that Meritage Hospitality Group, Inc. (OTCQX: MHGU), which has owned the Toco location since 2011, would in 2018 complete a "scrape & rebuild" of the location that would give the neighborhood a brand new restaurant.   2018 and 2019 came and went, and there was not so much as a permit filed.  

[ON THE MOVE] Gluten-Free Eatery KarmaFarm Finds New Home in Buckhead

After warning last week of an impending closure, gluten-free eatery KarmaFarm early Wednesday evening closed its original location on Pharr Road in Buckhead.  In a simultaneous move, the owners - husband and wife Scott and McCall Wilder - announced they would reopen in a new, but familiar location nearby, potentially as soon as Friday, March 13.  

The "OG" KarmaFarm 

[LAST CALL] Neiman Marcus to Close Nearly All Last Call Outlet Stores

Dallas, Texas-based Neiman Marcus announced Wednesday is plans to close nearly all of its Last Call outlet stores to focus on its high-end, full-line business.  The chain currently operates 22 Last Call stores, including one in metro Atlanta at Sugarloaf Mills in Lawrenceville.  The Sugarloaf store opened in 2001 at what was then Discover Mills and was owned at that time by Mills Corporation.  (Mills was purchased by Simon in 2007 and became Sugarloaf Mills in 2012.)  

[CLOSURE ALERT] Your Pie "Slices" Buckhead Restaurant

Your Pie Buckhead has permanently closed .  The quick-serve pizza restaurant at 5 West Paces Ferry Road first opened in July 2014 and was at that time the 19th location for the Athens-based quick-serve pizza chain.  The Buckhead restaurant's last day in business was Tuesday, March 10.  Real estate sources indicate that the space has been marketed for lease for "some time," with other sources telling ToNeTo Atlanta that there are at least two parties interested in the approximately 2,000 square foot freestanding space.  

[SLICED!] Jimmy John's Joins Growing List of Sandwich Shop Closures

Jimmy John's has closed at Toco Hills Promenade in Atlanta.  The popular sandwich chain, which opened at the Publix anchored center in early 2013, reportedly closed over the weekend after seven years in business.  The restaurant's nearly 2,000 square foot space is still marked as open and occupied on the Toco Hills siteplan from property owner Edens but the location has been removed from the Jimmy John's website.  

[EXCLUSIVE] West Hollywood-Based Kids Empire Invading Atlanta Market

A new kind of kids play place is coming to Georgia.  Kids Empire, based in West Hollywood, California, will later this year make their entry into metro Atlanta with a franchise in Marietta.  The new indoor playground, to be located in East Cobb Station, will be 10,000 square feet and be located in suite 900, close to Roswell Road and adjacent to Williamson Brothers Bar-B-Q.   

[KNOCKED OUT] Primo Hoagies Shutters Short-Lived Sandy Springs Sandwich Shop

Just days after reducing its hours to lunch only, and a couple of weeks after being listed for sale, Primo Hoagies has permanently closed its lone Atlanta area franchise.  Located near the corner of Peachtree Dunwoody Road and Hammond Drive at Perimeter Town Center in Sandy Springs, the restaurant opened May 16, 2019 and closed as of March 6, 2020.  

[CLOSURE ALERT] Lenny's Subs Loses the Sandwich Battle in Sandy Springs

Lenny's Grill & Subs has closed its short-lived location on Johnson Ferry Road in Sandy Springs.  The restaurant, which occupied a 3,000 square foot space in The Springs shopping center, was located adjacent to Bruster's Ice Cream and across from the City Springs development.  The Sandy Springs Lenny's was a franchise of the Memphis, Tennessee-based company and was one of several in the Atlanta area.  The Sandy Springs outpost opened in August 2018.   

[OUR TAKE] Hudson Grille's Sudden Closure in Brookhaven

Here at ToNeTo Atlanta we are not huge fans of simply regurgitating news already reported elsewhere.  That said, several ToNeTo Atlanta readers reached out seeking our take on the recent closure of Hudson Grille in Brookhaven.  Eater Atlanta was first to report on yesterday's sudden closure, with a company representative telling the site that the restaurant's parent company, Atlanta-based Metrotainment Cafes and its owner, Jeff Landau “were unable to agree to terms” with the landlord on the bar’s lease at Brookhaven Station on Peachtree Road.  ToNeTo Atlanta requested further clarification to the leasing issue and was told only that it was "up for renewal."  

[EXCLUSIVE] New Szechuan Restaurant Opening Soon in Marietta

Local restaurateur Gary Lin plans to bring authentic Szechuan cuisine to Marietta.  Later this month Lin plans to open Wei at 35 South Marietta Parkway, not far from the Marietta Square.  The new restaurant replaces Pier 213 Seafood which closed this past December after about seven years in business.  Wei is the fourth in a series of similar restaurants from Lin in metro Atlanta.   

[EXCLUSIVE] Torchy's Tacos Taking Their Tacos to Georgia

The Texas invasion continues.  Several well-placed real estate sources tell ToNeTo Atlanta that Austin-based Torchy's Tacos is scouting metro Atlanta for multiple locations.  The taco chain, which has a cult-like following, reportedly has no deals done yet, but is close to securing at least one metro Atlanta outpost.  Sources tell ToNeTo Atlanta that the chain is targeting "the usual" in-town and suburban locations such as Buckhead, Dunwoody/Perimeter/Sandy Springs, Roswell and Alpharetta, among other parts of town.  The fast casual restaurant, where patrons order at a counter, is referred to by management as "craft casual," given the restaurant's focus on high quality ingredients. 

[EXCLUSIVE] Famous Franchisee Looks to Hit Home Run with Popeyes in Doraville

A new Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen is planned on the site of Georgia's first McDonald's in Doraville.  The new Popeyes, planned for 5220 Buford Highway, would open on raw land once home to the first McDonald's in Georgia.  The McDonald's, which opened in November 1961, closed in February 2018 after more than 56 years in business.  No reason for the closure was ever given and the restaurant was later demolished with its property made available for redevelopment. 

[EXCLUSIVE] Doughnut & Ice Shops Proposed for Moreland Avenue

A local Dunkin' [Donuts] franchise group is looking to add a second location along busy Moreland Avenue.  The group, Platinum Donuts, LLC, last year opened a new Dunkin' at 30 Moreland Avenue where once a Church's Chicken had operated.  Now the group hopes to open a second location, this time at 1250 Moreland Avenue, near Lynwyn Lane, about two and half miles from the existing location.  Signage at the new site indicates that the franchisee, along with property owner Eden Rock Real Estate Partners, seeks a Special Land Use Permit (SLUP) from DeKalb County in order to open the new business on the roughly one acre site.