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Popular sandwich chain Jason's deli informed customers Monday that they will be permanently closing their location off Windward Parkway in Alpharetta. The restaurant, located in The Terraces at Windward shopping center [3070 Windward Plaza], occupies a roughly 4,700 square foot space in the nearly 84,000 square foot development. Remaining restaurants in the center include Moe's Southwest Grill, Mellow Mushroom, Dickey's Barbecue Pit, Starbucks and J. Christopher's, among others.
The owners of Morelli's Ice Cream have reportedly leased the former Yogli Mogli in Virginia Highland for a new ice cream shop. The lease would follow a known M.O. of the local operators of taking over former dessert shops. Atlanta-born Yogli Mogli once had more than a dozen locations across five states but is today down to just five locations in total, four of which are in Georgia. The Virginia Highland location (1002 North Highland Avenue) of the once popular fro yo shop, situated at the dynamic corner of Virginia and North Highland Avenues, closed quietly earlier this spring.
2020 surprises keep coming! Opening soon in place of a former Bojangles will be none other than Mrs. Winner's! The fledgling chicken chain, which once covered metro Atlanta and the south, will open soon in place of the former Bojangles at 8550 Roswell Road in Sandy Springs. [Before Bojangles, the building was home to La Strada, Derby Food & Spirits and Locos Grill & Pub, among other eateries.] The Bojangles, a franchise of the Charlotte-based chicken chain, closed as of January 31, after a little less than five years in business.
Healthy quick-serve eatery Sweetgreen appears to have secured its third Atlanta area location. Permits filed Friday with the City of Atlanta indicate that Sweetgreen will open in Buckhead at Lenox Square. At the mall, Sweetgreen will open in place of ATL Taco, around the corner from True Food Kitchen. ATL Taco, itself a replacement of sibling eatery Bantam+Biddy, closed last October after just over a year and a half in business.
Brooklyn Bagel Bakery & Deli, a popular New York-style bagel joint, is expanding intown. According to a Facebook announcement Monday, the restaurant's second outpost will be at Ansley Mall, 1544 Piedmont Avenue. “It’s official! We are opening a second location in Ansley Mall shopping center!” While the announcement did not specify an exact location, the online Ansley Mall property flyer indicates that the local bagel joint will open in place of Panera Bread. Despite the Ansley Mall Panera Bread showing as "open" on all online platforms (including the Panera website), a phone call to the eatery confirms it is permanently closed.
In an unfortunate COVID-19 related move, Nancy's Pizzeria in Buckhead has permanently closed. The restaurant had been "temporarily" closed for several weeks and was thought to be reopening, but ToNeTo Atlanta confirmed Monday that its closure is in fact permanent. The 4,500 square foot Buckhead outpost, 2625 Piedmont Road in Buckhead Crossing, originally opened in November 2017.
PNC Bank has closed its Tucker branch in an outparcel of Briarcliff LaVista shopping center. The branch, located at 4855 Briarcliff Road, is situated across from both Northlake Mall and Briarcliff Village at the intersection of Briarlciff and Henderson Mill Roads. Signage posted to the branch's front door indicates that it closed permanently as of 3PM on Friday September 18. The branch had previously been (and still is, according to the PNC website) closed "temporarily." The Pittsburgh-based bank will still have a presence in Tucker with their larger branch on Main Street in downtown Tucker.
Adding to the surprises of 2020, trading cards, specifically sports trading cards, are having a moment, and at least one shop is looking to hit a home run with their new brick & mortar store. The Card Shop, slated to "soft" open next Friday, September 25, is at 2280 Cheshire Bridge Road, across the street from the old Landmark Diner, Jr. The shop, owned by husband and wife Danny Coleman and Michelle Coffey, is the sibling of the owners' adjacent business, Premium Kicks.
For the second month in a row, a longtime Atlanta area McDonald's restaurant has abruptly closed. Following last month's closure of the McDonald's at 1305 Powers Ferry Road in East Cobb and at 2460 Jett Ferry Road in Dunwoody, the McDonald's at 5025 Peachtree Parkway in Peachtree Corners has also closed. According to ToNeTo Atlanta readers, there was no advance warning of the closure which occurred earlier this week. Signage at the restaurant indicates that it closed as of September 15.
The California Dreaming restaurant in Duluth has closed. The restaurant, located at 1630 Cross Pointe Way, with visibility from I-85, was located off exit 109, Old Peachtree Road. The restaurant temporarily closed as of March 18 and has not posted to their facebook page since an Easter message on April 11. ToNeTo Atlanta was unable to find any formal announcement of the closure, but the Duluth location has been removed from the company's website and "yelpers" report that it has closed.
In a surprise pandemic era move, a discount store in Douglasville is closing. Bargain Hunt, purveyor of overstock, discontinued, damaged and other excess merchandise will close their five year old store on Douglas Boulevard in Market Square, not far from Arbor Place Mall. The store, which opened in August 2015, is one of more than a dozen that parent company Essex Bargain Hunt operates in Georgia.
Healthy quick-serve eatery Sweetgreen will soon make its long awaited Atlanta debut. The D.C. born and now Los Angeles-based eatery has secured space in Ponce City Market for their first metro restaurant. Established in 2007 by then recent Georgetown University grads Nicolas Jammet, Nathaniel Ru, and Jonathan Neman, the company has since grown to more than 100 units across the country.
The brand that invited riders to "never coast" was apparently doing just that. Flywheel, which had for the past decade been riding the wave of cycling popularity, will reportedly close all of their remaining studios, according to several sources close to the fitness company. In Atlanta, the New York-based business had two studios, one in Buckhead Village District (fka The Shops Buckhead Atlanta), the other at Regions Plaza (1180 West Peachtree Street) in Midtown. The company previously operated a third area studio at Avalon in Alpharetta but it closed last year as part of what was then an 11 studio nationwide closure.
The owner of Silvano Pizza in Buckhead Village will soon [officially] reopen his restaurant as "Sauce," described on newly installed signage as a Pizza Bar, Restaurant & Lounge. Located at 25 Irby Avenue, the building in which Sauce is opening has been several restaurants in its more than 50 year history, having had the most success as a spot for barbecue.
Local restaurateur Gary Lin plans to bring one of his popular intown restaurants to Alpharettta. By mid-November, Lin hopes to have Hai Authentic Chinese, his authentic Szechuan restaurant, open along Windward Parkway, not far from Costco. The new restaurant will open in suite #440, a 2,400 square foot space, formerly Swagat Indian Cuisine, between Big Peach Running Co. and Saigon Cafe in The Plaza at Windward, 5530 Windward Parkway.
The owners of Storico Fresco Alimentari e Ristorante in Buckhead and Forza Storico on the Westside plan to open a third concept later this year in Buckhead. The new business, a sibling of sorts to the popular pasta eatery, will be a wine bar and cafe and will open in Buckhead Village District (BVD), the project most recently known as The Shops Buckhead Atlanta, according to sources familiar with the plans. In Buckhead Village District, Storico will occupy the roughly 1,600 square foot corner space at 3059 Peachtree Road, adjacent to Dior, where Corso Coffee spent more than a half million dollars building out their shop in 2014.
Schlotzsky's has closed its restaurant near Cumberland Mall in Atlanta. The restaurant, across from Akers Mill Square at 2980 Cobb Parkway in Cumberland Festival, had been in business for more than a decade before closing within the past month. The Cumberland outpost was one that within the past year received the company's redesigned look and branding reflecting the concept's "Schlotzsky's Austin Eatery" brand imaging and decor. The restaurant was also paired with a Cinnabon, a sibling concept from parent company Atlanta-based FOCUS Brands. The restaurant was corporately owned and managed by FOCUS Brands.
Earlier this week Global Franchise Group (GFG), based locally in Sandy Springs, revealed redesigned logos for two of its six concepts. Great American Cookies and Marble Slab Creamery both received new looks in addition to a third logo that combines both brands for when there are co-branded units. Following the lead of fellow franchise juggernaut FOCUS Brands, the two new logos are notably dull and unexciting and devoid of any character or emotional connection their prior looks possessed.
A new "COVID-ready" quick-serve restaurant will in the coming months make its debut in Atlanta. Urban Wok, currently a single unit noodle and rice bowl concept from Minnesota, has leased the former Olive Bistro in TOWN Brookhaven in which to open their emerging concept. Launched in October 2018 in St. Paul, Minnesota, Urban Wok was created by former Chili's Grill & Bar manager Mark Toth. In a way, it's what one might get if they mixed Gusto, Chow Baby and Bolay into one concept.
CMX CinéBistro has closed its theater in TOWN Brookhaven. The 760 seat, seven screen theater, which temporarily closed in early February due to a "small fire," and remained closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, has now been removed from the company website with sources telling ToNeTo Atlanta that it will not reopen. CinéBistro is also noticeably absent from both the property website for TOWN Brookhaven as well as a recent advertisement promoting all tenants of the project.
Yogurtland has closed its outpost at TOWN Brookhaven in Brookhaven. The yogurt shop, one of three franchises in the Atlanta area, was previously for sale, but has closed instead. The remaining locations, in Buckhead at West Paces Ferry Shopping Center and in Peachtree Corners at the Forum on Peachtree Parkway, remain open and are for sale as "keep or convert" from local broker Steve Josovitz of The Shumacher Group.
Which Wich "Superior Sandwiches" has closed its location at TOWN Brookhaven in Brookhaven. The restaurant, which occupied a corner space along the same strip as HOBNOB, closed as of August 21, according to a sign posted to the business's front door. The notice did not cite any specific reason for the closure but did say the decision was made "with a heavy heart."
A Thailand-based bubble tea business will open their first United States outpost in Buckhead! Nobi Cha, headquartered in Bangkok, will later this year open a new shop in the Publix-anchored Chastain Square shopping center on Roswell Road in north Buckhead. In Chastain Square, Nobi Cha will occupy a 1,000 square foot space previously occupied by a Jamba Juice franchise. The new bubble tea shop will be ideally located, situated between popular restaurants Tacos & Tequilas and Pho Dai Viet.
On Sunday, August 30th, California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) permanently closed its restaurant located near Perimeter Mall at 4600 Ashford Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody, despite representations from as high as CPK's Legal Department, as explained below, that it would not. Indeed, amateur signage posted at the restaurant confirmed the closure to would-be patrons. By Sunday evening, the restaurant's dumpster was seen full of CPK signage, equipment and other materials. Additionally, CPK posted the following message on its website linked to the "Perimeter Mall" location:
Jason's Deli has permanently closed its restaurant in East Cobb. The restaurant, located in the Target-anchored Merchants Festival shopping center, opened in late 2018. A combination of lower than expected sales since opening and the affects of the COVID-19 pandemic reportedly caused first a temporary closure, but now the permanent closure of the 6,900 square foot restaurant at 1401 Johnson Ferry Road, near its intersection with Roswell Road.
