[NEWSFLASH] Fresh Fish and Greek Gyros & Pizza are Coming to Brookhaven!

John "Johnny" Gianoulidis and managing partner Paul Masci plan to open The Greek Pizzeria and Gyros next summer in Brookhaven. The restaurant, described as "a fast casual counter service restaurant that [will] harken back to the roots of Greek pizza and gyro joints of New England, where no one is a stranger!" will be located in Skyland Shopping Center along Clairmont Road near its intersection with Buford Highway.  The center, anchored by Advance Auto Parts, was once home to a Colonial grocery store, but in recent years has mostly been home to a hodgepodge of local shops and services.  

[UPDATE] Retailer "Targeting" Mid November Re-Opening of Buckhead South Store

Target plans to reopen its “Buckhead South” store in Lindbergh Plaza in "mid-November," a company spokesperson told ToNeTo Atlanta late Tuesday.  The store, located at 2539 Piedmont Road in Lindbergh Plaza, first opened in 2006 but has been closed for more than five months after it was heavily damaged and looted in May amid protests that followed the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.  

[EXCLUSIVE] gusto! Heads Back to the 'Burbs with Planned East Cobb Drive Thru

Nate Hybl plans to bring his quick-serve restaurant gusto! to East Cobb in 2021.  The new restaurant will open in an outparcel of the Kroger anchored Parkaire Landing shopping center at the corner of Lower Roswell and Johnson Ferry Roads.  Gusto will open in place of Moe's Southwest Grill (688 Johnson Ferry Road) which itself occupied a onetime KFC.  Cobb County property records indicate the KFC building was originally constructed in 1987 and is about 2,700 square feet.  

[EXCLUSIVE] Arden's Garden Closed, Cafe Agora Midtown Expanding

Popular Mediterranean restaurant Cafe Agora will soon expand its presence in Midtown by taking over the space adjacent to their existing restaurant.  Currently located at 92 Peachtree Place, the eatery will in the coming months expand to 90 Peachtree Place, too, basically doubling the size of the restaurant.  The expansion into the adjacent space was made possible by the recent closure of Arden's Garden, which reportedly opted not to renew their lease.  Arden's Garden still has seventeen other locations in Georgia, including one on Monroe Drive in Midtown, another on Euclid Avenue in Little 5 Points, and on Roswell Road in Buckhead, among others.  

[GO!] Buffalo Wild Wings Bringing New Compact Concept to Emory Village

A few months after debuting their new compact "GO" format in Sandy Springs, Buffalo Wild Wings plans to bring the new quick-serve concept to Emory Village.  Newly released planning documents indicate that the new Buffalo Wild Wings GO will open in place of Romeo's Pizza which recently closed at 1401 Oxford Road across the street from the Emory University campus.  At 1,952 square feet, the new location will be slightly larger than the Sandy Springs outpost, but will likely still be about the same in features and offerings.    

[Three Down, Three Up] New Restaurants Are Opening in Place of COVID Closures

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, dozens of restaurants have closed in metro Atlanta.  Although sad, this unfortunate situation has created unique opportunities for budding restaurateurs.  This past weekend, ToNeTo Atlanta took note of at least three restaurant spaces that became available as a result of the pandemic, and all three are already occupied by new restaurants.  The three restaurants we noticed are in Alpharetta, Brookhaven and Buckhead.

[UPDATE] Goodbye Ruby Tuesday, Restaurant Chain "Rejects" Nearly 200 Leases

Ruby Tuesday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week and has announced plans to "reject" 185 leases which include both restaurants that have already closed as well as others it plans to shutter.  According to published reports, prior to the pandemic, the Maryville, Tennessee company had 236 restaurants in 25 states.  

[ALERT] Hundreds of Trees Taken Down For EXCITING New Briarcliff Development

After receiving inquiries from readers and witnessing ourselves the clearcutting of a large lot (2661 Briarcliff Road) behind the North Druid Hills Target store, we made it a point to investigate what was happening.  We are (dis)pleased to be able to share that the neighborhood has lost hundreds of mature trees for the development of yet another self-storage facility!  

[EXCLUSIVE] Crumbl Cookies Secures Fourth Suburban Site

A new location of Crumbl Cookies is coming to metro Atlanta.  The new Crumbl, headed for Lawrenceville, will open in the Home Depot-anchored Lawrenceville Market shopping center near the intersection of Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road and Duluth Highway. The new 1,600 square foot cookie shop opens in place of what was most recently a MetroPCS Authorized Dealer location between MyEyeDr. and Scrubs & Beyond.  The Lawrenceville Crumbl Cookies will be the fourth in metro Atlanta for the Utah-based chain.

[UPDATE] Pizza Hut Franchisee Leaves New UTBAPH Units in Alpharetta, Tucker

Several Atlanta area Pizza Hut restaurants have closed in recent days following the July 1 Chapter 11 bankruptcy of NPC International, one of the company's largest franchisees.  At the time of their filing, NPC operated some 1,200 Pizza Hut locations of which about 40% were the brand's legacy "red roof" [hut] locations.  NPC indicated in August it planned to close as many as 300 "underperforming" units of which most would likely be the company's freestanding "hut" units.

[EXCLUSIVE] California Concept Coming to Suburban Shopping Center

A new-to-market stir-fry concept has chosen Sandy Springs to make their Atlanta area debut.  A franchise of Whealthy, a concept based in Irvine, California, has leased the former Firehouse Subs in Sandy Springs Plaza at 6277 Roswell Road. The Firehouse Subs franchise closed abruptly this past January.  The nearly 1,300 square foot space is adjacent to Willy's Mexicana Grill, on the north end of the Trader Joe's anchored shopping center. 

[UPDATE] Georgia's First Buc-ee's Planning November Opening, "Invasion" of the South Coming Soon

About twenty months after we first we reported they were entering the market, and about a year after breaking ground, Texas-based Buc-ee's is getting ready to open their first mega store in the state.   The new 53,000 square foot Buc-ee's at 7001 Russell Parkway occupies a roughly 20 acre site at the southeast corner of I-75 and Russell Parkway in Warner Robins in Peach County.  A company spokesperson says plans call for the new Buc-ee's to open Wednesday, November 18, a week before the potentially busy Thanksgiving holiday, and more than a month ahead of what was announced in 2019 to be an "early 2021" debut. 

[OPENING ALERT!] Iron Age Bringing DIY AYCE Korean Barbecue to Toco Hills

Iron Age Korean Steak House  plans to open their highly anticipated new location at Toco Hills later this month.  The 4,900 square foot restaurant, which ToNeTo Atlanta first reported was coming last July, was originally slated to open over the summer.  Like so many things, the restaurant's opening was delayed by several  factors not the least of which was COVID-19.  The restaurant, which replaced longstanding Toco Hills mainstay Famous Pub, is now due to open October 19.  (Hudson Grille was to open but later abandoned their plans to open in space before Iron Age.) 

[CLOSURE ALERT] Office Depot at Toco Hills Will No Longer Be "Taking Care of Business"

Office Depot will soon close their store at Toco Hills in Atlanta.  The store, which co-anchors Toco Hills shopping center, has been open about fifteen years and is due to close as of November 14.  The 20,500 square foot store occupies a onetime A&P supermarket in the bustling intown shopping center.  The store is currently offering all in-stock merchandise for 10 to 40 percent off.  

[CLOSURE ALERT] Farm Burger Peachtree Corners Shutters

Popular local burger joint Farm Burger has closed their Peachtree Corners location.  The restaurant, which by all accounts had one of the best locations within the new Peachtree Corners Town Center project, opened March 26, 2019. and closed as of September 30, according to a post to the restaurant's facebook page.  Located at 5170 Town Center Boulevard, the restaurant occupied a freestanding building adjacent to the project's Town Green.  

[EXCLUSIVE] Miller's Ale House to Open in "Dream" Kennesaw Space

A new location of Miller's Ale House is planned for Kennesaw.  According to newly filed permits with Cobb County, the new restaurant will open in place of the former California Dreaming at 745 Chastain Road. California Dreaming, part of Charleston, South Carolina-based CentraArchy Restaurants, closed its Kennesaw outpost last May after about twelve years in business. (The group also closed their Duluth location earlier this year.)

[EXCLUSIVE] Tavern at Phipps Does Not Plan to Reopen at Phipps Plaza

It appears that the Tavern at Phipps will not be reopening at Phipps Plaza in Buckhead.  The restaurant, a mainstay at the posh Buckhead mall for nearly 30 years, closed as of March 23 due the COVID-19 pandemic.  Despite sibling Atlanta area CentraArchy restaurants Joey D's Oak Room and New York Prime reopening, the Tavern has remain closed, with their patio furniture now in use by their steakhouse sibling.  Sources close to the restaurant and others in the restaurant community tell ToNeTo Atlanta that a lease dispute with landlord Simon Property Group (SPG) is what led to the closure. 

[NEW] Express Car Wash Proposed on Clairmont Road Near PDK

An Athens-based developer is proposing building a new "express car wash" on Clairmont Road not far from Peachtree DeKalb Airport.  The new car wash would open in place of two existing structures, one a vacant gas station and convenience store, the other a nightlife establishment.  Oliver Pryor of TOP Capital, LLC is behind the proposal.  According to his LinkedIn profile, Pryor's current job [TOP Capital], which he's been at since May 2013, is  "Investments, Express Car Washes, Real Estate Development."

[BUSTED BURRITO] Salsarita's Fresh Mexican Grill Exits Metro Atlanta

Salsarita's Fresh Mexican Grill has closed its only Atlanta area location.  The restaurant, located at 5215 Windward Parkway in Alpharetta, closed quietly in recent days after about five years in business.  The restaurant, which replaced what was then the first Uncle Maddio's Pizzas to close,  opened in late 2015 and was to be the first of seven in the Atlanta area from franchisee Nick Patel.