Tuesday, October 20, 2020

[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.

In Alpharetta, Vertigo Cafe recently opened in place of Mellow Mushroom which quietly closed several weeks ago.  As they tell it, "Vertigo Cafe serves signature fusion-inspired dishes from the Middle East, Northern Africa, and Europe alongside American favorites."  The menu includes Ziva, their signature delicacy:  "A Yemen layered dough, filled with two ingredients of your choice. Served with the traditional boiled egg and side of seasoned fresh crushed tomatoes and chili paste."  Other menu offerings include Shakshuka, paninis, pizzas, bourekas, and for dessert, rugelach, among other options.  

Vertigo Cafe is located at 11770 Haynes Bridge Road in the Urban Hardware-anchored Alpharetta Crossing shopping center.  

In Brookaven, Rapz wraps & smoothie bar will soon open in place of Sugar Shack, which closed in March.  Sugar Shack, once one of three Metrotainment Cafes concepts in the center, was the most recent to close, following the closures of Hudson Grill earlier this year, and Hudson FC last fall.  The new eatery is being opened by actor, producer, recording artist, and budding restaurateur Ray "Ray Jr." Winegarner.  The East Cleveland, Ohio native has been promoting the restaurant on both his personal Instagram as well as the restaurant's recently launched Instagram, but little is known about the concept itself.  There seems to be no active website and all that can be gleaned from the materials thus far is that the eatery will feature a combination of salads, wraps, juices and smoothies.  The restaurant is reportedly on track to open before the end of the month.  

Rapz is located at 4058 Peachtree Road in the Brookhaven Station shopping center 

In Buckhead, Azul'e restaurant & lounge plans to open by the end of the month in the former Nancy's Pizza in the Marshalls/Ross/HomeGoods-anchored Buckhead Crossing shopping center.  The popular Chicago-style pizzeria officially closed in September after about two and a half years in business.  Azul'e, which currently has a near non-existent online presence, will reportedly feature a Caribbean influenced menu with several rice dishes and their signature Jerk chicken.  Like fellow Buckhead Crossing newcomer Pasha Mediterranean, Azul'e will be a "lounge" and restaurant with sources telling ToNeTo Atlanta that also like Pasha, Azul'e will feature both food and hookah.  One key addition the owners of Azul'e have made to the 4,500 square foot restaurant space is a large patio in front of the restaurant.  This amenity is likely to serve two purposes, as it 1) is more desirable during COVID-19 and 2) allows for more air circulation.  Azul'e is reportedly targeting a pre-Halloween opening.  

Azul'e is located at 2625 Piedmont Road in the Buckhead Crossing shopping center.

9 comments:

Alex said...

Vertigo is the only one that has a chance of succeeding. And I've said here before, but if a hookah bar/lounge open up in your neighborhood, you know it's time to leave because property values will be dropping at the 2X the rate crime is rising.

Anonymous said...

Note to Buckhead homeowners - it's time to put a stop to the inordinate amount of hookah "lounges" being opened up in that neighborhood.

Anonymous said...

A place called Rapz and another hookah place to attract the hip hop crowd? Typical Atlanta boilerplate blah.

oden said...

Got any statistics to support that claim on property values? Of course you don't, jackwagon.

bill bratzki said...

Yep, those hooka bars on Juniper, 14th, Pharr, Piedmont, and Peachtree have really crushed property values in Buckhead and Midtown. It’s a real shame.

Anonymous said...

...Boy the Glenn Miller played...

Anonymous said...

would not want a hookah bar in one of my buildings or in my neighborhood....

Anonymous said...

What happens in these hookah lounges?
I doubt people are there to smoke tobacco.
Are they drug dens?
How could they possibly make money.
Not condemning, I just honestly don't know.
and why do people want to smoke out of hookahs,
what's the attraction?
Should I get a hookah?
I'm kind of thinking hookah lounges are not what they say they are.

Unknown said...

why don't you just go to one and see

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