In an incredibly quiet move, restaurants Doraku and Qing Mu have both permanently closed on East Paces Ferry Road at Buckhead Village District (formerly The Shops Buckhead Atlanta). The restaurants, located adjacent to one another between Georgetown Cupcake and The Capital Grille, "temporarily closed" in March, but have now been removed from the Buckhead Village District (BVD) website and onsite maps. (The Buckhead location of Doraku has been removed from the Doraku website but the Buckhead Qing Mu location remains listed on the Qing Mu website.) Earlier this week, BVD management also installed artsy window coverings on the fronts of both of the former restaurants.
Following the Buckhead closures, online research suggests that there are three Doraku locations left in existence, two in Hawaii and one in Miami Beach; and one One Qing Mu, also in Hawaii.
Each former Aoki Group restaurant (265 and 271 East Paces Ferry Road) measures 2,725 square feet now giving new center owner Jamestown two opportunities to improve the tenant mix while also attracting potentially local restaurants looking to take advantage of relatively new second generation restaurant space.
ToNeTo Atlanta was first to report in September that the owners of popular Buckhead pasta eatery Storico Fresco Alimentari e Ristorante have leased the former Corso Coffee/The Mourning Dove space in BVD to open Storico Vino, a wine bar and cafe. The hope is that the new concept will open before the end of the year.
What would you like to see open in place of Doraku and Qing Mu at Buckhead Village District? Are you pleased by the slight changes and new name for the challenged Buckhead project? What is your favorite Buckhead area restaurant?
Please share your thoughts below.
9 comments:
I guess we can all look forward to more restaurant closures. ATL powers that be have been emboldened with events of the last week to extend lockdowns forever. Get in line, nothing to see here.
@anon 11/8 @10am
Don't think this and that have anything to do with one another. These two restaurants have been closed since March, meaning they opted to remain closed after restaurants were allowed to reopen.
Yes, there will be more restaurants falling victim to your scenario, but these are just two more failed BVD (or whatever you want to call it) businesses.
If you want to see the changes brought on by COVID and the city's anemic response, Buckhead Village is Exhibit "A." The vast majority of the stores are currently boarded up for fear of what would happen after a free election; most stores are empty, closed, or on the verge of closing; and the vast majority of "customers" come during the weekend from outside the area and simply walk around looking for places to take Instagram photos.
This used to be a bright hope for Buckhead and, although changes were required, the area showed signs of promise. All of that ended when people boarded Marta trains and started throwing trash cans through windows. This is just like what happened in the early 2000s and if things don't change, it won't come back any time soon.
I see those who are brainwashed by fox "news", facebook and talk radio decided to share their sad views on this blog again....
Build a wall?
It would be interesting to see how Buckhead (and the entire metro area) would have fared if the initial MARTA referendum in the early '70s had failed.
It does seem like any trouble we have is indeed almost always caused by people from outside the area.
I love it when facts hurt people's feelings.
People didn't board MARTA en masse to loot Lenox? People didn't loot the Target in Buckhead? People didn't throw trashcans and loot several stores at the Shops of Buckhead? Pretty sure I saw that with my own eyes and not on Fox or Facebook. But, hey, whatever, I just live here; I don't have to drive from Clayton to get a bottomless mimosa brunch, smoke hookah, or drive around in my Dodge Charger
Always sad to see businesses close. We went to the Vietnamese side once. Not bad, but not good enough to return. I really feel for restaurants during COVID. Even if we’re technically “allowed” to dine indoors, many people, including myself, understand the risks and aren’t willing to take them yet.
I went to Qing Mu once. That was some boring blah ramen.
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