[UPDATE] A "Pho King" Failure in Decatur

Vietnamese eatery Pho King in Decatur has closed.  The restaurant, located at 319 West Ponce de Leon Avenue, opened May of 2019, but was listed for sale last July, and according to a source in the area, closed in recent days.  The 2,600 square foot restaurant opened as a franchise of Birmingham-based Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe in January 2016 but had remained closed since the Mediterranean eatery closed in May 2018.  Local broker The Shumacher Group listed the pho eatery for sale this past July, most recently seeking $99,500 for the business.  

An incredibly professional sign posted to the restaurant's front door

[UPDATE] Chick-fil-A to Go Under the Knife Near Piedmont Hospital in Buckhead

Chick-fil-A will next year complete yet another scrape & rebuild, this time on Peachtree Road in Buckhead.  The Atlanta-based chicken chain received all the necessary blessings earlier this year to construct a new restaurant in place of both its existing restaurant (1901 Peachtree Road) and its current neighbor, Peachtree Road Package Store (1895 Peachtree Road).  

Mega Bits & Bites

The Baskin Robbins at City Walk Sandy Springs has closed and is being converted into a franchise of Atlanta-based rolled ice cream shop Roll It Up Ice Cream.  The shop, located along Hammond Drive a few doors down from vegan eatery Loving Hut, soft opened a few days ago ahead of planned official opening in January. The first Roll It Up opened at Asian Square shopping center on Buford Highway in Doraville.  Later, locations in Snellville and Hoover, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama were added.  

[EXCLUSIVE] Whataburger Buford Bound

In August, ToNeTo Atlanta exclusively broke the news that Whataburger's metro Atlanta debut would begin in Kennesaw.  In October, we shared the news that the company also had sites in Cumming and Woodstock identified for new restaurants.  Now, we are pleased to finally be able to confirm another site the chain has in its Atlanta-area pipeline.  A new Whataburger restaurant will open in the new Fuqua Development project The Exchange at Gwinnett, along Buford Drive just off exit 115 of I-85.  The new restaurant will be situated behind the recently opened Starbucks at the project's primary entrance off Buford Drive, across from QuikTrip and Pep Boys.  

[CLOSURE ALERT] Willy's Shutters Atlanta Restaurant After Nearly Ten Years in Business

Willy's Mexicana Grill informed patrons today that it has permanently closed its restaurant on the campus of Georgia State University in Downtown Atlanta.  The restaurant, located at 100 Piedmont Avenue at the Parker H. Petit Science Center, opened in 2012 and was for a while a popular destination for students and white-collar workers alike. The pandemic changed that and the Atlanta-based company opted to shutter the restaurant.  

[UPDATE] East Cobb + Marietta Round Up

In the coming months, several new businesses will open in East Cobb.  Below, we reveal who's opening, when, and where. Enjoy! 

[CLOSURE ALERT] Alpharetta Residents Have One Less Chili's to Ignore

Chili's Grill & Bar has closed its restaurant at 5035 Windward Parkway in Alpharetta.  The restaurant reportedly closed over the weekend with its signage already removed by Monday afternoon.  A sign on the restaurant's front door directs would-be patrons to the chain's other area locations on North Point Parkway near North Point Mall and Medlock Bridge Road in Johns Creek.  

[EXCLUSIVE] Raising Cane's Will Finally Open in Metro Atlanta

"Caniacs" rejoice! Atlanta is one step closer to welcoming Raising Cane's! ToNeTo Atlanta has learned that Raising Cane's has secured a site in Buford for what will likely be its first restaurant in metro Atlanta.  Multiple real estate sources, including one with direct knowledge of the transaction, tell ToNeTo Atlanta that Raising Cane's will replace Arby's at 3300 Buford Drive, across the street from the Mall of Georgia.  Raising Cane's intends to demolish the existing building and erect their latest prototype restaurant in its place.  The freestanding Arby's has been in business since 2001. 

[EXCLUSIVE] DoorDash to Bring Its DashMart to Charlotte

DoorDash, the company known for its delivery of food from restaurants, is diving further into "new verticals" with the expansion of its "DashMart" convenience store concept.  First launched last summer, DashMart locations are effectively mini "final mile" warehouse facilities with a primary focus on convenience store essentials and pantry staples.  ToNeTo Atlanta uncovered plans for a new DashMart in Charlotte with Atlanta no doubt in the company's plans, too.  

Photo courtesy of Clayton from CLT Development LLC.

[EXCLUSIVE] Snooze Scores Two More Sites for Metro Atlanta Expansion

Snooze, an A.M. Eatery, a growing breakfast concept, has leased space for their next two locations in metro Atlanta.  The Denver-based chain made its Atlanta area debut this past January in Sandy Springs and added a second location on the Westside in September.  Now, ToNeTo Atlanta is pleased to confirm that the company is planning additional locations in Midtown and Buford.  Both new locations should open in phases during 2022.  

[THIS!] There, That Bar in Brookhaven is For Sale

There, a gastropub in Brookhaven, is up for sale.  Located at 305 Brookhaven Avenue in the TOWN Brookhaven development, There has the unique distinction of being one of the last remaining restaurant tenants from when the project first opened in phases beginning in late 2010.  

[CLOSURE ALERT] Panera Slices Suburban Storefront

Panera [Bread] has closed its bakery cafe at Ashford Lane (formerly Perimeter Place) in Dunwoody.  The fast casual restaurant, a center mainstay since its debut in 2006, reportedly closed abruptly about two weeks ago and according to signage on the door "moved" to Dunwoody Village.  In reality, the company closed the restaurant and hopes that would-be patrons will travel the roughly two miles to 1625 Mt. Vernon Road where the restaurant has operated a location for several years.  

[EXCLUSIVE] Blue Nile Bringing its Diamonds to Buckhead

Seattle-based Blue Nile intends to enter the Atlanta market with a jewelry store at Lenox Square in Buckhead.  The new Blue Nile will open on the mall's upper level where it will replace the 1,900 square foot store that previously housed Godiva and is currently home to a pop-up of Eleven TLC.  A permit recent filed with the City of Atlanta indicates the jeweler will spend an estimated $320,000 renovating the space.  

[EXCLUSIVE] Gucci Grabs Former H. Stockton at Lenox Square

Luxury retailer Gucci is doubling down on Buckhead with plans to open a second store.  Already with a popular boutique in Phipps Plaza, the company intends to open a second store just outside Neiman Marcus at Lenox Square, according to a recently filed permit with the City of Atlanta.  Plans indicate that Gucci will spend an estimated $275,000 to convert the roughly 3,300 square foot former H. Stockton space on the first floor of the Luxury Wing.  

[EXCLUSIVE] North Italia Destined for Dunwoody

ToNeTo Atlanta has learned that North Italia plans to open what will be a second Atlanta area location.  On the heels of news that the Arizona-based Italian eatery plans to open a location at Lenox Square in Buckhead comes word that they have leased the former California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) at 4600 Ashford Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody.  North plans to renovate the roughly 6,000 square foot freestanding building to suit their needs.

[EXCLUSIVE] At Last, Aritzia to Arrive in Atlanta

ToNeTo Atlanta wondered in 2013 when popular Canadian women's retailer Aritzia might open in Atlanta, and we are pleased to share that the day is coming soon! Permits recently filed with the City of Atlanta indicate that the retailer plans to open a roughly 11,000 square foot store at Lenox Square in Buckhead.  

[ALERT] Viva Chicken Coming to Alpharetta

Viva Chicken, a growing chain of Peruvian chicken restaurants, has secured a second Atlanta area location for their upcoming Georgia debut.  In addition to the previously announced location on Barrett Parkway in Kennesaw, Viva Chicken will also open alongside Cleaver & Cork on Haynes Bridge Road in Alpharetta.  Viva's roughly 2,600 square foot space, which will be built in the new year, is adjacent to Cleaver & Cork and occupies what was once part of the patio of former restaurant tenant Alpha Soda.  

[SOLD] Park Place Purchased by Active Property Player

Park Place in Dunwoody has been sold.  Coro Realty Advisors, which purchased the 82,097 square foot retail property in 2009, sold it on December 9 to EDENS for an undisclosed sum.  Located at 4505 Ashford Dunwoody Road, Park Place sits on 13.5 acres and is located directly across from Perimeter Mall at the intersection of Ashford Dunwoody Road and Perimeter Center West. 

[ALERT] Texas-Based Hat Creek Burger Company Entering Georgia

Hat Creek Burger Company, a growing chain from West Lake Hills, Texas, near Austin, will in 2022 enter the Georgia market with locations planned for Newnan and Athens.  Despite its name, Hat Creek offers more than burgers and is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, serving pancakes, breakfast tacos, chicken sandwiches and salads, too, among other menu options.  Drew Gressett launched Hat Creek as a food truck in 2008, and as a brick and mortar restaurant in 2011.  Today there are 27 locations currently open, all of which are in Texas.  

[EXCLUSIVE] Meat Distributor Bringing Artisan Butcher Shop to Alpharetta AND East Cobb

The owners of a popular locally owned butcher shop and market are bringing their business not only to Alpharetta but to East Cobb, too!  Audrey and Chad Stine, wife and husband team at Cleaver & Cork, will in the coming days (potentially as soon as Monday, December 13) open an outpost on Haynes Bridge Road in Alpharetta and will this coming March make their East Cobb debut a few doors down from Goldberg's along Johnson Ferry Road.  The Stines launched their business - which proudly wants to be "your local butcher" - in Sharpsburg in 2018 before opening in nearby downtown Newnan in December 2020.   

Chad Stine outside the new Cleaver & Cork in Alpharetta

[EXCLUSIVE] Cava Sets Date For Delayed Debut at Peachtree Battle, Plans to Convert Another Zoes Kitchen

Zoës Kitchen has again closed its location at The Plaza at City Springs in Sandy Springs.  The 2,800 square foot restaurant, located at 5840 Roswell Road, just outside I-285, closed along with several other Zoës locations last year, but unlike the others, which remain closed and in some cases have since reopened as other restaurants, it reopened this past June.  This past week, however, the restaurant was closed for good with Zoës signage now removed from the building and the space's windows now wrapped in "coming soon" graphics for Cava.  

[ALERT] End of the Year Marks the End of the Road for Ford Fry's JCT Kitchen

Chef Ford Fry is closing JCT Kitchen & Bar in Westside Provisions District after a 15 year run, according to an announcement from the chef's personal Instagram page late Thursday.  The restaurant, Fry's first as an independent chef, opened in 2007 after he held earlier roles with The Ritz-Carlton and later with the beloved, but ahead of its time, EatZi's.  JCT in many ways helped validate Fry and also gave him the launchpad that would later help to grow his restaurant empire. 

[EXCLUSIVE] Peruvian Chicken Chain Viva Chicken to Enter Metro Atlanta

A Charlotte-based fast casual restaurant chain plans to bring its Peruvian cuisine to metro Atlanta in 2022.  Viva Chicken, which specializes in Peruvian rotisserie chicken, plans to open its first Atlanta area location in Kennesaw.  The restaurant operator recently finalized a lease on a 3,200 square foot space in Barrett Corners, a new strip center being developed in place of the former Sweet Tomatoes at 1125 Ernest Barrett Parkaway.  Viva Chicken's Kennesaw location will pair it with previously announced eateries Five Guys and Maple Street Biscuit Company.  

Viva Chicken co-founders Bruno Macchiavello and Randy Garcia