Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Bits & Bites

Popeyes is opening a new location in the food court at Lenox Square in Buckhead.  The popular chicken chain is opening in a space most recently occupied by Checkers in a food court already home to  Ponko Chicken and Chick-fil-A.  ToNeTo Atlanta reported April 28 that Popeyes is also opening a new location in the food court at Cumberland Mall near Smyrna.  The formerly Sandy Springs-based company, which is today based in Miami, boasts more than 3,500 locations worldwide.  

Surcheros plans to open its first metro Atlanta location on Main Street in Downtown Alpharetta today, Wednesday May 11.  The new Tex-Mex eatery replaces Hardees which closed in 2020.   ToNeTo Atlanta first reported on the planned Alpharetta opening of Surcheros April 15, 2021.  According to the Surcheros website, the Douglas, Georgia-based chain currently has 22 locations open with new restaurants slated to open in Athens and Augusta in June, followed by another in Cornelia and also in Tallahassee, the chain's first unit outside of Georgia.  

Sugar Baby Creamery plans to open its first brick and mortar location.  The rolled ice cream, funnel cake, churro and cotton candy dessert shop will open in a roughly 1,500 square foot space in the Marshalls and HomeGoods anchored Buckhead Crossing shopping center.  Sugar Baby is opening in a space most recently occupied by GameStop on the Sidney Marcus Boulevard side of the building.  

Longtime Chastain Park eatery Marcello's will close May 24 at Tuxedo Festival.  The 2,432 square foot space is not yet marked as "available" on the site plan for the center but sources close to the restaurant say the upcoming closure has been planned for "some time."  

Menchies has finally started renovations in earnest and is slated to reopen "soon" at Tuxedo Festival in Chastain Park.  The froyo shop had been closed for several months and downsized as part of its renovation to allow a larger space for new neighbor The NOW Massage to open.    

Road Runner Sports plans to reduce the size of its East Cobb outpost.  The store, which opened at Merchants Walk on Johnson Ferry Road in 2013, currently occupies a 6,000 square foot space but will cuts its space to a roughly 3,000 square foot suite, according to updated site plans from property owner Edens.  The current space is adjacent to where both Sleep Galleria and Marshalls will backfill a former Stein Mart while their new space is a couple doors down from ULTA Beauty.  The store's current 6,000 square foot space is marked as "coming available" on the property's online site plan.  

IHOP closed its longtime location on South Cobb Drive in Smyrna April 24 after 23 years in business.  The restaurant, located in a freestanding building at 5131 South Cobb Drive near its intersection with Church Street, is about 5,000 square feet and sits on nearly 1.5 acres.  

FIGO Pasta has permanently closed its location at 2941 Paces Ferry Road in Vinings.  The locally owned pasta eatery and an adjacent Jimmy John's franchise had both been "temporarily closed" for several months after a tree damaged the building they share, but a FIGO employee confirmed to ToNeTo Atlanta that the restaurant will not reopen.  Following its Vinings closure, FIGO operates just two locations, one on Defoor Avenue near Buckhead/Upper Westside and another via a semi-permanent food-truck on Moreland Avenue in Little 5 Points.  Jimmy John's remains "temporarily closed" with its future unclear.  

Viral Solutions, founded by an Atlanta-based emergency physician and physician assistant to  provide easy and convenient COVID-19 testing, wants to open a new state of the art facility at 1799 and 1805 Clairmont Road at its intersection with Mason Mill Road.  Its plan includes demolishing two single story structures spanning .64 acres and replacing them with a single, two story facility covering 4,500 square feet with a drive-thru.  The company sought a Special Land Use Permit (SLUP) from DeKalb County but its plans have been met with significant pushback.  Community Council voted 10-0 to deny the proposal "because the use is "vehicle-based", the site plan does not incorporate buffers, and there were neighborhood concerns about traffic and congestion. 36 members of the public raised their hands in opposition."  Planning staff voted for a two-cycle deferral to the September 2022 zoning agenda"

Georgia Banking Company plans to open at least two new branches in metro Atlanta.  Newly updated materials for local real estate developer Blanchard indicate that Georgia Banking Company will open new branches in Alpharetta and East Cobb.  The new Alpharetta branch, 5225 Windward Parkway, will open in a former Renasant bank, while the East Cobb branch, 4895 Lower Roswell Road, replaces a former PNC Bank.  At more than 7,000 square feet, the Alpharetta branch will be nearly double the size of the roughly 3,600 square foot East Cobb branch.  

A new Vietnamese restaurant, Eat - Pho, Banh Mi, Coffee, will soon open in the former Boruboru at Hammond Exchange shopping center in Sandy Springs.  

A California-based cupcake shop is planning its first Atlanta outpost.  Cupcakin Bake Shop, currently with four locations in and around Berkeley, has leased the former Cami Cakes in Buckhead at The Shops of Buckhead, for its first Atlanta area location.  Cupcakin has had "coming soon" signage up at the space for several months, according to ToNeTo Atlanta sources in the center.  It's unclear what the holdup is as the space should need limited structural work in going from one cupcake shop to another.  That said, an employee at one of the company's Berkeley area locations indicates that the Atlanta shop is currently slated to open later this fall.  

Great American Cookies is reopening at Cumberland Mall under new ownership and management.  The cookie shop, located on the mall's first level near the former Sears (now Round1), is expected to open in June and will be operated by Pizitz Management Group, a Birmingham, Alabama operator of about 70 Great American Cookie franchises.  

The owners of Good Kitchen + Market plan to open a new concept: GOOD Kitchen.  Described as a "fresh-casual concept," GOOD Kitchen will reportedly open in the former Porch Light Cantina at the Village Green in Smyrna. 

Scratch Fresh, a locally owned casual eatery in Milton, closed as of May 2 after twelve years in business.  The restaurant, located at 12890 Highway 9, was reportedly a favorite in the neighborhood and its presence will be sorely missed.   

rag & bone will open its first ever Atlanta area retail store at Buckhead Village District in Buckhead.  The retailer will open in a 2,105 square foot space at 258 Buckhead Avenue.  Canali, which currently occupies the 258 Buckhead Avenue space, will close to make way for rag & bone.

Lilly Pulitzer has closed its boutique in Phipps Plaza in Buckhead.  The store, located at center court on the mall's first floor, opened May 24, 2012 and closed as of May 7, seemingly at the conclusion of its ten year lease.  Lilly Pulitzer opened a new store at Avalon in Alpharetta on April 9 with the hope being that customers will shop there instead.   A source close to the retailer tells ToNeTo Atlanta that the company hopes to return to the Buckhead area in the future when "the right location" becomes available.  

8 comments:

Ham said...

Popeye's at Lenox? I always enjoyed eating at places in Food Courts that were a little unique. While not fine dining they were different from what was available on every street corner. I guess that has changed but can't say Popeye's excites me. Alos, sad to see Lilly Pulitzer close at Phipps. This was always a go to place for the women in my life and the closing just adds to the slow sad demise of a once wonderful luxury shopping mall.

Theron Sapp said...

As a longtime North Buckheadite, I'm really sad to hear about Marcello's. Lovely people. The kind of simple local Italian place every neighborhood needs. Best wishes to the family and staff.

Jodyml813 said...

Scratch Fresh absolutely will be missed! That one hurts. They had the best breakfast and really good burgers.

S. Gresham said...

Could use one at the mall at stonecrest food court as well (Popeyes)

Anonymous said...

Why did they close down the Ihop?

Anonymous said...

Or what is going there next? There is work being done

Anonymous said...

Any update on what’s going in? Looks like it has a drive thru.

Atlantan99 said...

@Anon RE: update,

If you are referring to the old IHOP, it will be a Chipotle with a "Chipotlane."

https://www.tonetoatl.com/2022/07/Former-Alpharetta-Arbys-Becoming-Chipotle-Old-Milton%20.html

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