Bits & Bites

Off-price retailer Tuesday Morning confirmed earlier this week that it plans to close its store at Parkaire Landing in East Cobb no later than the end of the year.  The roughly 10,000 square foot store opened in the Kroger-anchored shopping center October 16, 2016.  The Parkaire Landing store served as a replacement for the store the retailer closed at The Fountains of Olde Towne nearby, a center that was redeveloped for a new Northside Hospital facility.  Tuesday Morning's space will reportedly be taken over for an expansion by Kroger.  The Dallas, Texas-based retailer closed three stores in the greater metro Atlanta area in 2020 including those on Barrett Parkway in Towne Center Prado and on Dallas Highway in Village Green shopping center, both in Marietta, as well as a third in Newnan in Newnan Pavilion, a shopping center along busy Bullsboro Drive.  

[Update] Whataburger to Open Soon in Kennesaw, More to Come in 2023, Others Delayed

Whataburger provided an update this week on its planned opening in Kennesaw slated for Monday November 28.  The restaurant, located just off Chastain Road at 705 Town Park Lane NW, will open for drive-thru service only at 11am.    In addition, the San Antonio, Texas-based chain with a cult-like following also revealed eight other locations it plans to open in 2023.  While the list was largely the same as a list it announced in March, ToNeTo Atlanta noted multiple changes too.  

[EXCLUSIVE] Isla & Co. to Debut in December in Buckhead, Secures Second Space

Isla & Co., a new "Australian-inspired" cafe, will open their first of up to three Atlanta area locations next month in Buckhead.  The new restaurant will occupy the 2,740 square foot space in Andrews Square (56 East Andrews Drive) left vacant in 2021 by the closure of beloved vegetarian-friendly eatery SAMA.  Isla & Co. had originally planned to open in April, and later August, but as is so often the case in Atlanta, was forced to push its opening. 

Bits & Bites

A new location of Crumbl Cookies is planned for Toco Hills Promenade.  The new cookie shop will open in suite 260, a roughly 1,900 square foot space most recently home to a Jimmy Johns franchise.  The first Crumbl opened in Logan, Utah in 2017, and in the years since, the chain has experienced meteoric growth with nearly 650 locations open and dozens more in development.  In metro Atlanta, there are currently fifteen Crumbl franchises open including those in Alpharetta, Brookhaven, Buford, and Marietta, with at least one more coming soon to Sandy Springs.  

[EXCLUSIVE] Popular Bakery to Close Perimeter Outpost

Alon's Bakery & Market will early next year shutter its popular location at Park Place shopping center across from Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody.  The Dunwoody outpost opened in 2008, then the second location for the Atlanta-based business.  Founder Alon Balshan opened the original Alon's on North Highland Avenue in Morningside in 1992.  The more than 11,000 square foot Dunwoody space is not yet being marketed for lease but is due to close in February 2023, according to employees at the business.  

[EXTRA EXTRA!] Popular Used Media Store to Open in Roswell

A new location of used media retailer 2nd & Charles is coming to Roswell.  The new store, which will anchor Brannon Square on Alpharetta Highway, takes over the 28,500 square foot space left vacant last September following the closure of a Salvation Army thrift store.  2nd & Charles specializes in selling used media ranging from CDs and DVDs to video games, books and related collectibles.  

[That's All Folks] Tara Theatre to Show Final Four Films, Close Forever

The historic Tara Theatre (Regal Tara), one of the longest running, continuously operating movie theaters in metro Atlanta, is closing its doors forever.   There was speculation in 2020 that the Atlanta art house cinema – which opened on July 10, 1968 playing the re-release of the epic "Gone With the Wind – would, as a result of the pandemic, not reopen as other theaters had.  

Tara Theatre when it was temporarily closed in 2020

[OPENING ALERT] Cherokee Chophouse to Finally Reopen This Week in Cobb County

The Cobb County restaurant formerly known as Cherokee Cattle Co. announced Sunday that it will reopen Wednesday November 9 for dinner only.  Reservations, while available, are offered exclusively via OpenTable.com.  The restaurant, unlike others in the Marietta Family Restaurants portfolio, has remained closed since March 23, 2020, at the start of the pandemic.  The restaurant - 2710 Canton Road - remained closed for more than year before owner Gus Tselios took to Facebook last June to announce renovations have indeed started, but "would take a little time."  

[UPDATE] Baby Burger Business Seeks Buyer

Fledgling burger franchise BurgerIM may soon be completely gone from Georgia.  Local restaurant broker Steve Josovitz with The Shumacher Group is marketing the BurgerIM at Toco Hills shopping center in Atlanta for sale.   According to online reports, the Toco Hills restaurant is the second to last BurgerIM  operating in the state.  The restaurant, located at 2929 North Druid Hills Road, Suite 512, opened in May 2020, just as the pandemic was causing many businesses to shut down.   

[ALOHA] Kings Hawaiian to Launch New Restaurant Concept in Metro Atlanta

A popular bakery is planning a first of its kind fast casual restaurant in East Cobb. The Taira family, owners of King's Hawaiian, plan to open a new fast casual restaurant in an outparcel of the old Georgia Theatre Company (GTC) Cobb Place 12 Cinema complex near the intersection of Gordy Parkway and Shallowford Road.  The outparcel is being created by repurposing excess parking no longer needed given that the theater is being converted to a climate controlled self storage facility.  

Bits & Bites

A new bb.q Chicken - Korea's Finest Fried Chicken plans to open in Decatur. The new franchise restaurant will open at 319 West Ponce de Leon Avenue where it will open in place of Pho King, which closed at the end of 2021.  The roughly 2,600 square foot space originally debuted in early 2016 as an outpost of Taziki's Mediterranean Café.  Seoul, South Korea-based bb.q Chicken has existing Atlanta area locations in Doraville, Duluth, Johns Creek and Suwanee. 

[ALERT] Changes Are Coming to Popular Colombian Eatery

Kiosco, a popular Marietta area restaurant serving traditional Colombian fare, took to Facebook Wednesday to announce "the dissolution of a wonderful partnership of 13 years," leading many to gather it was closing.  "With love we announce the end of an era at Kiosco and the dissolution of a wonderful partnership of 13 years.  The Bermudez family would like to thank you for making each day an adventure, each meal a labor of love and each connection truly memorable," the post continued.

[EXCLUSIVE] New Chipotle Planned For Site of Former Hardee's and Moe's

A onetime Hardee's in Lawrenceville was recently demolished to make way for a new Chipotle.  The freestanding building, located on a roughly one acre outparcel of Pleasant Hill Point (corner of Club Drive and Pleasant Hill Road) was originally constructed in 1988 as a Hardee's restaurant after which it became a Moe's Southwest Grill in the early 2000s, and more recently operated as an outpost of locally owned Don Pedro Mexican Restaurant.