Thursday, February 23, 2023

[EXCLUSIVE] Another "Bar Restaurant Lounge" Planned for Busy Buckhead Area

A local restaurant and lounge owner is looking to breathe new life into a former Buckhead restaurant.  Marco Betti, owner of Antica Posta and partner in Sauce, has submitted plans to the Development Review Committee (DRC) to renovate and reopen the former Portofino as "Espresso Bar Restaurant Lounge." "Bar Ti Amo"  Portofino, located at 3199 Paces Ferry Place, closed this past October after 22 years in business. 
According to the submitted plans, the new establishment would be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day and be open for "late night healthy & guilty Italian pleasures in a lounge elegant casual settings."  Bar Ti Amo would open at 9AM each day and be open until midnight Sunday through Wednesday and until 2 AM Thursday through Saturday.  Breakfast and lunch offerings would be provided via counter service, but dinner would morph into a full-service setting.  

"With our décor, interior design, menu choices and unique ambiance we will appeal to everyone looking to have a delicious healthy breakfast or lunch or a more indulging one spending quality time with friends & family in our elegant lounge restaurant."  

In an effort to be as "on trend" and "instagrammable" as possible, Betti also supplied a couple of photos to give a sense of the look they are going for.  One of the photos - an interior shot heavy on plants and color - is pinned from a Pinterest account labeled "15 Of The Most Instagrammable Spots in London."  

"Dinner time comes and the place will become a happening spot where our patrons will enjoy succulent healthy Italian recipes in a trendy atmosphere, while sipping on our specialty Italian cocktails and wines, as well as all top shelf with lounge music playing and occasional young talented DJs spinning at weekends."

Mention of DJs playing in an upscale Buckhead area "lounge" makes us think of one thing: Scenario.  (If you do not remember it, it's worth a read.)  

Betti famously opened Sauce originally as "Silvano," a pizzeria, before converting the business to Sauce and adopting a "lounge" aesthetic complete with late night hours and hookah offerings.  
Bar Ti Amo would open just a few doors down from where Le Bon Nosh, a European cafe and restaurant, opened in the street level of The Irby apartment building in late 2021.  Like Bar Ti Amo, Le Bon Nosh offers breakfast, lunch and dinner, but is closed Mondays.  

A listing from John Robinson of Terminus Commercial Real Estate Partners, listed as a co-applicant on the submission, indicates the restaurant is 4,512 square feet with a 1,216 covered patio.  The property also provides 44 surface parking spaces for what will undoubtedly be a valet only operation.   

What are your thoughts on Bar Ti Amo?  Have you been to Sauce?  What upcoming Atlanta area restaurant are you most looking forward to?

Please share your thoughts below.  

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

In other words, another night club pretending to be a restaurant that will operate well into the morning hours and bring even more crime, street racing and general chaos to Buckhead.

Anonymous said...

You are correct

Anonymous said...

Buckhead beez ghetto…And no-one will address that plague in order to restore those safe/glorious/prosperous times before 1998!

Richard said...

Marco is hardly the type to run that type of establishment. He's a class act and I think this will be an interesting addition to the neighborhood. Look, we get it - 2020-2022 was rough for Buckhead and every other US city. Everyone is working together to address and improve the situation, so give it a rest.

Anonymous said...

Poster at 2:49 nailed it 100%.

Anonymous said...

Note to business owners looking to get into the Buckhead market. The term "lounge" for any business is a bad look here - we've already been inundated with hookah lounges, daiquiri lounges, cigar lounges - all of which inevitably end up with people from Clayton County shooting up the place.

Anonymous said...

No offense, but lounges with hookah bars have so far not brought anything desirable to any part of the city…

Anonymous said...

If this is what you want in your community or neighborhood, then God bless you. But expect to hear a lot of bass and smell a lot of skunk. Then the gun shots following "disagreements." The city "leaders" and community agitators will then wonder why there's so much violence.

Anonymous said...

commenters: tell me you're racist wothout telling me you're racist

Anonymous said...

For the record… the whole restaurant and property will be a non smoking environment - so you might want to get better info before making negative comments and assumptions…
The place is not a lounge, but a salotto, an Italian bar… the owner’s number is published - in case you want more information. He talks to everyone, since 1999 when he opened Antica Posta

Anonymous said...

The business is not a lounge, it’s called BarTiAmo: espresso bar, restaurant & Italian Salotto
The journalist who called it a lounge is wrong

Marco Betti said...

You both are wrong. This is Marco Betti and my new place named Bar Ti Amo will be an Espresso Bar Restaurant & Italian Salotto Bar serving delicious Italian food from opening to closing breakfast, lunch, early and late dinner. Please feel free to call me or come for dinner at Antica Posta if you would like to have more information. Mille Grazie!

Anonymous said...

Lot of angry hillbillies in the comments

Anonymous said...

As a Buckhead resident, why do you hilibillies care so much? Is there any place in Georgia that can compete with Mt. Paran/Tuxedo Park and the surrounding area's money? Buckhead has the highest concentration of millionaires and billionaires in Georgia.

Anonymous said...

You think the Mt. Paran/Tuxedo Park folks patronize these sketchy all-night lounges? Hahaha! Bless your heart. The fact is, Buckhead's commercial core will continue to decay because of crime, terrible planning and impending office building foreclosures. No one wants to live or work there anymore when so many nicer, safer options now exist in other parts of the city and metro area.

Anonymous said...

This site is a blemish on the Real Estate (and Hospitality) industry in the metro area. It is run by a young man who has motives for everything he writes, helping his family in the Real Estate business and trying to making a few neighborhoods white-washed. Look at his social media commenters, they share his narrow views. He cold calls Real Estate agents to get a “scoop” and then publishes the rumor as news. There are many realtors who refuse his calls after years of harassment. We as a community have to stop viewing this as journalism.

Rich Grayson said...

I would like to know how you know all this info about the person who runs the site. What makes you so special? Clearly, nothing because you post under “anonymous” not wanting people to know who you in real life. The person who runs the site never has ulterior motives; he’s just reporting what goes on around both ITP and OTP. I guess the old saying if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all doesn’t apply to you because you believe you are above everyone else. Bless your heart!

Anonymous said...

@March 4, 2023 at 12:19 PM Then why are rents higher than ever in Buckhead condos with high occupancy (Yeah, no one wants to live there!) Also, the crime level in 2022 is comparable to 2019 and years prior. There was a spike in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic but it's back down now and there are a lot more police patrols in Buckhead's commercial core.

Anonymous said...

More criminals wonderful

Anonymous said...

Would love to see a menu

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