Bits & Bites

Food That Rocks returns to City Springs TODAY, June 8! The popular food festival, presented by Taste of Atlanta, will be one day only this year and will feature tastes from than two dozen different Sandy Springs area restaurants as well as assorted adult beverages from select partners.  General admission tickets are still available and can be purchased here.  Use promo code "food5" to save $5 on each ticket.  

A new restaurant called "Pa Todo Mal Mezcal Pa Todo Bien También" is opening along Peachtree Road in south Brookwood Hills.  Little is known about the upcoming eatery, but it will open at ARYA Peachtree, a mid-rise apartment complex.  The new restaurant will strive for greater success than The Usual, the chef Nick Leahy-led restaurant which opened and closed in the complex in 2022.  Translated into English, Pa Todo Mal Mezcal Pa Todo Bien También basically means "For everything bad that may happen, there's Mezcal, and for everything good, the same."

Buckhead Burgers, a locally owned restaurant which opened this past October in the former longtime Zesto's on Piedmont Road, has closed.  The restaurant, located at 2469 Piedmont Road near the Splash laundromat, served a menu similar to Zesto and former sibling eatery Burrito Brothers.  

Shell and Pep Boys (in the former Just Brakes) along North Druid Hills near I-85 in Brookhaven have both closed in recent weeks.  It's unclear what, if anything, is planned for the two parcels but each is limited in their redevelopment opportunities given their challenging access and close proximity to the highway.  A former Krystal restaurant beside the now shuttered Shell closed in late 2019 and was subsequently purchased and demolished by the City of Brookhaven.  

Following the closure of more than a dozen Hardee's restaurants in Georgia in April, ToNeTo Atlanta readers report that three more locations have closed in recent days.  Hardee's restaurants in Perry and Macon in central Georgia as well as another in Richmond Hill in greater Savannah have all closed.  

Hummus Republic has opened its first Atlanta area location.  The restaurant is located at the corner of North Druid Hills and Briarcliff Roads in Brookhaven.  ToNeTo Atlanta first reported on the planned opening in May.  The new restaurant is located in the Village at Druid Hills (2566 Briarcliff Road) in the same center as Willy's Mexicana Grill and Sublime Donuts, among others.  

Experiential children's retailer Camp opened its first Atlanta area location June 4 at Ashford Lane in Dunwoody.  The facility debuted the new Disney's Little Mermaid x Camp collaboration, an installation that will reportedly be around for "at least six months" before being replaced by another as yet undetermined partner collaboration.  

Wicked Wolf, a new-to-market restaurant and club, will celebrate the opening their first Atlanta area outpost June 22.  The new business is located in the former RA Sushi on the Crescent Avenue side of the 1010 Midtown condo tower.  RA Sushi closed this past July after more than a dozen years in business.  The original Wicked Wolf is located in Hoboken, New Jersey and was followed by a second location in Philadelphia.  Described as a "sports bar-meets nightlife" establishment, Wicked Wolf Atlanta will be a different animal at night. By day, it will be a sports-oriented restaurant and pub, but after dark, it transforms into a nightlife destination featuring music, live entertainment, and DJs. On Saturdays and Sundays, the restaurant will also serve brunch. 

Around the corner from Wicked Wolf, also in the street level retail of the 1010 Midtown tower,  Johnny’s Chicken & Waffles has quietly opened.  The new restaurant replaced what was most recently The Federal, and is the second outpost for the restaurant from GRAMMY Award-winning singer/producer/actor Ne-Yo and chef Crystal Smith.  The duo opened the first Johnny's in College Park near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in January 2021.  Johnny's Midtown is located at 1050 Crescent Avenue.  

In a puzzling move, Etro, already one of the weaker performers at Buckhead Village, is relocating to Phipps Plaza, according to a permit recently filed with the City of Atlanta.  The company plans to spend at least $525,000 building out their 3,187 square foot space.  

AltoToro, a new restaurant offering "Modern Latin American Cuisine," is slated to open June 15 in Midtown.  The restaurant from K5  Hospitality - the restaurant group behind 5Church Midtown, Virtue Rooftop, and 5Church Buckhead - is located in the street level of the 33 Peachtree Place apartments.  ToNeTo Atlanta was first to report on the planned restaurant this past January.  AltoToro is located at 915 West Peachtree Street, where Babalu closed in October 2019.  

A  new Burlington is planned for Canton.  The new roughly 24,000 square foot store will open in Canton Marketplace (1810 Cumming Highway) in place of the recently shuttered Bed Bath & Beyond.  In Canton Marketplace, Burlington will join TJ Maxx, Dick's Sporting Goods and Super Target, among other co-anchors.  

Atlas at the St. Regis Atlanta has temporarily closed to complete what is described as a "minor renovation," primarily of the restaurant's kitchen.  For now, until the renovation is completed in August, the restaurant will be located in the Maisonette, a separate space within the hotel, and will exclusively offer a tweaked version of the tasting menu at $210 per person.  The temporary restaurant will be known as "Atlas Underground."  In addition, The Garden Room, which operates out of the same kitchen, is also offering an abbreviated menu with a focus on lobster and burgers.        

The owners of Storico Vino have closed their popular wine bar with plans to open  Pachengo's Neighborhood Taqueria, a new casual Mexican concept, in its place.  The move is definitely a headscratcher for many.  Storico Vino opened Buckhead Village in 2019.  Pachengo's is slated to open "in July." 

Chef Duane Nutter and restaurateur Reggie Washington will later this month finally open their highly anticipated Southern National restaurant.  After racking up numerous accolades, including multiple James Beard nominations, the team behind One Flew South in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, departed the city to open Southern National in Mobile, AL in 2016. Now they will bring the refined Southern National concept to Atlanta’s Summerhill neighborhood starting June 29th.  “I like to say we’re Southern in feel, National in flavor, because I’ve been inspired by every place I’ve ever lived and worked.” said Nutter.  Joining Nutter and Washington will be another award-winning duo, Greg Best and Paul Calvert, who will direct an elevated cocktail and wine program, and who are also partners in the venture.  Best and Calvert are nationally recognized, both for Best’s role at Atlanta’s Holeman & Finch Public House and currently at their Ticonderoga Club in the Krog Street Market.   "Look for the opening menu to feature some fresh new dishes, such as the Creole Cured Salmon & Potato Blini with pineapple mascarpone, cucumber, mustard seed vin and caviar, the Fried Lobster Tail with black eyed peas, bok choy, and Szechuan chili sauce, the Berbere Spiced Fried Chicken Thigh with coconut milk and jalapeño maque choux, plus a few of Chef Nutter’s greatest hits, like the Mussels and Collard Greens with shiitake mushrooms, baguette, and grape tomatoes."  In Summerhill, the happening 'hood near the former Turner Field, Southern National joins a host of other eateries including D Boca N Boca, Hot Dog Pete's, How Crispy, Little Bear, Junior's Pizza, Maepole and Wood's Chapel BBQ, among others.  A new Publix is slated to open June 21.  

Three Dollar Cafe has opened its tenth overall Atlanta area restaurant.  The new outpost, located in Buford, opened in late May at The Fieldhouse, a new apartment community adjacent to Coolray Field, home of the Gwinnett Stripers, the AAA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.  An Atlanta favorite for more than 30 years, Three Dollar Café serves a menu centered on wings but also offers burgers, sandwiches, salads and more.  The 4,000 square foot restaurant seats 120 and features a spacious covered outdoor patio that overlooks centerfield. 

Value Village, which over the past few years has closed stores along Moreland Avenue in Southeast Atlanta and along Cobb Parkway in Marietta, has now also closed its store along Alpharetta Highway in Roswell.  The store, located at 11005 Alpharetta Highway, opened in late 2014 when it relocated from 1023 Alpharetta Street where its closed to make way for what is now known as Southern Post, a new mixed-use development currently under construction.  According to a listing for the thrift store's most recent Roswell property, a new buyer is "under contract" to buy the roughly 32,000 square foot building and its more than two acre property.  The list price was $5.5 million.