A fledgling chicken chain plans to close its lone Atlanta area location after less than a year in business. Boxcar Betty's, a fast-casual eatery focusing on fried chicken sandwiches, but also salads, tenders, burgers, and fries, among other options, plans to close at West Midtown's Westside Paper as of Friday, March 15.
"It is with a heavy heart that we announce the closing of our Atlanta location. Although we have had a wonderful reception and positive reviews in Atlanta, the location simply hasn’t worked out the way we hoped. We will be closing March 15th but hopefully we will be back in the future. Thank you all to those who supported us this past year. See you in Charleston & Charlotte!"
Following the closure, the Charleston-based business will continue to operate a total of five locations: three in the Charleston area, one in Charlotte, and one in Chicago. The company previously closed locations in Summerville, SC (2020) and Chicago (2022).
With Boxcar Betty's doors closing, a new local concept plans to open in its place.
Northern China Eatery, a popular Buford Highway restaurant known for its authentic Northern Chinese cuisine, will open fast-casual spot "The Dumpling Factory" in the roughly 2,100 square foot Boxcar Betty's space. "'Recognizing the demand from patrons who travel miles for a taste of their dumplings, Fan Zhang, owner of Northern China Eatery, decided to create a casual dining concept centered around them," said a release announcing the opening.
"We want to make our food accessible to patrons regardless of where they are located," said Zhang. "The Dumpling Factory will cater to dine-in and takeout customers, ensuring everyone can enjoy our renowned dumplings." Originally established in 2008, Northern China Eatery has been under Zhang’s ownership since 2012.
In addition to dumplings, The Dumpling Factory will have a variety of street food delicacies and traditional entrees with plans to debut early this summer.
Situated at 950 West Marietta Street, Westside Paper is a repurposed 70 year old warehouse reimagined to include office and retail space including shops and restaurants such as El Santo Gallo, Pancake Social, Elsewhere Greenhouse, Bar Diver, Ancestral Bottle Shop & Market and King of Pops.
Are you surprised to see Boxcar Betty's have such limited success in Atlanta? What are your thoughts on the Westside Paper project? Are you excited at the prospect of a new dumpling place in West Midtown?
Please share your thoughts below
12 comments:
Terrible location. In the middle of nowhere. Why not open in a high profile area, like along the Beltline or a hopping neighborhood like Virginia Highlands?
So short-sighted. You can't only give a business a year and be serious.
Very hyped for Dumpling Factory to open. Westside Paper has definitely had a rocky start - I think the overall development opened a year later than expected and to-date no corporate/office tenants have moved in which is really hurting the retail businesses. Thankfully a few corporate/office leases have finally been announced so I think the future is bright here.
They are also supposed to build ~300 apartments in the corner of the giant parking lot which will help greatly with foot traffic.
Some of us live in “the middle of nowhere” and look forward to having more food options.
It’s right next to Howell mill. Hardly the middle of nowhere
Northern China does have really good dumplings, although I’ve had better, in NYC. I seem to remember that the dumplings were actually better under the previous ownership and it was about 2010’s where it started to change. Not bad, just different.
I loved it when we visited in Charleston. I had no idea they were in ATL
Right! Virgina Highlands would be great! So would Midtowns or Brookhavens. Even Buckheads! S s s!
But they had its hard to find good dumpings!
Exactly how is Howell Mill and West Midtown, the middle of nowhere? It has the 2nd most development going on there in the entire metro Atlanta area, behind only midtown.
Some of us know there’s much more to ATL than O4W et al. Believe it or not, an entire half of the city lives here and we’re happy to see growth in “the middle of nowhere”. Hilarious take.
I wonder how “Boxcar Betty” got her eponymous name? My imagination is going wild right now :-)
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