Citizens Market, the fledgling food hall at Phipps Plaza in Buckhead is nearing its two year anniversary and with it comes more change. Another "exciting concept" has been removed from the hall and is being replaced by a local upstart.
That flaw was finally addressed this past February when Cultivate, a locally owned coffee and breakfast spot, was introduced in place of EllaMia. Later, in September, with traffic and sales still seemingly not meeting expectations, Simon, the mall's owner and partner in the food hall, again heeded our advice (without credit, naturally), and introduced another local operator in place of one of their "established" brands.
Cicci Di Carne, which offered "A taste of Tuscany from the world's most legendary butcher, Dario Cecchini" was replaced with Pizza Jeans, a casual pizza joint birthed from former Ponce City Market spot Root Baking Co.
In addition to Pizza Jeans, Citizens Market also, in recent months, added "Firebelly Wings," a virtual restaurant brand from Nextbite, a company that helps restaurant operators leverage their existing but underutilized kitchen capacity to offer new foods.
Mad Dads Philly's, the new addition, is seemingly replacing Sam’s Crispy Chicken, which was removed from the Citizens Market website. Firebelly Wings was also removed, but it's unclear if Mad Dads is taking over the total space or if the hall plans to bring in another "virtual brand," too.
The original Mad Dads Philly’s opened in November 2023 by native Philadelphian Tony Sharpe and his wife Pamela in the cloud kitchen "Buckhead Food Hub" along Piedmont Road in Buckhead. The Sharpes opened their first full-fledged stall at Halidom Eatery, a new food hall along Moreland Avenue, in May. A second location came online in November at Roswell Junction along South Atlanta Street in Roswell.
The stall's menu includes authentic Philadelphia cheesesteaks and hoagies, as well as wings, bowls, and a few vegan options.
The new Citizens Market location is meant to replace the cloud kitchen location which had reached the end of its current lease. The Citizens Market location is reportedly slated to open in early January. That said, the fact that the couple will have opened three locations within twelve months is a little scary to consider, given that none will have had enough time to attract customers and grow sales, and each will likely need hands-on attention to do so.
One key component of Citizens that may be a hurdle for some operators to entertain opening - even at reduced rent - is the fact that all stalls must work out of one central kitchen for all prep, as the facility was designed for a single operator rather than independent ones as it has now.
Although still listed on the Citizens website, El Pollo Verde seemed very much abandoned when we visited Monday, but alas, that may just be the typical look of stalls at Citizens Market. If closed permanently, this could be an indication of another planned replacement stall, or just the operator cutting costs... or both.
One recent Citizens Market review on Google read in part:
"The place was not crowded at all on a Saturday for lunch (which is a red flag, a Buckhead eatery that is not crowded on a December afternoon is a red flag, especially since the mall had a lot of people). I was expecting a more elevated experience, but this food hall is a scam and it’s just a mall food court."
The review ended by suggesting that they'd choose a department store restaurant over the food hall in future visits:
"It was a very disappointing and next time I would rather go to the cafe at Nordstrom."
The majority of the hall's recent reviews are negative, with an overall 3.7 rating across 138 Google reviews after roughly 20 months in business. Delbar Buckhead, which by comparison has been open less than 30 days, already has 180 reviews with an overall rating of 4.9 stars.
What are your thoughts on the current state of and roster at Citizens Market at Phipps Plaza? What has been your experience at Citizens Market? Can Citizens Market at Phipps Plaza be fixed or is it a lost cause?
Please share your thoughts below.
16 comments:
I think slowly they are getting towards what a good food hall is. I’m actually looking forward to Mad Dads. I hate having to DoorDash it. It’ll be so much better being able to order my food there and then be able to sit down and eat. Hope it works out for them.
I hope they stick with it. I think they kinda have to, even though most mall food halls are terrible. My problem with it the few times I visited were the hours. When I was there one time I found it didn't open until well after the mall itself opened, so I left before getting anything.
What's the difference between a Food Court and a Food Hall?
About $20.
Funny, last time I was there I grabbed a bite at Nordstroms. I remember when Phipps had a decent food court on the upper level. It was nice open and lots of natural light. Maybe they should move Lego Land to the Food Hall and reopen the old food court.
What's wild, to me, about Phipps is the distinction between the first floor retailers and the second floor ones. The first floor is a who's who of designers and a collection of brick and mortars that is only reserved for the largest cities (and Vegas). The second floor, aside from Frontgate and maybe the bougie grill place, looks like cheap temporary tenants. It's like they ran out of designers after the first floor and didn't have anyone left for the second.
If you’re giving Simon “advice” and want to get credit for it, then do it properly as a retail consultant and get them to sign a contract with you. Otherwise every human being who has an idea for the mall that suddenly comes to fruition can say the same thing. “That was my idea and you didn’t give me credit!” And what kind of credit do you want? Do you want them to name it “Eli’s Elated Edibles”?
What about a Food Mart?
Who goes to Phipps anymore with Buckhead being a crime ridden hellhole thanks to the Trump virus?
Why is there a food hall at Phipps? All the high end stores there, I don't think the clientele would want to eat at a food hall.
Go there and see. Mall is packed, parking full. Lots of people go there and shop.
Or put Chick fil a and Johnny Rockets and Sbarro in the food hall
Put back Belks.
Yep, it should be Atlanta's version of Bal Harbor
he has very thin skin.
Poke it with a pin and pop!
I live in Buckhead and just discovered Citizens. I tried Umami burger, Pizza and a sushi roll. Nothing really stood out. I was also surprised the Food Hall (glorified food court) was fairly empty for a Saturday. I took my wife Sunday to check it out and there were more people this time, but still not anywhere near the crowd at PCM or CFW which are relatively nearby. Whatever Phipps is doing marketing the hall isn’t working. I was surprised to read it has been there two years and I just discovered it. They should use all that open empty space for local chef cooking demos, live music, and even bring over some of the more popular stalls at the other food halls that have proven themselves (El Super Pan)
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