Wednesday, January 22, 2025

[EXCLUSIVE] Popular Wine Bar Shutters West Midtown Location

The hits keep coming in West Midtown with news of the closure of Postino WineCafé at The Brickworks project at 1000 Marietta Street.  The 4,415 square foot restaurant, the second in metro Atlanta for the Phoenix-based chain, opened in a one-time Ford dealership in the mixed-use project January 23, 2023 and closed as of January 21, just shy of its two year anniversary.   

Postino's closure follows that of fellow Brickworks restaurant Culinary Dropout January 15 after little more than a year in business.  Similarly to Culinary Dropout which remains open at Ashford Lane in Dunwoody, Postino's other Atlanta area location, which opened September 12, 2022 at Tuxedo Festival in Chastain Park, remains open. 

ToNeTo Atlanta also reported this week that Snooze an A.M. Eatery is also closing in West Midtown but not until January 31.

Without question the Chastain Park Postino enjoys a superior location - at the intersection of Piedmont and Roswell Roads - whereas the West Midtown restaurant was situated off the highly visible Marietta Street and Howell Mill intersection in a less trafficked location.  

Although it's difficult to assess the West Midtown restaurant's overall popularity, it had a respectable 4.7/5 rating on Google with 252 reviews, slightly ahead of the Chastain Park location with a 4.5 with 319 reviews.  That being said, Delbar Buckhead, which just opened November 18, has already amassed 399 Google reviews with an overall 4.9 rating.  By comparison, Citizens Market, the floundering food hall at Phipps Plaza, has in its nearly two years of existence received only 140 reviews with an overall 3.7 rating.   

The wine bar and restaurant concept is owned by Phoenix-based Upward Projects a multi-concept group that seems to have prioritized the growth of Postino over its other concepts that remain Arizona-exclusives.  

Following the West Midtown closure, Postino continues to operate 32 locations in seven states, with at least one "coming soon" to Austin, according to the company's website.  The Austin location would mark the 12th in the Lone Star State making it the concept's largest market by unit count with its home state of Arizona second with nine units.  

Charlotte-based Asana Partners purchased Brickworks in January 2020 for $80 million.  The firm describes itself as "a vertically integrated retail real estate investment firm creating value in dynamic and vibrant U.S. neighborhoods."  In many cases this "value creation" is achieved by raising rents and charging for things that were previously free, like parking.  

The firm instituted a paid parking program at The Brickworks where customers are to pay for parking upon arrival in the lot with the potential for a restaurant-issued validation [reimbursement] via QR code after the fact, for up to four hours.  Neither customers nor restaurant employees are fans of the program, with some ToNeTo Atlanta spoke to referring to the system as "klunky," "dumb," "cumbersome," and "unnecessary," among other adjectives.  

It would seem counter-productive to the center's appeal (and not in the best interests of its tenants and customers) to institute [and maintain] a program that has proven to be so unpopular.  

Following the closures of Culinary Dropout and Postino, Malaysian eatery Food Terminal, a local restaurant that joined the project in November 2019, will be the only traditional restaurant still open at The Brickworks.  Restaurant leasing professionals with whom ToNeTo Atlanta spoke suggest that it will be incredibly challenging to re-lease the vacant spaces given their respective sizes and locations, not to mention the overall challenges the area as a whole has been experiencing.   

UPDATE: ToNeTo Atlanta was provided the following statement late Wednesday regarding Postino's closure in West Midtown:

It's been an amazing journey serving the West Midtown Atlanta community. We've made the difficult decision to discontinue operations at this location in order to focus on our Buckhead location as well as new growth within Atlanta. Georgia has been and continues to be a place that truly aligns with who we are, and we're excited to find new neighborhoods to open within in the future.” - Postino Spokesperson.

Did you ever visit Postino at The Brickworks in West Midtown?  What was your experience with the parking program at The Brickworks?  Why do you think so many restaurants are struggling in West Midtown?  

Please share your thoughts below.  

15 comments:

Alex said...

A wine bar is definitely out of place for West Midtown.

Anonymous said...

It’s 1/2 mile from Barcelona Wine Bar

Alex said...

Again, a wine bar is definitely out of place for West Midtown.

Anonymous said...

Bloodbath. How many of these places will end up being hookah bars?

Anonymous said...

I’d like to see them be candy bars. Nougat with nuts.

Anonymous said...

Why are Google ratings pertinent? People that rely on Google or yelp ratings should stick to restaurants with pictures on the menu.

Anonymous said...

I miss the days of 5 Seasons & Hop City.....

Anonymous said...

True! I’ve been to places with overall very low yelp ratings dozens of times and only ever got sick twice.

Anonymous said...

Went there several times and the parking validation took 10 min and was extremely frustrating. Enjoyed everything else about the place. Restaurants from Northside down marietta Boulevard have been destroyed. They should put in a Trader Joe’s in Westside Paper to get people over here on this side.

Anonymous said...

Sad to hear about both places closing. Have to say, the parking was a nightmare. Paying for parking and immediately getting validation and refunded was unnecessarily complicated. Postinos was a regular stop for me and coworkers. Bummer.

Anonymous said...

I worked there .,.. 1 week after culinary closed we closed & now at least 15 of us are out of a job. Shits sad. No heads up or anything just closed mid shift.

Anonymous said...

Anyone hiring for kitchen positions let me know!

Anonymous said...

I personally loved Postinos. I don’t drink, but the sandwiches and salad were great, and I loved many of the appetizers. The restaurant was reasonably priced, beautiful patio, great staff. It’s such a shame this restaurant is closing, but I’m not surprised. It was never full the many times I went. The parking situation was annoying, but they did validate. I live around the corner so this was a convent option to meet someone for lunch or quick dinner after work. As someone who lives and eats out in West Midtown I’m extremely saddened by all of these recent closings.

Anonymous said...

I am absolutely heartbroken this location is closed. I live in West Midtown and visit frequently esp. in the summer months. It was a "hidden gem" in my opinion - different atmosphere than Barcelona Wine Bar. The menu has different options than the one in Buckhead, I personally loved this location more than the buckhead/Chastain one. The detail put into the interior design, the atmosphere, the food, I was NEVER left dissatisfied. I am deeply saddened this location did not work out for Postino's and Culinary drop out. These were 2 staple restaurants I loved to visit.

Anonymous said...

Wasn't this a Tweed's? ...Still have my loafers from there. What happened to Octane?

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