ToNeTo Atlanta has learned that "eatertainment" concept Jaguar Bolera is no longer opening at High Street in Dunwoody. The concept, from Punch Bowl Social founder Robert Thompson, was announced in November 2023 but has recently been removed from the High Street website and is gone from the corporate Jaguar Bolera website too.
Featuring duckpin bowling, foosball, darts, board games and karaoke in private rooms paired with Mexican and southern fare crafted by Culinary Director Manuel "Manny" Barella, Jaguar Bolera looked to bring fun activities and trendy food and drink to Dunwoody. The venue, spanning more than 21,000 square feet, was originally to have opened at the end of 2024, the second overall for the budding business joining the original which opened in Raleigh last May.
The Raleigh location - situated in the new Raleigh Iron Works development - has an overall 3.9 rating on Google with 235 reviews. Unfortunately, half of the business's ten most recent reviews are one or two stars, with one's opening line cutting to the chase: "DO NOT COME HERE."
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| Insider Jaguar Bolera Raleigh - Official |
It's unclear when or why the Dunwoody plans were scrapped but online research suggests that it may be more a company problem than any issues with High Street, Dunwoody, or metro Atlanta in general. Barella, who according to his LinkedIn is still Culinary Director at both brands, has been doing a lot of pop-ups and has the "Open To Work" banner on his profile.
Thompson departed Punch Bowl Social shortly before their Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in December 2020. He went on to start a firm to conceptualize his next endeavor in 2022.
“I say confidently that [Jaguar Bolera] will be the best version of eatertainment that I’ve ever created.” Robert Thompson told trade magazine Restaurant Dive in 2022.
Angevin & Co., the parent company of both Jaguar Bolera and sibling concept Camp Pickle, secured more than $200 million from investors in September 2023 to fuel the expansion of both concepts.
Individual investors included Bill Allen—co-founder of Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and former CEO of Bloomin’ Brands—and Stephen King, who served as CEO of eatertainment chain Dave & Buster’s for over a decade. On the corporate side, Simon Property Group also invested and announced last January that Camp Pickle would open at their then upcoming Tulsa Premium Outlet project in the Tulsa suburb of Jenks. The outlet mall opened this past August with Camp Pickle expected to open this coming spring/summer, but the business is not currently listed on the mall's "coming soon" list and locals in the area indicate that the Camp Pickle parcel has been relatively quiet for months.
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| Camp Pickle rendering - Official |
In addition to the High Street and Tulsa Premium Outlet locations of Jaguar Bolera and Camp Pickle respectively, Camp Pickle locations were announced for Centennial and Globeville (Fox Park) in Denver as well as MidCity District in Huntsville. The Huntsville outpost, first announced in 2022, was to have opened in early 2024 but is no longer mentioned on the MidCity District website. The Centennial and Globeville locations were to open in late 2024 and 2025, respectively, but Centennial has yet to open and there is nothing to indicate either is still on track.
Camp Pickle was previously said to be evaluating locations in both Atlanta and Charlotte, but there is no indication that either is still happening. A Jaguar Bolera announced in 2022 to be opening in New Orleans in 2024 was previously scrapped.
At the time of the Huntsville announcement, Thompson told Nation's Restaurant News that he anticipated "that 35-40% of [Camp Pickle's] sales will be driven by corporate events." The reality is that companies - like consumers - are tightening their belts and limiting "fun" [expensive] things like eatertainment outings.
The Camp Pickle website currently indicates "the first bugle sounds in 2025" but mentions no specific location(s). Camp Pickle's official Facebook page was last updated early last April while their Instagram page has been silent since early last August.
11 comments:
I did eat at the Nando's a while back, it was actually quite busy on a weekday lunch time. Parking in the deck (it was at the northwest corner of the development) was free and easy. It's a good looking development; as Town Brookhaven has proven: apartments (and even a costco/gym/publix) do NOT keep restaurants in business, so I'd expect there to be quite a bit of turnover at High Street in the next few years.
I imagine a lot of retail plans will be scrapped as we head into another Trump Depression and more Trump inflation
My teenager and his friends like Nando’s and Puttshack and visit about once a month. I’ve gotten Nando’s takeout and it was good. We’ll see if that development can make it.
How in the hell do these type of concepts still pull in $200 MILLION of investor money? I haven't seen a single Punch Bowl that is well run. Maybe in Robert Thompson had perfected the art of service rather than the art of swindling investors, he'd have success with Jaguar Bolera.
Watching people publicly display their TDS brings so much joy to me. Thank you for making me smile today.
I believe you're confused. The past 4 years have been depressing and super high inflation. Expect the Trump era to be much less depressing and people having/spending more money, not less.
Lol you are just making things up. 2023 and 2024 set travel records for Americans! So speak for yourself, you may have been poor and depressed, but the rest of us were getting on planes and seeing the world.
“And for some reason, Alo Yoga” made me LOL
I actually purchased my second Rolls in 2024 and hired two more staff for the house. I could quit now and live forever on what I made from 2021-2024.
I think the travel records in 2023 and 2024 had more to do with postponed trips from 2021 and 2022 (when the overreaching goverment made it very difficult to travel) than anything related to the economy.
Do they quack?
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