[EXCLUSIVE] Big Bad Breakfast Bound for Former Westside Brunch Spot

One of the many restaurant vacancies along Howell Mill Road is getting a new tenant.  Big Bad Breakfast (BBB), a chain growing across the southeast, is coming to town with its first location in Georgia!

The new Big Bad Breakfast is replacing Cultivate Food & Coffee which closed this past December after about five years in business.  Located at 1952 Howell Mill Road #200, the roughly 3,700 square foot restaurant space is situated on the Bell Collier Village campus, across from Howell's Kitchen & Bar. 

Although not located in what many locals would consider "Buckhead," the restaurant is referred to in planning documents as "BBB Buckhead LLC."  

James Beard award-winning chef John Currence opened the first BBB in Oxford, Mississippi in 2008.  A second location came to Birmingham in 2013.  Through a partnership with Nashville-based Fresh Hospitality, Currence has expanded the brand to 24 locations across eight states, with thirteen between the group's top markets of Tennessee and Alabama.    

Currence draws on his New Orleans upbringing with a menu that features assorted Cajun staples like Shrimp N Grits, a Shrimp Poboy, an Oyster Poboy, and a "Low Country Skillet" with two eggs scrambled, shrimp, andouille, cheddar cheese, onions, peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes.  

The restaurant sources "locally" when possible, including from purveyors in neighboring Alabama. 

"We are proud to serve our very own Big Bad Breakfast blend of “Joe” roasted by our friends at Royal Cup, McEwen and Sons Grits from Wilsonville, Alabama, and our very own smoked meats from the Fatback Pig Project in Eva, Alabama."

Despite the word breakfast in its name, the restaurant is open for lunch too, with assorted wraps, burgers and salads.  

BBB's planned opening comes at a time of significant upheaval along Howell Mill Road and in the Westside, collectively.  Recent months have brought not only Cultivate's closure, but also the closures of fellow breakfast spots West Egg Cafe and Snooze an A.M. Eatery, as well as the offering for sale of Pancake Social.  

Culinary Dropout, Postino, Humble Pie, Pour Taproom, and Knuckies Hoagies have also recently closed, while Le Fat, Slim+Husky, L.O.A. Social Club, Superica, Damsel, Boxcar Betty's, and Wagamama also closed in West Midtown during 2024.  

Despite the closures, several breakfast options remain along or close to Howell Mill Road, including Waffle House, Maple Street Biscuit Company, Thumbs Up Diner, and Flying Biscuit Cafe in Howell Mill Village, BBB's closest competitor.  

In addition to Big Bad Breakfast, Fresh Hospitality owns several other multi-unit concepts such as Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe and Waldo's Chicken & Beer (coming soon to Sharpsburg), but also Atlanta concepts The Vortex, Mary Mac's Tea Room and Taco Mac.  

The firm previously grew and later sold Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q and I Love Juice Bar, among others.  Fresh Hospitality also owns another breakfast spot, Biscuit Love, which they announced in 2018 would be opening in Alpharetta as part of "The Daily," a multi-concept development, but the entire project was later abandoned.   

Have you ever been to Big Bad Breakfast?  Do you think Big Bad Breakfast will find success on Howell Mill Road? What is your favorite breakfast spot in Atlanta?   

Please share your thoughts below.