There, a bar and eatery in Brookhaven, announced April 3 that they closed their longstanding restaurant after 14 years in business. The restaurant, located in the street level of the Windsor at Brookhaven apartment building (305 Brookhaven Avenue), occupied a 2,200 square foot space.
There, which was one of the center's longest-running, continuously operating restaurants, featured an award-winning smash burger as well as other chef-crafted pub fare. There owner Bill Brown and Chef Shane Devereux opened a spinoff, There on Fifth, in the former Barrelhouse space in Tech Square in Midtown in July 2020, but it was closed by July 2023. In between the Midtown opening and closing, Brown had sought to sell his Brookhaven restaurant, listing it with The Shumacher Group in late 2021.
Brown posted the following message to the official There Facebook page announcing the closure:
"To All Our Valued Guests and Friends After a solid 14 year run and many “best of” accolades, it is with great sadness that we announce the closing of There Bar in Town Brookhaven. Our lease expired on March 31st and we were not able to come to an agreement with the landlord on how to move forward. We want to thank all of our wonderful guests and employees for supporting us over these past years. What began as a small 50-seat restaurant in a new complex, grew into a place that had become woven into the fabric of the Brookhaven community. We have welcomed tens of thousands of guests from the community and afar, employing many people over the years and we are forever grateful to all of you. We are extremely humbled that so many of you embraced our restaurant and that we were able to succeed as long as we did. For a small restaurant, 14 years is an accomplishment of which we can all be proud, and we could not have done it without all of you.
We all mourn the loss of our favorite restaurants for they provide us with so much more than food. They provide nourishment for our soul and when they are gone, much of the soul of the neighborhoods in which they resided will be gone as well; missing out on seeing a favorite bartender who remembers what we drink, saying “hi” to our favorite server and sitting at the table that makes us most comfortable, talking to the owner about life in general, seeing the hardworking support staff take extra care to provide us with a dropped napkin or a missing fork. They are a gathering place to share accounts of our days, to celebrate big events in our lives or just share a table with our friends.
Despite today’s announcement and the closing of this chapter, we are extremely proud of all that we have achieved. We would like to offer our sincerest thanks and deepest gratitude for all your support over the years.
Yours Truly, Bill, Chris, Ralph & the family of There Brookhaven"
There's closure follows the May 2022 closure of Olde Blind Dog, a popular Irish pub and another legacy TOWN Brookhaven restaurant. Olde Blind Dog, like There, was an award-winning eatery that ultimately made the decision to close, given what sources tell ToNeTo Atlanta was the landlord's unwillingness to negotiate a mutually agreeable lease renewal.
Given the tremendous amount of turnover at TOWN Brookhaven over the years, one would think it easier to keep existing tenants than look for new ones. [The former Olde Blind Dog would later be stripped of its restaurant infrastructure and become a medical office.]
The former Wing Guru (in the former Tanaka Ramen and Noodle Bar, and before that Boneheads Fish) space remains vacant, as does the former Lucky's Burger & Brew along with several other retail spaces in the complex.
Chico Cantina in the former Red Pepper/Jefe's/Noche space is slated to open by the end of the month, while Club Studio, the fancier LA Fitness is expected to debut later this year.
Are you surprised the TOWN Brookhaven landlord let There close? What is your favorite burger in Brookhaven? What would you like to see open in place of There in TOWN Brookhaven?
Please share your thoughts below.
17 comments:
Sadly, nothing will ever be able to replace the vibe, food, amazing cocktails or fellowship There brought to the community. A 14 year run is beyond amazing, they leave a great legacy.
TOWN Brookhaven is a turn over dump. It's so ugly. Boring. Only good thing about it is it's location. It could have been so much more than average. That's ATL
There had the best food in Brookhaven, not just Town Brookhaven. We went to Costco yesterday and was bummed we couldn't get our brunch at There Gastropub, sad to see that the corner from Lucky Burger to the There corner is now all vacant. The city needs to take action, the complex looks blighted, why?
The best thing going for TOWN Brookhaven right now is the fast gas lines at Costco. Compared to Perimeter and Cobb Galleria locations, fuel pump setup is designed really well. Sadly, this is the only reason I likely go there. Place badly needs for entertainment/ activities to draw people into fighting for a hard to find parking spot.
Make it an empty field with trees and weeds again. More oxygen
Fact. Nothing to compel a trip to Town Brookhaven other than Costco now
There was something magical about There, food, atmosphere and the testament that they survived 14 in that complex says a lot, perhaps because the owner actually (hands on) built the place out.
What's up with the Sembler Property Manager? Why do owners keep them? If I was commercial realtor, I don't think I'd subject my prospects to Sembler properties.
With the LA Fitness closing last summer to be replaced by doomed concept of the more upscale Club One and the inability to lease property to restaurants at an affordable rate, Town Brookhaven is pretty much down to the Publix, Costco and apartments. Massive fail for the concept Sembler intended for the development.
Good question - restaurant lease rates clearly too high to overcome issues such as limited parking since the locations where restaurants have closed have remained vacant. Town Brookhaven is pretty much down to the apartments, Costco and Publix (not Sembler’s fault LA Fitness shut down its gym to be replaced by the more upscale Club One concept this summer, but IMO that will be shut down by 2027). Sembler needs a reset on its strategy for the development.
I was once a member of LA Fitness and patronized There and the Olde Blind Dog. Can't say there's anything left at TOWN Brookhaven that I'd regularly visit.
Clearly, this is a common theme with Sembler properties around Atlanta. Very poor business model that needs complete overhaul
The actual property owner needs to rid themselves of Sembler and find a quality management company to handle operations. There are many better than Sembler, for sure.
One would think the property manager would embrace an independent non chain restaurant. A quick drive around the complex shows no shortage of for lease signs.
As like many, sad to see another business close down in Town Brookhaven. I have read seven different blogs, FB groups, news reports (TV & radio) about The Gastropub closing. The one common denominator of the 1000+ posts is the same, how poorly the property managers treats their tenants in the complex. Pathetic...
Pathetic is the word. I’ve been following this complex for over ten years, by my accounts, 61 retail businesses have closed in that time frame, many before completing the terms of their lease. Sad and pathetic.
ugh. you could actually get good food at There. stuff that tasted like the chef actually cared about the food.
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