In a move shocking to few, SocialBites Food Hub has closed in Sandy Springs. The "Food Hub," located at the corner of Abernathy and Roswell Roads, first opened with two concepts in June 2023 before adding two more concepts and becoming Social Bites this past July. Local sources suggest the restaurant(s) closed permanently as of May 11 with no advance warning of the closure.
Located at 6650 Roswell Road next to the Goodwill thrift store, SocialBites Food Hub was home to four separate concepts that all shared a communal kitchen and a common owner. Ownership called the operation a "groundbreaking dining destination" when the promoted its opening last summer. Formerly home to local Mexican eatery Huey Luey's, the 6,500 square foot two story restaurant space was set to become a location of The Captain's Boil before owner NRD Capital, an Atlanta-based private equity firm, pulled the plug and went in a different direction.
NRD, which also owns Altitude Trampoline Park (and recently launched sibling brand The Pickle Pad) as well as Frisch's Big Boy, among other businesses, first opened their new concepts in a former Folks Southern Kitchen and short-lived Captain's Boil off Highway 92 in Woodstock in January 2023. Originally home to The Original Hot Chicken and INKED Tacos, Pinsa Roman Pizza was later added, followed by Flametown Burgers, a Guy Fieri-like overpriced burger joint that surprisingly offered not even one meat alternative burger.
All four concepts - collectively "Experiential Brands" - were newly launched without the benefit of any brand awareness in the market. And let's be real: there is a serious burger, pizza, hot chicken and taco deficit in metro Atlanta.
According to the Experiential Brands website: "Experiential Brands is a portfolio of quick service and fast casual restaurant brands designed to deliver rapid returns on invested capital for franchisees."
The Woodstock location was to receive the formal SocialBites branding this past summer but never did. It will reportedly now benefit from the signage and some of the furniture and fixtures from Sandy Springs but a shameful amount of serviceable furniture and equipment was simply thrown in a dumpster rather than used, sold or donated.
Aziz Hashim, NRD's founder and Managing Partner, called SocialBites "truly unlike anything the restaurant industry has seen before, an entirely new category in the space," in an interview last August with FastCasual.com The trade publication was one of several local and national outlets to hype up the half-baked business. [ToNeTo Atlanta provided a frank assessment of the business this past June.]
We visited both the Woodstock and Sandy Springs locations and while the Woodstock unit was moderately busy on the day we visited, it's also in Woodstock. The Sandy Springs location was frequently empty at prime meal times according to several ToNeTo Atlanta readers who live in the area.
Outspoken Entertainment hosted their invite only "Trivia Finale" at SocialBites April 26, an event where at least two ToNeTo Atlanta readers in attendance purposefully ate first given their prior poor experiences at the venue.
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The company was reportedly scouting Ohio for a third location followed by a fourth in Atlanta that was to have opened late last fall. Its franchise disclosure document (FDD) was described as being "in the works" last summer with a franchise program for SocialBites expected to launch "in 2025." The signage confirming the closure makes the alarming statement that "new SocialBites locations are popping up soon."
Did you ever dine at Social Bites? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment of the business? What would you like to see open in place of SocialBites in Sandy Springs?
Please share your thoughts below
7 comments:
Is this the old Sandy Springs Fun House location? Will people ever learn that a food hall isn't you cooking multiple types of cousine?
As counter to the prevailing craft beer winds as it is, a well-done, family-friendly brewery and socializing spot here would probably do well. Sandy Springs is a brewery desert and the ones there aren't good.
Their smash burgers were good. However, they had no ambiance and service was weird. Surprised they lasted as long as they did.
Pontoon begs to differ.
They had an amazing band that played there. A guy named Sven and his church pal.
Pontoon isn't particularly good and rarely busy. I do hope it stays afloat, of course. That said, putting it closer to the core residential neighborhoods of Sandy Springs would be an improvement.
This closure is due to Rhonda Smith, Sandy Springs Council of Neighborhoods. She has a horrible track record of blocking businesses in Sandy Springs from succeeding.
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