The former Alma Cocina in Buckhead is slated to reopen later this fall as Mozaika Mezze, a Mediterranean restaurant. Owned by Atlanta-based Fifth Group, modern Mexican restaurant Alma Cocina closed this past December after about six years in business.
Steve Josovitz of The Shumacher Group announced in March that he had successfully sold the former Alma and that it would be converted to a "full-service Mediterranean restaurant," but did not identify the concept or buyer by name.
An April 27 permit filed with the City of Atlanta indicates that the owners of Mozaika plan to spend at least $50,000 on an "interior & exterior demolition" of the space. It's unclear how much will be spent converting the space to the Mediterranean concept.
The original Mozaika opened in August 2025 at Liberty Village along Old Milton Parkway near Avalon in Alpharetta. The similarly sized restaurant opened in place of Chuy's, a casual Mexican restaurant, that lasted less than three years in business before closing in early 2020 as the pandemic wreaked havoc on the restaurant industry.
Mozaika offers lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch and features a mix of Turkish, Greek, and Lebanese fare and is operated by Okan Ozyurteri, a native of Turkey and veteran of the Atlanta restaurant and lounge scene.
Ozyurteri is the former co-owner of Istanblue (now Blue) the hookah lounge and restaurant on Pharr Road in Buckhead, and also behind Pera Bistro on Collier Road, Pasha on Miami Circle, Mandolin Kitchen on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs, and Adana Restaurant & Lounge (reopening this week as the Bar Amaya) on Franklin Gateway in Marietta, all of which are food and hookah spots.
According to the Shumacher listing, Terminus landlord Cousins included both late-night establishments and hookah spots as "restricted uses," meaning the new Mozaika in Buckhead will likely be similar to the Alpharetta location and not be open late or offer hookah, like Ozyurteri's other establishments.
Essentially, Mozaika is out to prove Ozyuteri is capable of more than hawking hookah.
In Buckhead, Mozaika will complete with other full service Mediterranean restaurants including the trendy Delbar which opened in late 2024 in the former King+Duke at One Buckhead Plaza, and also Cafe Agora, the neighborhood favorite on East Paces Ferry Road.
Have you been to Mozaika Mezze in Alpharetta? What is your favorite Mediterranean restaurant in metro Atlanta? What type of food or specific restaurant would you most like to see open in Buckhead?
Please share your thoughts below.
1 comment:
(Yawn) That location is in such a flustercuck section of Peachtree, I don't see how anyone even tries to venture into that area. And anyway, it would have more success as a hookah chicken strip joint.
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