Bits & Bites

After months of delays of various kinds, Fire Hen is now open in Buckhead Village.  The restaurant, located at the corner of Cains Hills Place and Irby Avenue adjacent to Woody's CheeseSteaks, serves a variety of items including rotisserie chicken, vegetable and meat hand pies, as well as assorted sides and desserts.  

[UPDATE] Salad Joint Salata Setting Up Shop Near Ponce City Market

Salad franchise Salata plans to open its next Atlanta area location just off Ponce de Leon Avenue across from Ponce City Market.  The new eatery will open in place of where Olive Bistro closed this past fall.  The 2,400 square foot space is located on the corner of the Home Depot/Whole Foods Market/TJ Maxx anchored center, adjacent to Wells Fargo and across from Starbucks.  

[UPDATE] Landmark Diner Jr. Has Closed on Cheshire Bridge Road

Landmark Diner Jr. has closed its location on Cheshire Bridge Road.  The restaurant, an offshoot of Buckhead's Landmark Diner, opened in 2005 and reportedly closed quietly earlier this week.  The restaurant, which was open 24/7, featured a huge menu of breakfast, lunch and dinner options ranging from traditional egg plates to steaks, shrimp entrees and gyros. 

Photo courtesy of Russell Youngblood 

Bits & Bites

City of Atlanta building permits confirm that Fendi does plan to relocate and expand into a portion of the recently closed Ralph Lauren store in the "Luxury Wing" at Lenox Square.  ToNeTo reported earlier this month that Fendi was eyeing the space for an expansion of their existing store.  Permits indicate that Fendi intends to take over 2,735 square feet of the former Ralph Lauren's overall 5,932 square foot first level space.  Currently, Fendi is located in the main mall corridor, having opened in late 2010.  The newly expanded store is expected to open late this year and will feature a wider selection of the label's men's and ready-to-wear collections.  

The first floor Ralph Lauren space at Lenox Square 

Chequers Chain Comes to an End in East Cobb, Sage Opening Soon

Chequers East Cobb as seen on opening day from their Facebook page 

Seafood chain to shutter 

Like a Phoenix Rising From the Ashes, LongHorn Steakhouse Prepares to Re-Build at Toco Hills

Former LongHorn property progressing 

Maya Steaks & Seafood to Replace SeaBass Kitchen in Sandy Springs

New restaurant to replace SeaBass Kitchen 

LongHorn in Limbo

Local LongHorn reopening timetable unknown.

Stream Realty Planning New Midtown Development

A vacant Atlanta restaurant will soon make way for a new development.  

Emory Point Phase 2 Means Demolition of Local Landmark

Atlanta-based Cousins Properties will begin work on Phase 2 of Emory Point in September.  

Pella on the Run From The Shops Around Lenox

Pella at the Shops Around Lenox will close at the end of February after 37 years in business.

BirthWatch! BirthWatch! BirthWatch!

Upcoming Del Frisco's Grille in Buckhead

As you might have noticed, this year has been full of ups and downs not only for this blog but for the entire hospitality and retail industries.  Established retailers like Wolf Camera, unable to keep up in a digital and cloud-based world are now closing all of their stores while the cheap, teen-oriented chain five below opened nine new locations in Atlanta this past year.  2012 saw Miami-based Pollo Tropical return to Atlanta for a second time and California-based Del Taco return to the Peach State for a third time!  Starwood's aloft hotel will finally enter the Atlanta market while Perimeter will get Le Méridien.

This post was intended to have been published multiple times over the course of the year with updated material. Delays and work obligations combined with constantly changing schedules and concepts resulted in this post continually being in draft form.  This post may not be 100% accurate, as some dates and plans have changed even this week, but please find below a general idea of what's to come in Atlanta over the next year or so...

As always, if you see something missing or incorrect, please comment and let me know.

Thanks for reading my 1000th post!

The Vinings Fish Company Closed, Another Broken Egg Cafe Coming Soon

Great Food Group Inc. has closed its The Vinings Fish Company at Vinings Jubilee. In its place, Destin, Florida-based Another Broken Egg Cafe will open.

The Varsity Team Wins Former FIVE GUYS in North Buckhead

The Varsity is opening on Roswell Road in north Buckhead.

BurgerFi Bringing Its Burgers to Brookhaven

North Palm Beach, Florida-based BurgerFi is coming to Brookhaven.  The new burger joint will open at TOWN Brookhaven and join numerous other chain restaurants.  BurgerFi will open adjacent to

Popeyes Joining the Poultry Party, Planning New Restaurant Near North DeKalb Mall

Sandy Springs-based Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits Louisiana Kitchen is in the planning and permitting stage of opening a restaurant near North DeKalb Mall.  The new restaurant

GO! NaanStop Now Open on Broad Street

Brothers Neal and Samir Idnani have officially opened their first bricks and mortar location of NaanStop.  The fast casual Indian restaurant is located at 64 Broad Street downtown, not far from

Next Generation C-Store Progress + New Competition?

Atlanta-based RaceTrac and Tulsa,Oklahoma-based QuikTrip are both adding new, next genration locations in the metro area. 

RaceTrac, which had a 75 year head start building out its network of locations in Atlanta, is finally getting closer to the prized ITP locations that QT has monopolized for years.  More after the jump.

True Buckhead Story : Nava Closing Next Month; Ford Fry Taking its Place

While I learned of Ford Fry's intentions to open a new concept in Buckhead many months ago, I have had to wait until now to release those details.  Not wanting to interfere in the real estate process, I kept mum as countless other media ran with rumors of how, what and when Ford Fry would open a Buckhead restaurant.  With Nava staff now aware of their restaurant's imminent closure, please see the full story  after the jump.

Uncle Maddio's and Starbucks Opening In Dunwoody

Atlanta-based Uncle Maddio's Pizza Joint will open later this summer in a portion of the former Borders Books & Music store in Perimeter Village Shopping Center off Ashford-Dunwoody Road.  The center is currently home to retailers DSW, Walmart Supercenter, Party City, Cost Plus World Market