Bits & Bites

Dickey's Barbecue Pit has closed its location in Sandy Springs at Abernathy Square shopping center.  The Dallas, Texas-based barbecue franchise still has a dozen locations in Georgia  including restaurants in Alpharetta, Kennesaw and Peachtree City.

Bad Dog Taqueria in Emory Village is now being called dankbaär taco.  The restaurant is also sporting a tweaked menu that features tacos and burgers as well as southern fare like biscuits & gravy and grits. This past December, Tracy Mitchell , chef/owner of Bad Dog Taqueria, was arrested in Dekalb County and charged with first-degree vehicular homicide, reckless driving and two counts of hit and run.  Mitchell is reportedly still "involved" in the restaurant, but likely not to the degree she was previously.   A second (Bad Dog) location planned for Edgewood is reportedly "on hold."  

Luca's Italian Bistro is opening soon in Clocktower Place shopping center on Roswell Road in Roswell.  The locally owned Italian restaurant will try to find success in a space most recently home to Basilico, a Mediterranean restaurant, that opened and closed in a matter of months in 2014. Before Basilico, the space was home to a location of Dominick's, an Italian restaurant, and Sugo, another Italian restaurant, before that.  Sugo, from the popular Castellucci Hospitality Group, was the most successful in the space, lasting ten years.  

Finders Keepers Furnishings will be relocating and expanding its Avondale Estates location.  Currently located at 2753 E. College Avenue near the original Waffle House restaurant, the store will be moving to the current Salvation Army thrift store in Twin Oaks shopping center (2857 E. College Avenue).  The Salvation Army is currently liquidating and plans to be gone by the end of the month.  Finders Keepers will reportedly open in the space just as soon as the center's owners  "brings the space up to code."  The current Finders Keepers Furnings space is about 4,200 square feet, the new space is double the size at just over 8,000 square feet. Jack and Jill, an existing children's consignment boutique also in Avondale Estates, will take over the current Finders Keepers Furnishings space once they move.  

Monterrey Mexican Restaurant in West Midtown is changing hands yet again. This weekend the restaurant is slated to become Agavero Cantina, sister to Agavero Cantina on Lawrenceville Highway in Lilburn. The restaurant, on Huff Road near Bone Lick BBQ at Apex West Midtown, opened in early 2014 as La Urbana Tequila & Mezcal Bar.  Early last year it converted to Monterrey.  

Restaurateur Justin Anthony plans to relocate his popular Yebo restaurant from Phipps Plaza to the former Coast restaurant on West Paces Ferry Road.  Anthony, also the owner of 10 Degrees South on Roswell Road, has added two new restaurants in the past few months.  Biltong Bar opened in Ponce City Market last month, and Cape Dutch opened in the former Woodfire Grill space on Cheshire Bridge Road in November.   The new Yebo location will allow Anthony to expand the menu, something the shoebox kitchen at Phipps prevented.  The new Yebo will open "in a few months," with plans to make the transition as seamless as possible.