Bits & Bites

A new Starbucks is planned for the intersection of Peachtree Dunwoody Road and Hammond Drive in Sandy Springs. According to a well placed source, a lease is expected to be signed this week.  If all goes well, the freestanding coffee shop would feature a drive-thru and could open before the end of the year.  The site is next to a freestanding Charles Schwab brokerage office, in front of the 341-unit Citizen Perimeter apartment complex, and across the street from the Concourse office park. 

Starbucks at Briarcliff and LaVista Roads is closed for a significant renovation.  After receiving unspecified "enhancements," the coffee shop is expected to reopen on or before this coming Monday, March 21st. 

A new Fatburger restaurant has opened within an existing Buffalo's Cafe in Athens.  The restaurants are located within Beechwood Promenade on Alps Road.   Both concepts are owned by Beverly Hills-based Fog Cutter Capital Group INC. Fatburger previously operated locations in Buckhead and Marietta, but both closed a few years ago.  Buffalo's, which was started in Roswell, Georgia in 1985, still has plenty of locations in Georgia but has closed locations in North DeKalb Mall and at Cofer Crossing in Tucker.  

Piccadilly Cafeteria has closed yet another location in Georgia, this time at Oglethorpe Mall in Savannah.  The classic cafeteria concept is struggling to survive with Piccadilly having previously closed locations at Suburban Plaza, North Druid Hills Road and Ansley Mall, among others.  

With work underway at Peachtree Crossing, I've been able to confirm a few new additions to the center. Mattress Firm, T-Mobile, Pacific Dental, Banfield and Luxury Nails have all committed to the project.  These new additions join existing tenants Chipotle Mexican Grill, Yeah! Burger, Zoës Kitchen, Taqueria del Sol, a new concept from the owners of The One Sushi and of course, Whole Foods Market.  

The new Barcelona Wine Bar, Atlanta's second location, is expected to open the first week in April at the Westside Ironworks.  The new restaurant sports an updated, albeit retro, mid-century modern design, and joins Tom+Chee and O-Ku, among other tenants, at the project on Howell Mill Road.  

Urban Tree Cidery, Atlanta's newest cidery, plans to officially open March 26.  Urban Tree is located at 1465 Howell Mill Road, between Trabert and Chattahoochee Avenues.  

City Winery has pushed its opening at Ponce City Market to June and is working to reschedule shows it had lined up for its previously planned May opening. "Construction delays completely outside of our control" were blamed for delay in an official release from the company.  ToNeTo Atlanta was the first to break news of the entertainment venue's planned opening at Ponce City Market last year and will continue to provide updates as they become available.  

A new Aloft hotel is slated for Alpharetta. "Greater Atlanta Hotel LLC" is planning the 111-room Aloft hotel at North Point Parkway and Mansell Road, just off Exit 8 of Georgia 400.  The 3.6-acre property on which the hotel will be built sits behind P.F. Chang’s and the former Champs restaurant. The developer hopes to break ground in August. The site was previously zoned for an Aloft hotel in 2008, that, like other locations downtown and in Buckhead, were never built. Aloft is a contemporary hotel brand from Starwood Hotels & Resorts, billed as "A vision of W Hotels."  Georgia’s first Aloft opened in a converted Days Inn, downtown near Centennial Olympic Park in 2014. Other Aloft properties are in the works in Georgia in College Park and in Savannah, which could open around July 2018.

The Cowfish sushi burger bar is on track to open next month at Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody. The Cowfish is likely most well known for their “burgushi” —  a fusion of burger and sushi.  The restaurant's menu will also feature assorted sushi rolls, craft burgers, sashimi, nigiri, bento boxes, appetizers, salads, handcrafted cocktails, craft beers, hand spun milkshakes and homemade desserts.  ToNeTo Atlanta was first to break the news last year of the Charlotte-based chain's arrival in Atlanta where they will open in place of the former Goldfish restaurant.  Goldfish, part of the Here to Serve restaurant group, closed at the end of May, a few months before the entire restaurant group collapsed and closed overnight.