Bits & Bites

The new Black Walnut Cafe in Alpharetta 

Texas-based Black Walnut Cafe opened its first Atlanta area location today in Alpharetta.  The restaurant is located in a newly constructed freestanding building at the corner of Windward and North Point Parkways.  A second Black Walnut Cafe is planned for Peachtree Corners across from The Forum.  The Peachtree Corners restaurant is expected to break ground in the coming weeks with an expected opening in late February.  A previously planned Dunwoody location, where the chain had intended to construct a new building in place of Old Hickory House is "shelved for now."  Joe Brassard, Director of Operations for Black Walnut Cafe, indicated that the group pounced on the property sight unseen and has since decided it may be too small for their needs.   

The former Taj Mahal / Vegas Nights club on Cobb Parkway will soon be home to a car lot.  The 3.5 acre property at 1830 Cobb Parkway includes a 22,000-square foot building that was an auto dealership from 1985 until 1992.  The property was converted into Taj Mahal, a then popular strip club in 1993.  The club was forced to close in 1998 after the city began enforcing its anti-nudity ordinances.  The club reopened as Vegas Nights, a nightclub, in late 1998, but it was not as popular as Taj Mahal and closed a few years later.  According to a local source, the lot will be operated by "Atlanta Used Cars" as "Atlanta Auto Mall."  

La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries on Pleasant Hill Road is actively liquidating ahead of a planned closure date of Sunday, July 31st.  The furniture store is located in a difficult location between Snellville and Duluth, where a Lowe's Home Improvement closed a few years ago.

101 Concepts' newest restaurant, 101 Steak, is now open at Vinings Main shopping center in Vinings.  As first reported by ToNeTo Atlanta, the restaurant opened in place of Social Vinings, a restaurant that closed at the end of last year.  

After countless delays, Superica's Buckhead location is now on track to open Monday, July 11th.  Ford Fry's Tex-Mex eatery replaces a shuttered Outback Steakhouse in Buckhead Court on Roswell Road in north Buckhead.  Superica's existing location is at Krog Street Market.  

A new Bojangles' is planned for Marietta on Powder Springs Road.  The new freestanding restaurant will open as part of Powder Springs Pavilion.  The center, which already includes a Dollar Tree, was partially demolished due to an apparent change in direction.  

O4W Pizza is now open on Main Street in downtown Duluth.  The New Jersey-style pizzeria is maintaining its original name despite recently closing its original (and only other) location in the Irwin Street Market.  

The heavily delayed Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe is currently targeting a July 19th opening at Toco Hills Promenade on North Druid Hills Road.