The following Cobb food scores for the week of Sept. 26 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
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The following Cobb food scores for the week of Sept. 19 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
A few readers have contacted us about the closing of Red Sky Tapas & Bar in East Cobb and we’ve contacted the restaurant to get more information.
After 14 years, the restaurant founded by Terry Kirby and Brian Kennington at the Market Plaza Shopping Center on Johnson Ferry Road has shut its doors for good.
A reader messaged us Wednesday night and said “went by this evening and definitely closed. No signs but deserted.”
UPDATED, Thursday, 7:30 p.m.: Red Sky announced the closure on its Facebook page after this story published:
“Thank you for 14 wonderful years of memories, fun, friends and family. Sadly, we are permanently closed.”
There was no further explanation. East Cobb News has left multiple messages with Red Sky Wednesday and Thursday seeking further comment. There was no answer at the restaurant via telephone and there was no voice mail option.
RETURN TO ORIGINAL STORY:
The restaurant and retail site ToNeTo reported late Wednesday that Kirby said he and his partner “were presented with ‘an offer they couldn’t refuse’ and made the difficult decision to sell the business.”
They continue to operate 1911 Biscuits & Burgers, a breakfast and lunch spot on South Cobb Drive in Smyrna, but the Red Sky space “will reportedly be reconcepted under new ownership,” according to the report.
Market Plaza, which includes the Los Bravos, Kouzina Christos, Mediterranean Grill, Bagelicious and Fuji Hana restaurants on eight acres, was sold in August by Market Plaza Joint Venture to Palatka Mall LLC for $9.8 million, according to Cobb property tax records.
In addition to its menu items, Red Sky was known for its live musical entertainment—including dueling pianos—and having a variety of benefit and charitable events.
Kirby and Pennington opened Red Sky in 2008, years after coming up with the concept for a night dining and entertainment concept in East Cobb.
Kirby previously was a manager of a sports bar in Sandy Springs and was shot in the back and paralyzed below the waist during a robbery in which his pregnant boss was killed.
He frequently visited Red Sky guests, moving around in his wheelchair to gauge their experience.
“It’s more than a dining experience,” Kirby said in a 2015 interview with the AJC. “It’s a shared experience. You enjoy the food and the people you’re with. Dining like that builds relationships.”
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Here’s the first look a major change proposed for Paper Mill Village: The building containing an existing Starbucks location would give way to a two-story, standalone coffee shop with a drivethru lane.
That’s according to filings with the Cobb Zoning Office in an application scheduled to be heard by the Cobb Planning Commission Oct. 4.
The filings include a revised site plan with new access points and procedures for conducting a traffic study to gauge how the expanded coffee shop would affect traffic in the busy Johnson Ferry Road-Paper Mill Road area.
S & B Investments has applied to rezone the 0.73-acre tract on the northwest corner of that intersection from future commercial and R-80 to NRC (Neighborhood Retail Commercial).
(Although Paper Mill Village is a mixed-used commercial development, it has a unique zoning history that we noted earlier this year when the property’s developer sought NRC designation for other buildings there.)
According to the application (you can read it here and view more renderings), the building would be around 5,000 square feet and the Starbucks would be open from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. seven days a week.
A stipulation letter from Garvis Sams, the S & B Investments attorney, includes a lengthy list of retail uses that would not be allowed on the property (you can read that letter here).
S & B Investments previously requested, then dropped, a request to add a drivethru lane for its existing 1,600-square-foot building, which includes space for two other retail businesses. One of them, where a nail salon was located, is vacant, and the other is a dry cleaning service.
Initial zoning staff analysis concluded that there wasn’t sufficient space to provide drivethru service for Starbucks with the building intact.
In his letter, Sams wrote that “while Starbucks has been a presence at this intersection for decades, because of the change in demographics and circumstances engrained in the nuanced evolution of our culture generally and more specifically the like-kind demographic within this sub-area of east Cobb County, the drive-thru component is no longer an option but is, instead, a necessary component.”
There is a standalone one-story Starbucks just up Johnson Ferry at Woodlawn Square. There’s a two-story Starbucks similar to the one proposed for Paper Mill Village in Sandy Springs.
Renderings provided in the Paper Mill Village filings show expansive customer space inside the new building, and traffic configurations.
The initial site plan called for a two-way access point from an existing alley off Johnson Ferry Road.
That has been changed to provide separate entrance and exit access from that alley, and a two-way access point from the existing alley off Paper Mill Road. A total of 23 parking spaces are included, including handicapped spots, and the drivethru area would be sealed off.
Cobb Zoning Staff has not completed its analysis or made a recommendation.
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The Chopt sign has gone up at one end of Pine Straw Plaza (4250 Roswell Road) where the California Pizza Kitchen used to be.
But a timeline for the opening of the salad concept location in East Cobb has still to be announced.
A public relations representative for Chopt Creative Salad Co. told East Cobb News in response to that question only that the opening will be taking place “later this year.”
The fast casual chain specializes in offering several dozen salad varieties that customers can customize for themselves, along with wraps, sandwiches, salads and bowls.
Chopt announced it would be coming to East Cobb earlier this year. It will be the fifth location in metro Atlanta, along with Perimeter Center, Buckhead, Ansley Mall and Toco Hills.
Chopt, founded in 2001, is heavily concentrated on the East Coast, in the New York City and Washington D.C. areas, as well as Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Chopt also has 21 locations in Alabama and seven in Tennessee.
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The following Cobb food scores for the week of Sept. 12 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The following Cobb food scores for the weeks of Aug. 29 and Sept. 5 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The Flying Biscuit Cafe at Parkaire Landing has been closed since mid-August due to what the company is saying is an ownership and management change.
The new proprietors have been hiring staff and have been off-site for training, according to a Flying Biscuit social media post.
They have announced a reopening date of Sept. 12. We’ve contacted the company for more information on what’s behind the changes and what customers can expect when they return.
This is Flying Biscuit’s second stint in the East Cobb area. The 3,000-square-foot Parkaire location opened in March 2021 in the former La Vida Massage space after a delay of more than a year due to COVID-19.
Flying Biscuit left East Cobb in 2010 in a freestanding space at Woodlawn Commons now occupied by Chase Bank.
The Atlanta-based breakfast and lunch chain has 12 restaurants in metro Atlanta and another in Athens, five in North Carolina, four in South Carolina, two each in Alabama and Florida and one in Texas.
Cobb Foodie Week set
Several East Cobb restaurants are taking part in Cobb Foodie Week, a promotion of Cobb Travel & Tourism that takes place from Sept. 10-17.
The restaurants establish their own specials, discounts and menu options. The East Cobb participants include the following:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The following Cobb food scores for the week of Aug. 22 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The following Cobb food scores for the week of Aug. 15 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The following Cobb food scores for the week of Aug. 8 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The following Cobb food scores for the week of Aug. 1 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The following Cobb food scores for the week of July 25 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The sign’s been up on what had been Zoës Kitchen for several weeks now, as an East Cobb location of Cava Grill is getting closer to opening.
Last week the new Mediterranean fast casual restaurant received an occupational license from the Cobb Business License Division.
When we checked with Cava earlier this month, they said they didn’t have a specific opening date.
We followed up Monday with another request and here’s what we got back:
“Unfortunately, we don’t have an exact opening time set yet, but we’re aiming for soon. Be sure to follow us at @cava (https://twitter.com/cava) for all of our updates and announcements!”
Cava Group Inc., the parent company of Cava and Zoës, has been replacing the latter with the former concept in a number of locations, including metro Atlanta.
The East Cobb location at Merchants Exchange Shopping Center (4400 Roswell Road, Suite 157) totals nearly 3,000 square feet, according to a directory map of Columbia Properties, the center’s owner.
The Cava chain started in Maryland in 2011 and there are currently 133 locations across the country. There are 15 in metro Atlanta and Athens, including the Cumberland and Town Center mall areas, all of which were former Zoës locations that converted starting last year.
The menu (you can check it out here) includes a variety of “build your own” meal combinations, including salads, grains, dips and spreads, falafel, chicken, lamb, meatballs, roasted vegetables and Mediterranean-style toppings and dressings.
Cava also sells some of its product line at Whole Foods and other food retailers.
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“Southern Born…Southern Bred…And today because of you, Janis Holland…I am well and Southern fed! Yum! Thank you…. Holland Botanical!” wrote a customer.
For East Cobb resident Janis Holland, simply delivering fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables to her customers isn’t enough.
She likes to show what they do with the food they get from her mom-and-pop service, Holland Botanical, every week.
Holland also takes photos of meals she’s prepared for herself and her family, including most recently a bowl of peaches and cream oatmeal with grainless granola and honey.
“It really makes you feel good to know you’re doing a good job,” Holland says of the testimonials she’s received from customers.
For nearly nine years, she and her husband Jonathan have been serving the East Cobb, Roswell and Woodstock area, initially in a weekend pop-up format, and since the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily home delivery.
A mixed vegetable and fruit basket arranged by Holland Botanical.
They’ve also put their sons, former and current football players at Pope High School, to work in what’s become something of a family business.
“It was a side hustle, but we wanted it to be something bigger,” said Holland, whose husband still runs a landscaping business. “We saw a need in the community for produce.”
Like any such entity, Holland Botanical has had to adapt quickly and in dramatic ways.
She said she switched from Saturday set-ups at the Shallowford Falls Shopping Center because “people here are busy on the weekends and they just couldn’t get here.”
She still does some pop-ups tied to community fundraisers and some seasonal mobile farmers markets at select locations in Atlanta.
But she reflects on the original format now as “a great idea at the wrong time.”
The overhead for a full-time farmers market is prohibitive, so going to an all-delivery format—with free delivery to ZIP Codes 30062, 30066, 30067, 30068, 30075 and part of 30188—has made the work she does more efficient.
“Everything stopped,” Holland said, referring to the onset of the pandemic, “and we rebooted it.”
Now it’s a full-time job for her, serving typically between 75-100 customers a week. They fill out their orders on her website by Monday afternoon, and she delivers Tuesday and Wednesday.
Holland travels once or twice a week to the State Farmers Market in Forest Park, filling out orders that include separate fruit and vegetable baskets and a combined fruit-veggie basket. She chooses some of the items based on availability and seasonality, and customers can make special requests.
Janis and Jonathan Holland with the Wit’s End Llama at The Bishop apartments in Sandy Springs, where Holland Botanical holds a seasonal mobile farmers market.
Holland Botanical charges $25 for a basket, which contains enough food for a typical family supply for a week. The emphasis is on Georgia-grown products, including items from other suppliers.
“We want to make it affordable to eat healthy,” Holland said.
While her delivery service is free, she does have a place on her order form for customers to add a gasoline tip, which she said is very helpful in times of soaring fuel prices.
While the margins are tight and the nature of a fresh produce delivery service remains fluid, she’s convinced this type of business is viable.
Despite the reality of the pivots she’s had to make, Holland’s passion for what she does hasn’t subsided.
“I don’t think we could sustain an à la carte menu,” she said. “But I believe in getting healthy food into peoples’ hands.”
While some remain careful accepting their food due to COVID concerns, “our customers are just so happy to see us.”
Holland also gives back to the community by donating leftover food to those who need it.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The following Cobb food scores for the week of July 18 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The following Cobb food scores for the week of July 11 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The following East Cobb food scores for the week of July 4 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The space that’s been open next to the J. Jill store at The Avenue East Cobb will be occupied this fall by New York Butcher Shoppe.
North American Properties announced Thursday that the South Carolina-based chain will open its third metro Atlanta location in November.
NAP also said Warby Parker, an eyeglass retailer, and Tempur-Pedic, a sleep products manufacturer, will be opening stores at The Avenue this fall.
New York Butcher Shoppe, which was founded in 1999, has 20 locations in five states, including Milton and Sandy Springs. Most of its locations are in South Carolina and North Carolina. Other locations include Augusta, Birmingham, Ala. and Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and another is opening soon in Arizona.
In addition to premium Angus steaks, New York Butcher Shoppe offers chicken, pork, veal and lamb entrees, salads, fresh seafood, parmigiana meals and roasts.
Specialty items include cheeses, pastas and “exotic sausages” as wall as “premium” charcoal, “high-quality” vegetables and “international” grocery items.
NAP said in a release that The Avenue East Cobb location will also include the first wine bar for New York Butcher Shoppe.
The news comes a few days after Stockyard Burgers and Bones announced it was closing at The Avenue after nearly eight years, due to labor and supply shortages.
Warby Parker will open in November across from Panera Bread and Temper-Pedic will open a showroom between the New York Butcher Shoppe and High Country Outfitters next spring.
NAP, which recently unveiled overhaul plans at The Avenue, said in the release that the permitting process for its “jewel box” concept—with two retail/restaurant buildings and a concierge area with valet parking, a public plaza and live music and events stage—will begin soon, with a groundbreaking event in the fall.
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“It has been an extremely challenging time for restaurants over the last couple years. Unfortunately, we were never able to recover from the effects of the pandemic, continuous cost increases and labor shortages at this location.”
The original Stockyard restaurant on the Marietta Square, which opened in 2014, and another in Vinings remain. There was a Stockyard location in Sandy Springs that closed in 2018.
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