East Cobb Food, Drink & Dining Out

Sage Woodfire Tavern announces September opening for Windy Hill location

by

Sage Woodfire Tavern Windy Hill

More East Cobb restaurant news, following Monday’s posts about Loyal Q/Sugar Benders and a proposed Taqueria Tsunami in the Johnson Ferry corridor: the new Sage Woodfire Tavern location at Windy Hill Road and Powers Ferry Road is opening next week.

The hiring process is underway, and social media accounts have been started (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) for the new restaurant, located in the old Houston’s space at 3050 Windy Hill Road.

According to the office of Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott, a ribbon-cutting and open house reception for invited guests is scheduled for next Thursday, Sept. 7, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with service to the public starting at 4 p.m.

This will be the third Sage Woodfire Tavern location, along with Alpharetta and Dunwoody. It’s located in restaurant space that has been vacant since Houston’s at Wildwood closed in Jan. 2013.

That’s also in a Powers Ferry corridor that’s been challenging for restaurants in recent years. TGI Friday’s and Sal Grosso are among the more notable casualties, along with Houston’s. An exception is the Rose & Crown Tavern, which opened in 2010 at 1391 Powers Ferry Road, just north of the new Sage Windy Hill.

The opening of nearby SunTrust Park earlier this year has been a magnet for new eateries located in The Battery, adjacent to the new stadium for the Atlanta Braves, and in the surrounding area.

The Infinite Dining Group which runs the Sage Woodfire Tavern also operated the Sage Social Kitchen & Bar in East Cobb, which closed in April after being open for only a few months. Previously the location of Chequer’s and Houlihan’s, that space in the Merchants Festival Shopping Center (1401 Johnson Ferry Road) remains vacant.

Across the parking lot, the Black Swan Tavern is preparing for opening with a date yet to be determined (previous East Cobb News coverage here). A liquor license approval is still pending.

Taqueria Tsunami restaurant eyed for former East Cobb Caribou Coffee location

by

Caribou Coffee East Cobb, Taqueria Tsunami

An early check into a really busy September Cobb zoning calendar (especially in East Cobb) revealed this agenda item: the growing, Marietta-based Taqueria Tsunami Latin-Asian fusion restaurant concept may be headed this way.

An application in the “Other Business” section, OB-039-2017, has been filed by Amor Design Studios on behalf of Fork U Concepts, which runs six Taqueria Tsunami locations, including the Marietta Square, Roswell, Woodstock, Athens and soon in Sandy Springs.Caribou Coffee East Cobb, Taqueria Tsunami

The East Cobb location would be at 1275 Johnson Ferry Road, where Caribou Coffee and an Einstein Bros. Bagels operated side-by-side.

Caribou Coffee closed in 2013, and Einstein Bros. Bagels followed in 2015.

The Cobb Planning Commission will hear the application next Thursday, Sept. 7.

Amor Design Studios, an Atlanta architectural design firm, has filed a site plan amendment which states the following intent:

“Fork U Concepts would like to improve the property by deleting the drive-thru [of the former Caribou store] and increasing the number of parking spaces by restriping the parking lot.”

The proposed site plan changes (below, click to see larger image) call for 42 total spaces, 32 of them standard-sized spaces. The total land size for the building and parking is 0.70 acres.

Taqueria Tsunami East Cobb site planThere’s no preliminary staff zoning analysis for the moment since the application was filed on Aug. 15, after the Aug. 4. deadline for comments.

Some major East Cobb redevelopment proposals are also on the September calendar, and we’ll have more in forthcoming posts:

  • Z-053-2017, by Brooks Chadwick Capital, LLC, which would rezone the former Mountain View Elementary School location on Sandy Plains Road for a retail, restaurant, bank and grocery store development;
  • OB-016-2017, by Lidl US Operations, LLC, to tear down the Park 12 Cinema on Gordy Parkway and build a Lidl grocery store, a proposal that’s been delayed several times (see previous East Cobb News story) and has community opposition;
  • Z-012-2017, by SSP Blue Ridge, LLC, to rezone 21 acres northwest intersection of Terrell Mill Road and Powers Ferry Road for a mixed commercial and residential development anchored by a Kroger grocery story. This application also has been continued.

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

EAST COBB RESTAURANT NEWS: Loyal Q opens; Sugar Benders to welcome Cafe at Pharr soon

by

Loyal Q and Brew

Loyal Q and Brew (website; Facebook page) opened Aug. 17 at the Parkaire Landing Shopping Center (4880 Lower Roswell Road, Suite 850, between Sellars Goodyear and Ted’s Montana Grill), once it got a distance waiver from the Cobb BOC to serve alcohol.

The barbecue concept, which specializes in smoked meats, was started by two former Taco Mac executives, ex-CEO Bob Campell and ex-chief operating officer Susie Addo.

Loyal Q is open for dinner only during the week (Mon-Thur 5pm-10pm; Fri 5pm-midnight) and serves lunch on the weekends (Sat 11am-midnight; Sun 11am-10pm). Phone: 678-921-0456.

Down the road at Paper Mill Village, longtime Sugar Benders Bakery owner Veronica Estrada has put up a sign indicating the forthcoming arrival of a Cafe at Pharr location that will share space with her business (255 Village Parkway, Suite 240-A, just around the corner from Camp’s Kitchen).

She’s estimating the new joint location will open in mid-September. Cafe at Pharr, which specializes in gourmet salad and sandwich lunch fare (here’s the menu), has been expanding around metro Atlanta from its original site in Buckhead. This will be its first location in Cobb County.

Sugar Benders Bakery

The Wing Cafe gets perfect score after failing health inspection

by

The Wing Cafe, East Cobb restaurant inspections

A couple of weeks after failing a health inspection, a longtime East Cobb restaurant and bar got a perfect score in a follow-up visit from Cobb and Douglas Public Health.

The Wing Cafe and Tap House (2145 Roswell Road, in the East Lake shopping center) got a 100 score during an inspection last Friday. Management posted the new report in a front window (above) and on the establishment’s Facebook page, with the following message:

“Please accept our apologies for anything that may have wavered your trust in us! We look forward to seeing you all back here soon! Thank you to all of our patrons who stuck with us during this trying time! We appreciate all of our loyal customers!”

On July 21, an inspection at The Wing Cafe resulted a score of 62 with six violations, including employees failing to wash hands, improper temperatures for food storage and a moldy ice machine.

Formerly known as the Wild Wing Cafe, The Wing Cafe marked its 22nd anniversary earlier this summer.

East Cobb restaurant inspections: Hong Kong Star, Mirko Pasta and more

by

 

Hong Kong Star

The following are scores from Cobb and Douglas Public Health inspections of restaurants in East Cobb in the last two weeks. Click here for general information, and the restaurant name for the full inspection report:

 

EAST COBB THIS WEEK: School ribbon-cuttings, summer library farewell, Dog Days Run, food truck & more

by
Mountain View Elementary School
The long-awaited new Mountain View Elementary School campus will be christened on Thursday. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)

The last full week of summer vacation will be a busy one for East Cobb students and their parents, beyond shopping for clothes and supplies and getting oriented with the academic year ahead.

A few highlights from this week’s East Cobb Events Calendar:

  • The ribbon-cutting for the new Mountain View Elementary School takes place Thursday morning at 7:30 a.m. (yes, bright and early, but before the searing heat sets in) at its new location at 3151 Sandy Plains Road, just down the road from where it had been for decades;
  • It’s guaranteed to be hot and stifling Sunday afternoon when the new Walton High School campus (same location, 1590 Bill Murdock Road) will be dedicated, with ribbon-cutting starting at 2 p.m. An Open House takes place from 2:30-3:30 p.m.;
  • The final Paper Mill Village food truck of the summer will be Monday from 5 p.m.-8 p.m. in the main parking lot (255 Village Parkway). Admission is free and so is the live music; cost of food tickets vary according to vendor;
  • Two East Cobb library branches are holding a joint summer farewell party for students on Thursday from 2-4: The event is at Gritters Library (880 Shaw Park Road) and also includes staff from Mountain View Regional with crafts, games, snacks and other fun activities;
  • Early Saturday morning, the McCleskey-East Cobb Family YMCA (1055 East Piedmont Road) is the venue for the Dog Days Run presented by the Rotary Club of East Cobb. You can still register (race-day fee of $30 starting at 6:30 a.m.), and the organizers are looking for volunteers and sponsors.

There’s so much more on our Events Calendar to check out, and if you have an item to share, please e-mail: [email protected].

Have a great week, and stay in touch!