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Cobb commissioners on Tuesday upheld the reversal of an initial denial of a beer and wine license to the Cleaver and Cork retail butcher shop in East Cobb.
Commissioners voted to uphold the Cobb License Review Board’s reversal on their consent agenda, and it’s a process we’ve written about before.
There are requirements in the Cobb County Code for alcohol-serving businesses located within certain distances of residential neighborhoods, public/government buildings and houses of religious, unless they appeal.
In this case, Cleaver and Cork, located in the Shops at Woodlawn (1062 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 162-D), is less than 300 feet from homes and less than 600 feet from a church or school (Johnson Ferry Baptist Church and Johnson Ferry Christian Academy).
The Cobb Business License Division’s denial was appealed to the License Review Board, which voted to reverse that decision on April 27. The appeals are given final consideration by commissioners.
There was no known community opposition to Cleaver and Cork’s request for a beer and wine license.
Other businesses in the same retail center that have been granted alcohol licenses are the Publix store and the newly opened First Watch restaurant.
Cleaver and Cork, which opened last November, said it wants to sell craft beer and boutique wines as part of the store’s offering of gourmet meats, specialty cheeses, breads, charcuterie boards, pasta and desserts.
Audrey Stine, the Cleaver and Cork owner, said during the appeal hearing that “every customer will be required to present a government issued ID to purchase alcohol. Ms. Stine stated the consequence for an underage sale will be immediate termination.”
All of the alcoholic beverages sold there will be for off-premises consumption, she said, adding that employees found to have sold beer or wine to underage customers will be terminated.
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Belen de la Cruz Empanadas drew good, steady crowds for samples. ECN photo.
The weather was fantastic and the crowds were huge for the 2023 rendition of the Taste of East Cobb, which is a major fundraiser for the Walton Band Parent Association.
More than 100 restaurants, vendors and sponsors (including East Cobb News) set up booths offering food samples, company swag and even mini chiropractic adjustments.
Various bands performed—Walton High School Jazz Bands, Wheeler High School Jazz Band, South Cobb High School Jazz Band, Dickerson Middle School Jazz Band, Dodgen Middle School Pops Ensemble, and Hightower Trail Middle School Jazz Band.
There also were raffle prizes and drawings, and guests voted for their favorite vendors.
We were fortunate to be seated near two savory restaurants, Mediterranean Grill, and Belen de La Cruz: gyros to the left of us and empanadas to the right.
Thanks to David Wilson of the Walton Band Parent Association for sharing some photos. We’ve identified his shots in the photo gallery below.
One of the jazz bands playing at the Taste of East Cobb. Photo: David WilsonThe Chick-Fil-A Woodlawn mascot made the rounds. ECN photoWalton sports announcer Mark Aston was the emcee for the day. Photo: David WilsonCobb’s finest took part in the festivities. Photo: David WilsonA drone shot of the Taste of East Cobb venue. Photo: David WilsonEast Cobb News was proud to be a Taste of East Cobb sponsor for the first time. ECN photo
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 Woodlawn Square Chick-fil-A is a returning participant at the Taste of East Cobb.
Last month we posted about the 22 restaurants that will be featured at the Taste of East Cobb on May 6, and the festival organizers over the weekend rolled out the final lineup of other vendors, sponsors and participants.
The restaurants are the following:
101 Bagel Cafe; Alumni Cookie Dough; Belen de la Cruz Empanadas & Pastries; Cafe Rivkah; Cajun Meat Company; Camps Kitchen and Bar; Chick-fil-A Woodlawn Square; Clean Juice; Drift Fish House & Oyster Bar; Green Coyote Cantina; Jacobs Java Cafe; Kona Ice of Cherokee; McCray’s Tavern; Mediterranean Grill; New York Butcher Shoppe & Wine Bar; Righteous ‘Que; Schmoo.Pies; Seed Kitchen & Bar; Smallcakes; Sterling Estates East Cobb; Summit Coffee; Twisted Taco Express; Vanilla Café e Gelato
And here are the vendors—businesses and organizations providing information about what they do:
AAA The Auto Club Group; Altitude Trampoline Park; Apricot Lane Boutique; Blingle of Marietta; Chopt Creative Salad; Club Pilates Merchants Walk; Cobb County Department of Transportation; Cobb County Public Library; Cobb County Republican Party; Cobb County School District Transportation Dept.; Dermatology & Surgery Specialists of North Atlanta; Detail Tech – East Cobb; Discover Greater; East Cobb Tutoring Center: H.M. Patterson & Son Canton Hill Chapel; Homeless Pets Foundation; Kelly + Co; Langley Family Chiropractic; Life Transformed Christian Counseling; Misty Med Spa & Skin Rx; Mosquito Shield; Our Pal’s Place; PeakZen Yoga; Primerica; Providence Veterinary Clinic; Sold By Danielle; The Sunshine House; White Tiger Martial Arts
A variety of sponsors also will have booths at the festival, including East Cobb News—our first time doing this, and we’re really excited about it:
PLATINUM—Custom Disposal Service, Inc.; Johnson Ferry Baptist Church
GOLD—Atlanta Tent Rentals (no booth); Atlanta United FC: East Cobb City Lifestyle magazine; East Cobb News; East Cobber magazine; Harry Norman Realtors East Cobb Office; Hometown Indoor Billboard Network; Jason Esteves – State Senate; Lamar Advertising (no booth) Nia Pediatric Dentistry; Pigtails & Crewcuts: Haircuts for Kids (no booth)
SILVER—Atlanta Falcons; Bath Planet; Big Frog Custom T-Shirts of Marietta; Blue Penguin Car Wash Marietta; Cactus Car Wash Marietta; Camps Kitchen and Bar; Cobb County Democratic Committee; Credit Union of Georgia; Green Coyote Cantina; Plasker Family & Performance Chiropractic
The Taste of East Cobb will take place May 6 at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church (955 Johnson Ferry Road) from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is the major fundraiser of the Walton Band Parent Association, which supports Walton HS band programs.
Some of those bands will be performing live music throughout the day, and there will be a kids’ zone, a silent auction of merchandise and a “Best of Taste of East Cobb” voting competition.
As you may have seen on the East Cobb News website and our newsletter, there’s a special ticket sale for advance bulk purchases of food (20 or more) through May 4. Admission to the festival is free as is parking in the south lot of the church.
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 food scores for the week of April 17 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 food scores for the week of April 17 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!
Cafe Rivkah owner Vicky Savrin, left, and her Lebanese-born chef, Nina Tarabay.
As she built up a loyal clientele selling homemade artisanal baked goods at the Marietta Farmers Market, Vicky Savrin said some of her customers wanted to know where they could come and dine on her food.
“The response was really amazing,” she said, “but I said I have no other location.”
A former software developer who began baking as a hobby and turned it into a catering business, Savrin found her space in an East Cobb retail center that finally opened in March.
It’s called Cafe Rivkah, in the Pavilions at East Lake (2100 Roswell Road, Suite 2014). It occupies the former El Rincon space, and serves breakfast and lunch six days a week (7 a.m. to 3 p.m.).
The name comes from the Hebrew verb rabak, which means to mix or stir.
Savrin, a native of the Philippines who converted to Judaism for her husband, Philip Savrin, features a menu emphasizing Mediterranean and European dishes, as well as coffees and teas.
While there’s sit-down service at tables and booths, customers can also order online or by phone (678-402-5809) for takeaway.
The aim of her first restaurant business is to evoke a truly local feel in an East Cobb area that’s flush with breakfast and lunch spots, most of them regional and national chains.
“We don’t want to be big, big, big,” Savrin said. “We want to be a neighborhood place, a part of the community.”
She and her family live in Vinings, but attend Temple Kol Emeth in East Cobb.
On the menu are breakfast and lunch bagel options, a chicken schnitzel sandwich, and an Israeli breakfast favorite, shakshuka, a dish of poached eggs on top of tomatoes, peppers, garlic and onion.
Cafe Rivkah also offers salads, small plates, oats and avocado and egg toast (check the menus on the cafe’s Facebook page).
Savrin, who moved to the United States 26 years ago, learned the fundamentals of cooking from her grandmother, and her expanding tastes were influenced while serving as a missionary in India, Brazil and other countries.
Baking her own bread—including challah for French toast, croissants, doughnuts and puff pastries—is at the heart of everything she does.
“I’m mostly a baker,” she says.
But the idea of opening a cafe came from the observation that “I have a better chance of selling if I have more things to offer.”
The doughnut line is novel, and expansive. Flavors include pistachio, caramel popcorn, strawberry cheesecake and more.
Chef Nina Tarabay, who hails from Lebanon, runs the kitchen, and Savrin’s husband helps her on the business end.
“It’s a hard business,” she said. “But I have a very supportive husband.”
The catering business is growing as Savrin builds up the cafe.
Cafe Rivkah caters two meals a day for 120 children at a child development center in Druid Hills, empasizing the homemade freshness of the bread, and healthy meals that include fruits.
She’s also catering a Sunday Easter reception at nearby St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church.
Cafe Rivkah also has signed up to be a vendor at the Taste of East Cobb food festival in May.
“What I really want is for us to find the right flavor, the right combination for this community,” she said.
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Cafe Rivkah, newly opened at the Pavilions at East Lake, will be at the Taste of East Cobb.
We’re about six weeks away from the Taste of East Cobb, and the 2023 festival restaurant lineup includes a few newcomers.
A total of 22 restaurants and food service providers have been announced thus far, including some familiar places: Alumni Cookie Dough, Drift/Seed, Camps, Chick-Fil-A Woodlawn, McCray’s Tavern, Mediterranean Grill, Righteous Que and Smallcakes.
Among the new participants are the Green Coyote, run by Camps ownership that replaced Moxie Taco, the New York Butcher Shoppe at The Avenue East Cobb, and Cafe Rivkah.
The latter opened earlier this month at the Pavilions at East Lake, serving breakfast and lunch with Mediterranean and European cafe fare.
You can see the full list of Taste of East Cobb restaurants by clicking here.
The Walton Band Parents Association, which is organizing the festival, is accepting applications for sponsors and vendors through April 7, next Friday. You can find out more about that by clicking here.
East Cobb News will be a sponsor of the Taste of East Cobb for the first time, and we’re looking forward to it!
Other sponsors include Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, Custom Disposal, Atlanta United Football Club, the EAST COBBER and Harry Norman Realtors.
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 small retail building at the new MarketPlace Terrell Mill development is half-occupied, with a dentist and nail salon.
The plans were to include some restaurant space, and elsewhere on the property a Wendy’s, Chick-Fil-A and Panera Bread have opened.
The Power Ferry Corridor Alliance civic group reports that two restaurants will be coming soon to the open spots at the Shoppes, which fronts the MarketPlace Village apartment building.
Los Abuelos Mexican Grill will be opening in June, the chain’s first location outside of its base in Newnan.
The other space will be taken up by a location of the Brass Tap Craft Beer Bar, a Tampa-based chain with Atlanta-area locations at Perimeter Center, Milton and Hapeville.
The Brass Tap’s parent company, FSC Franchise Co., also runs the Beef O’Brady’s restaurant chain.
There’s no signage yet at either of the forthcoming restaurants. They’ll be among the final pieces of the MarketPlace project to be filled along with the anchor Kroger superstore (90,000 square feet) that’s still under construction.
There’s fencing around that building—where the former Brumby Elementary School once stood—and an accompanying Kroger gas station will be fronting Powers Ferry Road. That’ slated to open next month.
The new Kroger store is expected to relocate from the Delk-Powers Ferry intersection by the fall.
The Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance is having an Adopt-A-Mile cleanup day April 15 from 9-10:30 a.m. at the Powers Ferry-Terrell Mill intersection. They’re springing for a free Starbucks there at 8:45 a.m. for those who volunteer, and you can sign up by clicking here.
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When we stopped by Westfield Tavern on Monday, managing partner Erik Tierney was giddy about his latest restaurant opening.
“It’s going to be this week,” he said as employees moved about the 4.200-square-foot space at Shallowford Corners Shopping Center (4401 Shallowford Road, Suite 138).
On Thursday morning, he announced that the “family-friendly community tavern” was open for business.
As for now, the hours are limited as they ramp up staffing and get the word out. Lunch is served from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and dinner service is from 6-9 p.m.
“As we adjust, we will stay open longer and later,” Tierney said in an Instagram message to East Cobb News.
This is the third such tavern for Tierney, an Irish native who’s the proprietor behind Whitehall Tavern in Buckhead and Creatwood Tavern in the city of Smyrna.
We spoke with him in January when he was hopeful of opening in “a couple of weeks,” but permitting, licensing, hiring an remodeling prompted some delays.
On Monday, he pointed to a flat screen TV and said Direct TV needed to be installed.
“It’s March Madness,” Tierney said, referencing the NCAA college basketball tournaments that are in progress.
Work also was finishing on an enclosed patio area on our Monday visit.
The interior looks very similar to the short-lived East Cobb Tavern and the Keegan’s Public House that occupied the same space.
But it’s been freshly painted, and the kitchen was completely remodeled to serve a wide variety of tavern fare.
“We’re all about the neighborhood, all about the family,” said Tierney, who named this spot after the nearby Westfield subdivision.
The clientele will be slightly different from the other places in that it is expected to be more family-oriented, “but I think we will be very successful.”
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 food scores for the week of March 20 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 spokesman for First Watch contacted us today that the restaurant “is anticipated to open April 3.”
ORIGINAL STORY:
The opening of a new First Watch restaurant on Johnson Ferry Road still doesn’t have a specific date, but the company told us earlier this week it’s “approaching quickly for this Spring.”
The standalone building at 1080 Johnson Ferry Road in the Woodlawn Point Shopping Center is nearing completion, and as we went by earlier today there were only a few construction vehicles in the parking lot.
First Watch has set up a website for the East Cobb location and “VIP Access” in which you can sign up for e-mail updates, including a special pre-opening event, opening updates and other “perks.”
We signed up and there wasn’t anything specific about the opening. The message we got from First Watch earlier this week said only that “We always hope for the best and know our development team is knocking out that punch list to stay on schedule.”
It’s the same wording they used when we inquired in January; we’ve sent another message trying to get more details.
When it opens, what the company is calling its East Cobb location will be the second in the community (the other is at Sandy Plains Marketplace) and 10th in metro Atlanta.
A Facebook page for the Johnson Ferry Road location has been created, and like the other restaurants in the chain, hours will from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. seven days a week.
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 food scores for the week of March 13 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!
Over the weekend we saw the finishing touches being put on a new standalone Starbucks at the East Lake Shopping Center (2135 Roswell Road).
A reader sent us word on Sunday that it’s now open. The hours are 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
This is the ninth Starbucks in the East Cobb area, and it’s right across the street from a smaller Starbucks inside the Kroger at the Pavilions at East Lake, and a mile or so from another Starbucks at Roswell and East Piedmont.
The new East Lake location was built on the site of a former bank, and is near the Los Bravos Mexican restaurant.
There’s a drive-through and indoor seating, as well as mobile app ordering and Wi-Fi.
Another standalone Starbucks is in the works at Paper Mill Village, with a delayed rezoning case requesting demolition of the existing small coffee shop for a 5,000-square-foot, two-story building.
That first hearing is tentatively scheduled for April 3 before the Cobb Planning Commission.
Back in service
What was supposed to be a short closure in February to expand drive-through service turned into be a longer hiatus for the Chick-Fil-A Lassiter (3046 Shallowford Road).
Store management announced on Friday that it’s reopened at its usual hours, after “a few unforeseen delays.”
The store had scheduled a Daddy Daughter Date Night but due to the closure that’s been rescheduled for March 25.
New Businesses
The following businesses in East Cobb were granted licenses by the Cobb Community Development Agency the last few weeks:
ASE Ventures, 2501 East Piedmont Road, Suite 204 (antique sales)
Blossom Locs, 2790 Sandy Plains Road, Suite 100-A (hair braiding)
Family Dental Care of Marietta, 2525 Shallowford Road, Suite 100 (dentist)
Ferrara Medical Aesthetics, 1000 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite E-25 (physician)
Settle for Glam, 2790 Sandy Plains Road, Suite 100-A (beauty shop)
Top Massage, 2200 Roswell Road, Suite 150 (health club/spa)
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 food scores for the week of March 6 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!
One of East Cobb’s longest-lasting Cajun-style restaurants has closed its doors.
AJ’s Famous Seafood and PoBoys (2100 Roswell Road, Suite 2148, in the Pavilions at East Lake) is listed as permanently closed on its Facebook page.
When we went by, we saw that tables and chairs had been removed and kitchen equipment was being cleared out of the 2,800 square feet of space next to Kroger.
There wasn’t a sign on the doors announcing a closure, but like many restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic, AJ’s struggled with labor shortages and announced a number of short-notice closures.
East Cobb News has left a message with AJ’s seeking comment.
The restaurant—which specialized in Louisiana-style dishes like muffaletta sandwiches and fried alligator tacos—also was trying to reobtain an alcohol license.
Andy Erbacher opened AJ’s at the Pavilions 18 years ago as a neighborhood-style establishment, featuring seafood from the Gulf coast.
Shortly before COVID, AJ’s expanded with an oyster bar that took up space formerly occupied by a hair salon. The oyster bar closed early in the pandemic.
In 2021, Erlacher was outspoken about the Major League All-Star game being moved from nearby Truist Park due a Georgia election law, appearing on a live Fox News segment.
“We made it through COVID,” he said. “We were looking forward to things starting to get back to somewhat normal” in anticipating good business for the three-day All-Star event.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp also visited AJ’s in the wake of that decision, critical of the boycott and its impact on the local economy.
Further down at the Pavilions, a new seafood restaurant will be opening soon—Captain Charlie’s Seafood & More—located next to the J. Christopher’s.
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 food scores for the week of Feb. 27 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 food scores for the week of Feb. 20 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!
