Two new East Cobb restaurants we’ve been mentioning in recent weeks finally opened their doors this week.
The Black Swan Tavern (1401 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 128, Merchants Festival Shopping Center), the first Cobb location for the Dunwoody Restaurant Group, is open for lunch and dinner daily, serving up traditional English pub fare, salads, sandwiches and a robust beer menu. 
La Novia Taqueria (255 Village Parkway, Paper Mill Village, Suite 330) is open for dinner daily and is the newest venture from the Moxie Burger ownership group, which operates the original location nearby in Paper Mill Village.
Both new places are located in spaces that have seen a number of restaurants come and go. The Black Swan Tavern is where Churchill’s Pub operated for many years. La Novia Taqueria is in space that once was Caffe Fortunato and Valenti’s.
They also are attempting to fill a gap menu-wise. The only other pub-style restaurants in East Cobb are Keegan’s on Shallowford Road at Johnson Ferry Road, and the Rose & Crown Tavern on Powers Ferry Road.
The taqueria concept is getting another go in East Cobb after the closure of Cheeky Taqueria at The Avenue (where Tin Lizzy Cantina is located now). The Taqueria Tsunami group based at the Marietta Square is making plans to convert the old Caribou Coffee location on Johnson Ferry, and recently opened a location in Sandy Springs.
The Taqueria Tsunami group of restaurants also includes Stockyard Burgers and Bones, which is slated to open next spring at The Avenue.
Here’s what the management The Black Swan Tavern says it’s trying to convey with its atmosphere:
“We believe in ‘snugness not smugness’ and want you to feel that this is part of your neighbourhood and after all we all need our ‘local’!”
The hours are 11:30 a.m.-1 a.m. Monday-Thursday; 11:30 a.m.-2 a.m. Friday-Saturday and 12:30 p.m.-midnight Sunday. Phone is 678-401-5286.
La Novia Taqueria is open 5:30- 9 p.m. seven days a week, phone 678-903-5858. The Moxie Burger group, which has a second East Cobb location on Shallowford Road and another in Roswell, is also stressing the “neighborhood gathering place” theme, ” . . . a place where families and friends of all ages can eat, drink, visit, and relax together.”
The dinner menu features 10 taco variations, including duck and chorizo, and there are soups, salads, full plates, a children’ menu and a drink menu with a variety of margarita options.
