Summer was full of change, as you can tell from leafing through this year’s Guide to Athens, with many new entries. Want a speedrun through everything that happened on the food scene? Here you go.
Downtown went through a lot of changes. Tai Chi Bubble Tea on Broad Street closed and was replaced by Queen Tea, with bubble tea, board games, coffee, yogurt drinks and a variety of snacks that include steamed dumplings, bao and rice bowls. Tres Amigos, serving street tacos and margaritas until 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday, is open at 350 E. Broad St., in the former Philanthropy Fresh.
On Clayton Street, the building that housed Ahi Hibachi and Poke and Athens Wok was claimed by the hotel next door. The latter restaurant closed, but the former moved down the block into what used to be Heery’s Too and is back open for business. Coming on the same street, in the former Bank of America building at Lumpkin Street, is a location of Oak Steakhouse, an upscale chain out of Charleston, SC. Sully’s Steamers, a steamed bagel sandwich franchise, opened at 255 E. Clayton St., which previously housed a frat bar, and the downtown Bojangles, nearby, is just about open. If you weren’t aware, it’ll serve beer, as well as bo-punned biscuits and breakfast fare.
Creature Comforts opened its new cocktail bar, Cura, serving house-distilled spirits on Washington Street (but with a Hancock address) Thursday through Saturday, next to the Rook and Pawn. The folks behind Paloma Park are getting ready to open Union Fare, a combination event space, cocktail bar and food truck park that stretches from 166 West Clayton St. (next to Last Resort) to the empty lot on Washington next to the Morton Theatre. The indoor space is available for rent but open to the public when not booked. The food truck park will host a mix of Athens- and Atlanta-area food trucks Thursday through Sunday.
Down the hill east of downtown, in The Mark, work has begun on its food hall complex, which will involve a location of franchise Dumpling Master, which also serves bubble tea, noodles and fried rice. Lumberjaxe, the axe-throwing bar on Dougherty Street, closed. A location of Meltwich, a Canadian grilled-cheese sandwich chain, is coming to the Rambler apartment building, on Finley. A little outside of downtown, Saucehouse is permanently closed, with its building up for sale, and Butter Bites Catering is open at 650 W. Broad St., in what was El Zarco. Across the road, Ideal Bagel has new owners and has been tinkering with the menu.
ARTini’s Art Lounge closed its brick-and-mortar location on Prince Avenue but says it will still be doing pop-ups at local breweries. Pancho’s Tacos and Tequila, in the former Pulaski Heights BBQ, is open for business, making its own tortillas and supposedly offering discounts on drinks when the train passes by on the nearby railroad tracks. Baddie’s opened its third location, in Normaltown, in the former Wing House Grill, and did some rebranding. Across the street, the third Fully Loaded Pizza just replaced Square One and added a rooftop bar. Nove Mesto, the Czech brewpub from the Hi-Lo Lounge folks to come on Barber Street in the Atlas Building, is making some progress and doing some pop-ups.
In the Beechwood/Alps area, what was previously Gusto will become a branch of Shake Shack, and franchise Smalls Sliders is going in at the corner of Alps Road and Baxter, in the old service station. Buffalo Wild Wings will be open on Broad, in the same general area, by the time this column runs, just in time for football season. Munch Hut, which had moved to Baxter from downtown, closed, but its sister business BasKat Catering remains open.
Tacos los Plebes is still working on its second location, also in a former Huddle House, at 1815 Commerce Road. Tamez successfully opened its second location in Watkinsville, in front of the Publix. Taqueria Mi Rancho opened at 840 Hull Road, with Michoacan-style tacos. Taqueria Juaritos, on Jefferson Road, caught fire and remains closed, but its second location in Bogart is still open.
The Jittery Joe’s tasting room (attached to the roasting facility on Fritz Mar Lane, off Newton Bridge Road) closed. Caribou Coffee replaced the Checkers at Hawthorne and Broad, and chains Biggby, 7 Brew and Dutch Bros. are on the way, with the latter looking at an Atlanta Highway spot near Target. 1000 Faces opened a second location in Wire Park. Blenz Smoothie Bowls is opening in what was the Creamery, on the D.W. Brooks Mall on UGA’s campus. Plantation Buffet, on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway, changed its name to J & L Buffet. The building at 3755 Atlanta Highway that was the Carriage House most recently has been torn down, and a new Barberitos and yet another Dunkin’ are going up on the lot. A location of Tropical Smoothie Cafe, a franchise, is opening on Highway 29 North, next to the Papa John’s and the Firehouse Subs.
On the Eastside, Jimmy John’s and the Blind Pig in the College Station shopping center are both closed, as Kroger knocks down that strip to build new things. Athens Pho has replaced the Crab Hut at Barnett Shoals and Gaines School roads, and although it doesn’t have permanent signage yet, it’s a nice addition. Out in Winterville, Peach Pit barbecue closed.
And on Milledge Avenue, Mitti Desi Cuisine is changing its name to Taj India. It also opened a lovely Indian ice cream shop next door, Taj Sweets, sandwiched between what was Mitti and Achachi Market. Taj Sweets dips up an array of kulfi most days and sells a ton of prepackaged frozen treats as well.
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