The massive restaurant space at the corner of Ponce De Leon and Penn Ave is now dormant. Yes, it appears that the Old Spaghetti Factory has closed up shop and moved on to greener pastures. While the restaurant chain is still alive and kicking outside the state of GA, they finally threw in the towel on January 24th. While I always considered it one of the worst restaurants in the city, the place seemed to get a pretty good crowd. So in that respect, I must say that this was a bit of a surprise. Cheerios y’all!
Here To Severe restaurants is continuing on the trend that started with Trois, continued with Cuerno, and even hit Stella. Kess is reporting that instead of an outright closing of Lola Bellini Bar, Tom Catherall is shuttering the space after New Years with intentions of “re-concepting” the restaurant.
There’s no doubt that traffic for this cougar-iffic hotspot has dwindled significantly in the last few months. Time will tell if the redeux will fare any better.
Had I written on Stella Trattoria, you would have seen one of the blistering reviews that I’m known for. To be honest, I thought I had written it. Only when I heard that the restaurant is off to the land of restaurants past did I notice the oversight. Regardless, the Grant ParkItalian eatery, who shares a father with Osteria 832, never caught my culinary fancy. Despite a very memorable meal there (because of the tornado – not the food) and the unabashed love by a dear friend (see … even my closest companions don’t always agree with me), the place just never caught on.
The space is scheduled to go through some renovations and open in February as the equally unimpressive Doc Chey’s.
The hits just keep coming. Though this actually happened a few weeks ago, I somehow managed to miss it. Wolfgang Puck Express pulled an Emeril’s and said buh-bye to Atlanta. This leaves the city with one less celebrity chef restaurant and the ground floor of the Brookwood Place complex dangerously close to empty (at least in the south building). While the signage is gone and a closing note hangs in the window, the interior has remained pretty much intact. Maybe another restaurant will go in … maybe not … only time will tell. I have a few snapshots, but they are held hostage on my camera until a little later tonight. I’ll throw them up when I have the chance.
According to an article in today’s online edition of the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the ESPN Zone in Buckhead is a thing of the past. A notice popped up today informing potential patrons that the sports bar was now closed. With the vast number of sports bars between me and the Zone, I can’t say I made it there frequently. That said, I’m a little surprised to hear about this. According to the article, all of the 140 employees received a 60-day administrative leave package, so that’s nice to hear.
With the days winding down until the October 1 closing of The Dining Room, there is no doubt that a number of people won’t have a chance to get their fix before the Buckhead hallmark says adios. Luckily, former blogger Rowdy Food took the time to photo-document his recent trip to see Arnaud Berthelier at The Ritz-Carlton. The pictures from the meal are very well done and the video won’t take much of your time. If you like what you see (and you should), I suggest you check out Rowdy’s youtube stream. He’s got quite the collection.
