Stone Soup Kitchen Falls Victim to Grant Park Redevelopment

Stone Soup Kitchen, which has been in business at 584 Woodward Ave. SE since August 2005, is closing its doors next month. Owner Sarah Rick announced the restaurant is being booted from its space by development firm Paces Properties, which purchased the building in January. Rick says she received a 60-day eviction notice on June 30.

"It was a little bit like getting divorce papers in the mail when you didn't even see a divorce coming," she said in a prepared statement.

Rick blames the impending shutter on rising rent prices. A Paces spokesperson told Creative Loafing Stone Soup did not have a current lease when the firm purchased the building, and rent needed to go up to pay for "exterior improvements and building system upgrades." CL reports Paces attempted to come to terms on a new lease with the restaurant, but nothing materialized.

The firm behind Krog Street Market's redevelopment, Paces is undertaking plans to change the face of the area adjacent to Memorial Drive in Grant Park. Its Atlanta Dairies project will bring new restaurants, a music venue with a rooftop bar, and offices to the neighborhood. Paces also owns a Memorial Drive building that will become home to a Grindhouse Killer Burgers location, and at the nearby Larkin on Memorial mixed-use development, the team behind Candler Park Market will open Grant Park Market.

Paces has not revealed what sort of concept it would like to see replace Stone Soup. Eater Atlanta has reached out for more information. Rick says her restaurant's last day of service will be Tuesday, August 23.