A Longtime Alpharetta Meat and Three Is Becoming a ‘Cutting Edge’ Restaurant

Longtime Southern restaurant in Alpharetta is going “cutting edge”

Alpharetta meat and three Alpha Soda, the 98-year-old Southern restaurant located on Haynes Bridge Road, is undergoing a makeover that includes changing its name to Alpha Soda Kitchen & Bar and doing away with breakfast, according to the AJC. It reopens in October. The restaurant is known for reasonably priced classic Southern fare like country fried steak and a starchy vegetable plate. Owner Michael Clarke purchased the entire strip mall in which Alpha Soda is located — a half-mile from the new mixed-use complex Alpharetta City Center — and tasked chef Daniel Marteny (Mill Kitchen & Bar in Roswell) with creating “cutting-edge” food with “farm-to-fork Southern fusion.” Does this mean mac n’ cheese won’t be considered a vegetable here anymore? Marteny will also run Trinity BBQ in the complex. Alpha Soda is (or was) one of the few old-time Southern restaurants left in the northern suburbs. In recent years, Alpha Soda and its food were a breath of fresh air in a city that’s gone from a sleepy farming community to an Atlanta suburb bursting at the seams with McMansions, luxury cars, and Starbucks. [AJC]

Popsicles at Forsyth County’s Halycon complex

Popsicle shop Popbar is on board at the food hall for Forsyth County mega-development Halycon at 1400 McFarland Parkway, What Now Atlanta reports. The 540-square-foot shop is located off the green space and will serve 40 flavors of yogurt pops, gelato, and sorbet. Like so many other overly ambitious mixed-use complex construction timelines, Halycon predicted tenants would begin opening in 2018. That timeframe has now shifted to March 2019. Popbar joins food stalls like Gu’s Dumplings and Butcher & Brew in the market. [WNA]

19,000-square-feet of booze

A beverage superstore called Local Vine is now open at 3101 Cobb Parkway in Parkway Pointe. The 19,000-square-foot store offers over 7,000 wines, 5,000 spirits, and 2,000 beers along with a climate-controlled wine cellar and “Atlanta’s largest beer cooler.” [Official]