The Original and Last Remaining Octane Coffee Closes for Good

It’s the end of an era, as the last remaining Octane coffee shop closes after nearly 17 years at its original location on Marietta Street, the Atlanta Business Chronicle first reported Tuesday evening.

The beloved Atlanta coffee brand was acquired by Revelator Coffee Company from founders Tony and Diane Riffel four years ago. At the time of the sale, the Riffels had expanded Octane to three additional Atlanta locations in Grant Park, the Woodruff Arts Center, and Atlanta Tech Village, and opened two shops in Birmingham.

With the ongoing health crisis continuing to affect sales and the lease up “very soon” at the westside shop, Revelator president Josh Owen told Eater Atlanta Wednesday morning it no longer made sense to renew in this environment. It was the only Revelator coffee shop to retain the Octane name and branding.

Octane

Octane

This is the latest in a series of closures for the coffee company. Revelator closed its all-day cafe the Mourning Dove in Buckhead two years ago. Last December, the company closed the Grant Park location of Octane at the Jane, a space it shared with Little Tart Bakeshop. That former Octane shop received a Revelator rebrand in 2018. The Woodruff Arts Center and Tech Village locations closed earlier this year. Revelator has yet to make a decision as to whether the shop at 101 Marietta (formerly Centennial Tower) will reopen downtown.

It appears Revelator also plans to close its two recently opened Buckhead cafes, Coffee and Ice Cream at Lenox Square Mall and Sweet Tooth Cafe at Phipps Plaza. Both have remained closed since the start of the pandemic. On Monday, Hazel Jane’s wine bar announced its closure this Saturday after less than a year on the Eastside Beltline trail. The Revelator-backed wine bar and bottle shop ceased dine-in and patio service in late March and has been operating as takeout only alongside its small wine shop.

“Hazel Jane’s had absolutely been building momentum before the pandemic hit, but the reality is that there’s no way to run a wine bar if we can’t safely let people inside. HJ was built as a gathering spot,” Owen told Eater of that closure. “It only worked if people could gather. There was never going to be a way to make the economics work only doing takeout and retail wine.”

Update, September 2, 9:20 a.m.: This story was updated with comments from Revelator president Josh Owen.

• Octane Is Being Sold to Birmingham-Based Revelator Coffee Company [EATL]
• Little Tart Bakeshop Takes Over at the Jane After Revelator Coffee’s December Departure [EATL]
• Eastside Beltline Wine Bar and Bottle Shop Hazel Jane’s Closes This Saturday [EATL]
• The Atlanta Restaurants Now Permanently Closed Due to the COVID-19 Crisis [EATL]