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Despite a frustrating year of financial upheaval, permitting issues, and construction and equipment supply shortages due to the pandemic, the Atlanta restaurant scene is beginning to come back online. Even with permitting continuing to cause delays, several long-awaited restaurants are finally preparing to open this summer around town.
Eater is tracking the progress of the following nine restaurants anticipated to open this summer serving everything from barbecue, omakase feasts, and Vietnamese fare to crispy chicken sandwiches and European wines paired with small bites and books.
Lucian Books and Wine — Now Open
Location: Buckhead, 3005 Peachtree Road
Who: Jordan Smelt and Katie Barringer
Projected opening: June
Named for British painter Lucian Freud, this wine cafe and bookstore, owned by Atlanta sommelier Jordan Smelt (Cakes and Ale) and former Cover Books owner Katie Barringer, will specialize in books centered around art, design, food, and culture and carry nearly 250 wines by the bottle and 15 wines by the glass. Led in the kitchen by chef Brian Hendrickson, expect wine-friendly food options on the menu throughout the day, with larger, shareable dishes served at dinner. Hendrickson worked with Smelt at Cakes and Ale and will create food easily paired with the mostly European-leaning wine list at Lucian.
Antiguo Lobo — Now Open
Location: Chamblee, 5370 Peachtree Road
Who: Jesús Oñate Jr.
Projected opening: June/July
Mexican restaurant and tequila bar Antiguo Lobo opens this summer inside a former antiques store in historic downtown Chamblee. Owned by Jesús Oñate Jr., Antiguo Lobo (“old wolf”) honors his late father with a menu featuring dishes from multiple regions around Mexico. A mural dedicated to Jesús Oñate Sr. will depict images of his life, including his first car in America — a 1977 Pontiac Can-Am. The menu for Antiguo Lobo will feature dishes like Molcajete El Monstruo with a choice of steak, chicken, or shrimp served in a volcanic rock mortar, enchiladas verdes, and pollo al mole, along with tacos, burritos, soups, and salads. Oñate Jr., a trained tequila expert and certified Master mezcalier, plans to create cocktails for the bar centered around agave-based liquors.
Rodney Scott’s BBQ — Opening 7/27/2021
Location: Adair Park, 680 Murphy Avenue
Who: Rodney Scott
Projected opening: August
A location of Charleston’s popular barbecue restaurant Rodney Scott’s BBQ finally opens at the Met in Adair Park this summer. Owned by James Beard Award winning chef and pitmaster Rodney Scott, the eponymous restaurant offers South Carolina-style whole hog barbecue, ribs, and chicken topped with Scott’s famous Rodney Sauce as well as Southern sides like collards and crave-worthy cornbread. The restaurant sells its banana pudding by the pint or quart.
Big Boss Chinese
Location: Midtown, 100 10th Street
Who: Chef Guy Wong
Projected opening: July/August
Chef Guy Wong (Ruby Chow’s, Miso Ko, Ton Ton Ramen) will open his next restaurant in Midtown on 10th Street in the former Chinese Buddha space, once owned by his mother. Wong has described Big Boss Chinese as the “more casual little brother” to his Old Fourth Ward restaurant Ruby Chow’s. Once open this summer, the restaurant will serve “Chinese American classics” paired with beer, wine, sake, and bubble tea.
Kinship/Academy Coffee
Location: Virginia-Highland, 1019 Virginia Avenue
Who: Myles Moody and Rachael Pack; Connan Moody
Projected opening: August
Kinship, a combination butcher shop, marketplace, and cafe, opens this summer in the VA-HI building on Virginia Avenue. Co-owners Myles Moody and Rachael Pack plan to source meats, produce, and other products for Kinship as locally as possible. The market will be divided into sections, including a butcher and cheese counter, a kitchen offering take-way food, a small grocery and wine store, and coffee shop Academy Coffee, owned and run by Connan Moody (brother of Myles Moody). Refrigerated cases will display daily meats and cheeses for sale, while the kitchen will sell fresh stocks and broths, along with breakfast and lunch sandwiches throughout the day.
Juniper Cafe
Location: Bolton, 2250 Marietta Boulevard
Who: Chefs Ron Hsu and Aaron Phillips, Carl Van Tyle Gilbert
Projected opening: August
Chefs Ron Hsu and Aaron Phillips, the owners behind Candler Park tasting menu restaurant Lazy Betty, open Vietnamese restaurant and bakery Juniper Cafe at Westside Village in Bolton this summer. Hsu and Phillips partnered with Lazy Betty general manager and beverage director Carl Van Tyle Gilbert in the northwest Atlanta restaurant. Chef Tim Rufino, currently a senior line cook at Lazy Betty, will lead the kitchen at the restaurant, which will serve pho, noodle salads (bún), banh mi, sausages, and spring and summer rolls alongside fresh pastries and shaved ice desserts. In addition to coffee, tea, and house-made sodas, look for cocktails using Vietnamese flavors and ingredients from Gilbert as well as beer and French and American wines on the bar menu.
How Crispy
Location: Summerhill, 71 Georgia Avenue
Who: Greg Best, Bart Sasso, chef William Silbernagel, Luke Wilkinson
Projected opening: Late August/early September
A new sandwich shop called How Crispy opens in August along Georgia Avenue’s emerging restaurant row in Summerhill. The walk-up window sandwich joint will serve its signature crispy chicken sandwiches, first introduced through a series of pop-ups hosted at the Summerhill location, as well as other sandwiches. While mainly a takeout operation, there should be some seating at bar stools along the front window of the shop.
Mujo
Location: 691 14th Street, Suite C
Who: Castellucci Hospitality, chef J. Trent Harris
Projected opening: September
Castellucci Hospitality, the restaurant group behind the Iberian Pig and Double Zero, opens an intimate sushi restaurant Mujo next door to its Howell Mill Road restaurant Cooks and Soldiers this summer. The former pop-up, led by New York City sushi chef J. Trent Harris, ran its takeout operation from the kitchen at Cooks and Soldiers for several months last year. In addition to to-go offerings, Mujo’s dinner menu will feature fish sourced from Japan served as both “modern edomae” style sushi (fish typically marinated and preserved for several days) and hot and cold dishes as part of a kappo-style omakase experience. Expect sake, wine, and cocktails from the bar.
Snackboxe Bistro
Location: Duluth, 1960 Day Drive
Who: Chef Thip Athakhanh and Vanh Sengaphone
Projected opening: September
A Duluth location of Snackboxe Bistro opens on Pleasant Hill Road this September. In addition to a full bar and the regular menu found at the Doraville location, look for new dishes in Duluth inspired by the city of Pakse (the capital of Champasak province in southern Laos). However, the main menu attraction in Duluth will be Lao barbecue. A street food staple found in markets throughout Laos, the grilled meats are distinguished by an herbaceous and aromatic caramelization infused with lemongrass, garlic, and zippy hints of citrus. Other street snacks exclusive to Duluth will include fried chicken feet, fried chicken livers, and fried chicken gizzards.