A Longtime Sandy Springs Pub Closes, While an Alpharetta Restaurant Changes Ownership

Longtime bar and pub the Rusty Nail is now closed after 44 years in Sandy Springs. Last call for the Roswell Road pub just south of the Chattahoochee River took place on August 20. According to Tomorrow’s New Today, the property is currently under contract and a portion of that property is slated to become a new restaurant. No further details are available at this time.

The Rusty Nail first opened in 1974 along Buford Highway, billing itself as the South’s version of the television bar “Cheers” and serving burgers, barbecue, and beer with a colorful cast of characters at the bar. The Roswell Road location followed four years later, serving a similar menu and offering up the same neighborhood dive bar vibes. The Buford Highway location remains open. [FB/TNT]

Downtown Alpharetta restaurant changes hands amid sale

Brothers Ryan and Dan Pernice have sold their lone downtown Alpharetta restaurant Coalition Food and Beverage. The restaurant was sold to Ana Leddon, owner of Hola Taqueria and Bar and Monterrey Mexican Restaurant on Holcomb Bridge Road, and chef Ruben Sequra of Hugo’s Oyster Bar in Roswell, according to a listing from the Shumacher Group. It’s unclear what Leddon and Sequra have planned for the menu at Coalition in the future or if any changes are in store for the space.

The Pernice brothers, who also own critically acclaimed restaurants Table and Main and Osteria Mattone in historic downtown Roswell, opened Coalition Food and Beverage in 2018 as a classic American diner on Canton Street in Alpharetta. Coalition’s menu centered on burgers, sandwiches, steak entrees, and desserts like a banana split. The pair recently opened their third Roswell restaurant, Spanish-Latin restaurant Casa Robles, which took over the former Whiskey Project space on Oak Street. [SG/Eater]

Baker Sarah Dodge is opening her own bakery in Poncey-Highland

After running her micro-bakery and bread delivery service Bread is Good from a communal kitchen in Inman Park, baker Sarah Dodge is finally opening a permanent bakery of her own. Located in the small retail strip next door to the former Highland Inn on North Highland Avenue, Colette Bread will serve as home base for Dodge’s wholesale pastry and bread-making operation and will include retail space for on-site purchases.

Dodge raised over $100,000 from several investors through crowdsourcing loan platform Honeycomb to gain the necessary funds to open Colette Bread, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. The design of the bakery is being handled by Atlanta-based Square Feet Studio. Colette Bread, part of the Otto’s Apartment Hotel redevelopment, is expected to open some time this fall. [ABC/IG]