Cousins Maine Lobster, to open June 21 at Lenox Square, across from ATL Taco, will be the third sit-down restaurant and the first on the East Coast for the business, which is made up primarily of food trucks.
The franchise location will be owned and operated by Tony Harrison, who currently runs two Cousins Maine Lobster Atlanta food trucks.
Founded by cousins Sabin Lomac and Jim Tselikis as a single food truck in California in 2012, Cousins got a $55,000 investment from Barbara Corcoran when the men appeared on ABC show "Shark Tank", and have since launched more than 20 food trucks nationwide.
Cousins has continued to expand with an e-commerce business offering as well as a book on entrepreneurship penned by Tselikis and Lomac, who both grew up in Maine.
Tselikis said Atlanta made sense as the site for one of Cousins' first sit-down restaurants because of Harrison's already established dedication to the brand.
Credit: Yvonne Zusel
Credit: Yvonne Zusel
"We were looking not just for the best markets, but the best operators and franchisees," he said. "And Atlanta is a great market."
He said while malls can be "hit or miss" as spots to enter a new market, Lenox Square "has a little bit of something for everyone" and that it's unique in that it attracts both locals and tourists.
He added that an entrance accessible from the mall parking lot will also help customers to easily locate Cousins.
The menu features a variety of lobster and seafood-based dishes including rolls, sandwiches, salads and soups. Cousins' lobster is all sourced from the Gulf of Maine and has a 24-48 hour turnaround from the ocean floor to the trucks and restaurants.
Tselikis said efforts are continuously made to make the lobster harvest as sustainable as possible, from using biodegradable traps to throwing back lobsters that are too small or too big.
"Efforts are being made in order to give back to the resource," he said.
Cousins will be open from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday.
Scroll down to take a look at the full menu for Cousins Maine Lobster
Credit: Yvonne Zusel
Credit: Yvonne Zusel
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