Editor’s note: This story was been updated March 3 with a statement from DeKalb Public Health.
East Atlanta Village food hall Qommunity abruptly closed on Feb. 28.
The food hall at 479 Flat Shoals Ave. was owned by Quynh “Q” Trinh, who also operated Vietnamese restaurant We Suki Suki in the space. Qommunity was home to Chicago beef pop-up Tony’s for about three months, Ethiopian eatery Ruki’s Kitchen for almost two years and Mexican concept Las Tres Salsas for about five months. Also located in the food hall are Poke Burri and Lifting Noodles Ramen, which opened in 2016 and 2018 respectively, when Qommunity was known as Global Grub Collective.
Tony Kerr, owner of Tony’s, and Ali Lemma, owner of Ruki’s Kitchen, said they vacated their stalls on Feb. 28 after Trinh told them she was closing and changing the locks on the building.
Lemma shared his account of the events leading up to closure on the Ruki’s Kitchen Instagram account:
Trinh told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Qommunity has closed and her lawyer will reach out to Kerr and Lemma next week with information on how they can get their security deposits back. She said she initially told Kerr and Lemma she was declaring Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which is when a business liquidates its assets, but decided to dissolve the business instead.
Trinh said she made a verbal agreement with Seven Chan, who owns Lifting Noodles Ramen and Poke Burri with partner Ken Yu, to take over her lease on the space. Chan declined the AJC’s request for comment. Eatavision, Trinh’s movie-themed pop-up, will continue to operate under new leadership. Las Tres Salsas bought out the lease for the counter space next to the food hall, where concepts like MikChan’s and We Suki Suki previously operated, and will reopen.
She also addressed the closure in posts on Facebook and Instagram, though she’s since deleted her Instagram account:
Credit: We Suki Suki Facebook page
Credit: We Suki Suki Facebook page
Trinh said problems with health department permitting, which arose Wednesday, in addition to her own health issues contributed to her decision to close the food hall.
DeKalb Public Health has not issued any orders for Qommunity to close. However, the department has been conducting an ongoing investigation of Qommunity, which is why one of its inspectors visited the establishment Wednesday.
According to a spokesperson for DeKalb Public Health, “The purpose of our visit to this facility was to determine whether they are operating an unlicensed shared kitchen instead of the restaurant which they were permitted for; as well as to determine what they must do in order to come into compliance with Georgia Food Service Rules and Regulations.”
In 2015, Trinh opened Global Grub Collective but dissolved it in late 2021 and replaced it with Qommunity.
Credit: Courtesy of Tony's
Credit: Courtesy of Tony's
Though Kerr was quickly booked for a pop-up on March 3 at Bookhouse Pub in Poncey-Highland following the closure and is exploring other opportunities, “there’s small businesses in there that you screwed over with this,” he said.
Credit: Ruki's Kitchen
Credit: Ruki's Kitchen
Lemma said he’ll continue doing pop-ups at Punk Foodie at Ponce City Market as well as catering and festival gigs.
“I put my all into this, literally for the last two years, day and night, I built this business from the ground,” Lemma said. “So it just sucks because, and I’m just speaking for me, but we did everything right, like we’ve brought so much culture and coolness to that space.”
Sign up for the AJC Food and Dining Newsletter
Read more stories like this by liking Atlanta Restaurant Scene on Facebook, following @ATLDiningNews on Twitter and @ajcdining on Instagram.
About the Author
