The team behind Das BBQ restaurant with locations in Grant Park and west Midtown has launched a new concept on the Eastside Beltline.
Das Cantina, a Tex-Mex kiosk situated in a converted shipping container, opened earlier this month at 700 Rankin St. at the main pavilion of New City Properties’ Fourth Ward project. Das Cantina uses and transports smoked meats from Das BBQ’s Grant Park location to the DAS Cantina kiosk, where tacos and other items, including brisket tacos, brisket nachos, quesadillas, and pork and chicken street tacos are assembled and served to guests. Other options include veggie tacos and queso, as well as sides like cream corn and pinto beans.
Credit: Courtesy of Das Cantina
Credit: Courtesy of Das Cantina
Owner and pitmaster Stephen Franklin said Das Cantina will also be serving alcoholic beverages in the coming weeks. Opening hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays.
Franklin plans to expand Das Cantina with two additional kiosk locations near the Grant Park store and one near the original west Midtown location, as well as open a third brick-and-mortar location in Peachtree City or Newnan.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Das Cantina was originally set to launch as part of an adaptive-reuse project across two buildings at the corner of 12th Street and Piedmont Avenue in Midtown, formerly home to Skate Escape skate shop. Known as 12th & Everything, the project was also set to be home to PMA Coffee from Tic Tac Coffee truck owner Danielle Glasky.
Franklin said the decision not to move on Piedmont Avenue forward in that space freed him up to explore the shipping container business model.
“We wanted to find a low-cost point of entry,” he said. “This way, we can be somewhere for three months or three years. We can have a nomadic experience.” He said he hopes to inspire aspiring chefs who might want to start their own food businesses but don’t have the resources to launch a brick-and-mortar or ever rent a stall in a food hall.
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Credit: Courtesy of Zocalo
Credit: Courtesy of Zocalo
Damian Otero and Miguel Hernandez, owners of local Mexican chain Rreal Tacos, have acquired a majority stake in Midtown restaurant restaurant Zócalo.
Zocalo owners chef Lucero Martinez-Obregon and brothers Marco and Luis Martinez opened the restaurant in 1995 in a former gas station, with a menu of dishes from the brothers’ mother.
Otero and Hernandez are not planning drastic changes. They will bring back some of the original recipes and iconic dishes from Zócalo’s earlier days and add a couple of margaritas. The Martinez brothers will still be active in the day-to-day operations of the eatery.
“We want to bring in new energy and new systems, without taking control from our partners,” Otero said in a prepared statement.
Otero and Hernandez have been expanding Rreal Tacos at a rapid clip over the past year, with locations in Midtown, west Midtown, Chamblee, Sandy Springs and Cumming, with plans for at least one new location in Buckhead.
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Buzz Coffee and Winehouse has closed at 2315 Cascade Road in the Cascade Heights neighborhood after nearly five years. Owner Tremayne Perry did not immediately respond to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s multiple requests for more information on the closure.
More restaurant news from the week
El Malo opens at Atlanta Dairies
Tin Lizzy’s closes in Grant Park
Cocktail bar Okay Anny’s to open in Dunwoody
Henry’s Midtown to close this month in Midtown
“Eatertainment” concept Jaguar Bolera to open in Dunwoody
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