Last week, the Breakfast Boys in College Park welcomed guests to a gala ribbon-cutting and grand opening party hosted by Mayor Bianca Motley Broom and model, television personality and actress Cynthia Bailey.
Credit: Mia Yakel
Credit: Mia Yakel
Wyche previously owned and operated Social House on Howell Mill Road, and helped conceive several other breakfast- and brunch-oriented restaurants around Atlanta, including Breakfast at Barney’s, and Gocha’s Breakfast Bar. He met the Smallses when he consulted on their first restaurant, Virgil’s Gullah Kitchen and Bar, which opened in 2019, just three blocks away on Main Street.
Credit: Mia Yakel
Credit: Mia Yakel
“When he helped on Virgil’s, we just had really good chemistry, so we always talked about doing a project together,” Gee Smalls said during a conversation one morning at a table at the Breakfast Boys. “Lorenzo is huge on breakfast, and he found this place, and brought us in, and asked us if we were ready to go. And we were, so here we are. It was Lorenzo’s vision, and he brought us in to make a marriage, basically.”
Credit: Mia Yakel
Credit: Mia Yakel
“It’s kind of interesting that he consulted on Virgil’s when we opened, and now we’re kind of switching roles, and we’re more like the consulting partners on this,” Juan Smalls said. “We come in and we say, ‘I like that. I don’t really like that. That needs to stay on the menu. That could probably be changed.’”
“I’ll be honest, because I do restaurant consulting, I get a rare opportunity to meet a lot of restaurant owners, and entrepreneurs who are successful in other businesses, and then go into the restaurant business,” Wyche said. “But of all of them I’ve worked with, Gee and Juan are the most switched on. They have charisma and natural instincts. So I knew if we had a chance to work together, it would be successful.”
Credit: Mia Yakel
Credit: Mia Yakel
Breakfast and brunch have always been popular in Atlanta, as anyone who’s stood in a long line on a Saturday or Sunday morning knows. But from Wyche’s point of view, restaurants like the Breakfast Boys are part of a larger trend.
Credit: Mia Yakel
Credit: Mia Yakel
“We went into a category that’s thriving,” he said. “Not just locally in Atlanta with brunch, but also nationally. It’s not just places like First Watch, it’s McDonald’s doing all-day breakfast now. So we went into a category that customers are clamoring for, and that market is so big.”
The Breakfast Boys space — which was formerly the all-day Greek cafe, Kafenio, and Our Place Bakery Cafe, before that — has been transformed to present a cozier and more whimsical style, with touches of a French brasserie, and a bright blue neon sign that reads “Brunch is a good idea.”
Credit: Mia Yakel
Credit: Mia Yakel
The style of the food and drink matches that with substantial and indulgent dishes like Jerk Chicken and Sweet Potato Waffles, Green Eggs and Lamb, Coffee Rubbed Steak and Eggs, and Pineapple Upside Down French Toast.
Credit: Mia Yakel
Credit: Mia Yakel
“Really, it’s the ultimate brunch experience,” Wyche said. “For a long time in the creative world, it was less is more. All the chefs were saying do less on the plate. Let the ingredients speak. But we’re going the opposite direction. We said more is more.
“So when you look at the design, we went with big, bold stripes, big patterns, gingham, globe lights. We wanted the space to pop, and we wanted the food to complement that. We wanted a fun atmosphere with cocktails and Champagne and mimosas.”
Credit: Mia Yakel
Credit: Mia Yakel
Asked about the restaurant’s relationship to College Park, Wyche said, “We wanted to melt into the community but still be a destination where folks will come from all over. It’s Georgia’s biggest little city. I used to live over here. From my doorstep to my dad’s doorstep in Brooklyn was two-and-a-half hours on a flight. It’s one of the best locations in Atlanta, and we just want to make people curious about what we’re doing here.”
DINING OUT
8 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays-Sundays.
Dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering. Masks required.
3387 Main St., College Park. 470-312-2108, eatatbreakfastboys.com.
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