Atlanta rapper Lil Baby is set to open his first restaurant in the Atlanta University Center neighborhood.
Located at 880 M.L.K. Jr Drive SW next to the famed Busy Bee restaurant, The Seafood Menu Restaurant & Lounge will " provide a whole new taste experience for seafood enthusiasts at a fraction of the cost,” according to a press release. The restaurant will have a ribbon cutting at noon on July 14, followed by a grand opening celebration from 2-8 p.m.
The menu features seven sauces, including lemon pepper and honey hot sauce, that accompany seafood boils. Other items include lamb chops, salmon, crab rangoon and fried seafood.
Credit: Courtesy of the Seafood Menu
Credit: Courtesy of the Seafood Menu
In a prepared statement, Atlanta native Lil Baby, who was born Dominique Armani Jones, said he decided to get into the restaurant business because restaurants “are one of the few businesses that have lasted for 50 years, standing strong even through the challenges of the pandemic.” He also emphasized the importance of musicians venturing into businesses outside of music “to secure long-term success and create opportunities for future generations.”
He said he hopes to franchise the Seafood Menu and mass produce the restaurant’s sauces.
The space, designed by local Jasmine Smith, features a takeout counter at the front and a dining area with seating for 40, plus 10 seats at the bar.
Opening hours will be noon-midnight Sunday-Thursday and noon-2 a.m. Friday-Saturday.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
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Tickets are now on sale for the 2023 Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, running from Sept. 20-24. The event, which includes Publix’s chef seminars and tasting tents, will again be anchored in Historic Fourth Ward Park in Old Fourth Ward.
Features this year will include Tasting Tents After Dark, featuring drinks from Atlanta mixologists, cocktail establishments, bars and spirits brands; tasting tent experiences including interactive demonstrations and themed competitions; and Gourmet Gatherings, a new series of in-restaurant brunches, lunches and dinners hosted throughout the city.
A portion of proceeds will benefit the school lunch program for Children of Conservation, which supports children in Africa.
Tickets can be purchased here.
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Atlanta brand Gusto will its 13th location this fall in the food hall in the Lee + White mixed-use development in West End, just off the Westside Beltline.
The eatery, which offers healthy build-your-own bowl and wrap options, will be located in an exterior corner of the food hall, with access to greenscape and a large patio space.
Founded in 2014, by Nate Hybl, Gusto has quickly expanded beyond its initial Brookwood Hills location, with locations in Tucker, downtown Atlanta, East Cobb and Decatur.
In addition to Gusto, the food hall will be home to stalls and restaurants including Dough Boy Pizza, Vietvana, Good Azz Burgers, and World Chicken, plus a central bar.
MDH Partners and Ackerman & Co., which acquired Lee + White in September 2019, are continuing to develop the 442,562-square-foot property with a 19-vendor food hall, offices, retail and the “Great Lawn” central gathering and event space.
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Sushi restaurant Omakase Table, which Leonard Yu opened earlier this year at 788 West Marietta St. NW in Atlanta, will launch its beverage menu on July 19.
Veteran bartender Jeff Banks, who has worked in the industry for more than 15 years, will serve as the restaurant’s beverage director.
“Omakase translated in English means ‘I leave it up to you,’ and this opportunity to work with chef Yu gives me a little bit more creative freedom to do what I like,” Banks said in a prepared statement. “With each course, it is chef Yu’s choice and in the same vein, my distinct choice to pair the beverage perfectly to the menu.”
Beverages will include Highball made with Iwai 45 Japanese whisky, and Petite Prelude, a classic Japanese cocktail with a vermouth base.
In addition to Banks’ cocktails, the beverage menu will also include beers, wines and sakes.
Omakase Table will continue to allow guests to bring their own beverages with no corkage fees until July 23.
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Atlas and The Garden Room in Buckhead are featuring new dining experiences through July and early August while their kitchen is being remodeled.
Atlas offers Atlas Underground in the Maisonette Room of the St. Regis Buckhead, with the restaurant’s chef’s tasting menu, along with three-tiered wine pairings from its cellar. In addition, the Tavern at Atlas, the bar area in the front of the Atlas dining room, serves cocktails, mocktails and wine selections from the Atlas cellar, as well as dishes from the Garden Room’s summer staycation pop-up series.
The Papillion Room, Atlas’ private dining room, has become pop-up Choux Box. Created by Atlas executive chef Freddy Money and pastry chef Eric Snow, the concept serves choux pastries and caviar and champagne.
The Garden Room has also introduced its summer staycation pop-up series, a series of “rotating culinary experiences featuring elevated takes on comfort food,” according to a press release.
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Mediterranean-inspired restaurant Karv, which debuted in Chamblee in 2021, is set to open a second location in the Chattahoochee Food Works food hall at the Works on the Upper Westside.
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Viet-Cajun seafood restaurant Girl Diver, which opened in 2020 in Reynoldstown’s Madison Yards development, will debut a speakeasy July 20 offering “an intimate, chic, and unique experience,” according to its Instagram account.
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New York-based taco chain East Coast Street Tacos, has opened its first Georgia location at 3365 Acworth Oaks Drive in Acworth.
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The first Georgia location of cookie chain Dirty Dough is set to open at 920 Marietta Hwy in Roswell this summer, What Now Atlanta reports.
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The Majestic, one of Atlanta’s oldest restaurants, has signed a longterm lease for its space at 1031 Ponce de Leon Ave. NE, Atlanta Business Chronicle reports. The diner, which serves lunch and dinner daily, opened in 1929.
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Friends Prince Omotayo and Akin Awujo are set to open Seventeen 69 Lounge at 1769 Cheshire Bridge Road NE in Atlanta, What Now Atlanta reports. The three-story lounge will feature a rooftop deck, main dining area and private cigar lounge. The Mediterranean-inspired menu will include crab, lamb chops and salmon.
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The Bronx Bagel Buggy will open a brick-and-mortar location at 5490 Peachtree Road in Chamblee, Tomorrow’s News Today reports.. The concept, from Steven Novotny and Julie Dragich, has served bagels and bialys at farmers markets since 2021.
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The owners of the Lawrence, which closed earlier this year at 905 Juniper St. NE in Midtown, are set to open a new concept in the same space, What Now Atlanta reports. Owners Eric Simpkins and Darren Carr also own Bon Ton and cocktail bar the Waiting Room, also in Midtown. They closed diner Wonderkid in the Atlanta Dairies development last year.
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Derek Dollar has joined the team at the Mill Kitchen & Bar in Roswell as executive chef and managing partner. He previously worked at Milton’s Cuisine and Cocktails in Milton.
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