Fares Kargar, the owner of popular Inman Park restaurant Delbar, is set to open a new concept inside mixed-use development Ponce City Market.
Bibi is set to open this summer on the first floor of the Central Food Hall, in the space vacated by Marrakesh Market when it closed last month.
Bibi’s menu will feature fast-casual Persian fare including rice bowls, kabobs, salads, dips, pastries and barbary sandwiches.
Beverage offerings, curated by Delbar beverage director Francis Coligado, will include teas, juices, floral waters and cocktails on draft, highlighting Persian ingredients and spices.
Designed by Archie Bolden, Bibi “will feature the same soft, earth-toned plaster walls, lush greenery and natural wood tones that Delbar has become known for,” according to a press release. Look for “bright pops of color nestled within geometric shapes and playful lines, dried florals and soft timber elements.”
Bibi, which translates roughly to “powerful, kindhearted female leader in the community,” according to a press release, is a nod to Kargar’s mother, aunts and grandmother, who helped raise him and train him in the kitchen.
Credit: Archie Bolden
Credit: Archie Bolden
Kargar left his native Iran at 17, eventually landing in Atlanta, where he earned a degree in hospitality from Georgia State University while working at several restaurants, including Rumi’s Kitchen. He opened Delbar in 2020, with a menu featuring dishes like lamb-neck shawarma, trout stuffed with pomegranate, walnuts and herbs, hummus and tahdig.
The Central Food Hall at Ponce City Market is in the middle of a major expansion, with the recent opening of Nani’s Piri Piri Chicken, Vietvana Noodle House, Atrium and several other concepts set to open in the coming months including Spicewalla and Umbrella Bar.
Existing Ponce City Market food and beverage concepts include Sweetgreen, Bar Vegan and Eleven TLC as well as longer-term tenants like H&F Burger, Farm to Ladle and Ton Ton.
The expansion was announced in late 2020, with plans to add a four-story office building, additional shopping and dining space surrounding an outdoor courtyard and 400 units of what developer Jamestown described as “hospitality living.”
The existing development includes offices — more than 5,200 people work at Ponce City Market — and residential units in addition to dining and shopping.
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Several months after closing in its original location on Cherokee Avenue across from Zoo Atlanta, Grant Park Coffeehouse is returning to its namesake neighborhood with a cafe in the C.L. Chosewood building at the corner of Grant Street and Georgia Avenue.
The coffee shop closed its Cherokee Avenue location Sept. 29 after 11 years, and weeks later opened at 8 Park Place South in downtown Atlanta. Grant Park Coffeehouse serves a variety of coffee drinks, wraps, sandwiches and pastries.
Biscuit shop Howdy ATL is set to open in the Cherokee Avenue space this spring.
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Bike-themed coffee shop Good Coffee Bike Shop is slated to open in the coming months at 3947 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road in Suwanee, What Now Atlanta reports.
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Vegan barbecue restaurant Grass VBQ Joint has closed its location in Stone Mountain, Eater Atlanta reports and owner Terry Sargent announced on Instagram. Grass VBQ opened in Stone Mountain in December 2020 after functioning as a pop-up around town since 2019. Sagent is currently selling his plant-based food in the Triton Yards food truck park, and plans to open a ghost kitchen in the Oak Street Eats building in West End later this month. The Stone Mountain building will serve as a catering kitchen for Grass VBQ.
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Seafood chain Crab du Jour opened its first metro Atlanta location last month at The Gallery at South DeKalb.
The restaurant is known for its Ultimate Seafood Boil where guests can pick the seafood, sauce and spice level. Other menu items include po’boys, wings, burgers and hush puppies.
Crab du Jour has more than 80 locations in the US, in states including Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virigina.
More restaurant and brewery news
Schoolhouse Brewing opening location near Emory
Dugan’s closing on Ponce de Leon Avenue, reopening at Northlake
Root Baking Co. closing at Ponce City Market
Okiboru opening location in Buckhead
Mac’s Raw Bar & Market opening on the Marietta Square
Whataburger opening multiple locations in metro Atlanta
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