Metro Atlanta brewery Wild Heaven Beer is set to debut its third location early next year, and is partnering with a familiar name to run its food program.
Wild Heaven will open at 2935B N Druid Hills Road NE in the Toco Hills Shopping Center, with an onsite brewery, distillery and taproom, as well as a kitchen operated by well-known Atlanta barbecue restaurant Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q.
Josh Franks, who has been promoted from head brewer to brewmaster for the Toco Hills location, will brew a series of beers unique to the new taproom, alongside Wild Heaven favorites like Emergency Drinking Beer, Sunburst IPA, White Blackbird Saison and Euro-Style Pilsner. Eric Johnson, who co-founded Wild Heaven in 2010 with Nick Purdy as a contract brewery, will continue to oversee beverage operations and distribution across all Wild Heaven locations.
Purdy told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he and Johnson are “excited to give Josh the opportunity to just create and see what he comes up with.”
Credit: Credit: Chris Rank/ Rank Studios
Credit: Credit: Chris Rank/ Rank Studios
In addition to brewing, Wild Heaven is also planning to distill spirits onsite to use in cocktails and launch a farm winery program, something that will eventually be rolled out at all three locations. The idea behind farm winery is to support Georgia agriculture, using a certain percentage of grapes or honey from growers in the state to create products. As part of its own program, Wild Heaven will likely be buying wine from Georgia producers to create its own blends.
On the food side, the partnership with Fox Bros. was “the no-brainer to end all no-brainers,” Purdy said. Though the menu has yet to be finalized, guests can expect to find the meats Fox Bros. is known for smoked onsite, including brisket, pulled pork, and wings, along with some dishes that will be specific to the Toco Hills location.
Credit: Courtesy of Andrew Thomas Lee
Credit: Courtesy of Andrew Thomas Lee
Along with a kitchen, taproom and areas for brewing and distilling, the 5240-square-foot facility will also feature a “brewery bar” with a view of the brewing operations, along with a special event space.
Incorporated into the space will be a couple of remnants of Petite Auberge, the French restaurant that closed in Toco Hills in 2016 after more than 40 years (it later reopened on Clairmont Road as Petite Violette). A fireplace that was part of Petite Auberge’s banquet hall will be located in Wild Heaven’s taproom, and the brewery plans to use the restaurant’s wood and glass doors in the space.
The building surrounds a courtyard that will be redeveloped into a patio. Construction is expected to start in late summer.
Purdy, who said he has “warm memories” of growing up coming to Toco Hills in the late 1970s, was stunned to find out that there was a “kind of secret courtyard” tucked into Toco Hills Shopping Center. The space, coupled with the chance to “fill a void” in the Toco Hills area, quickly sold Purdy and Johnson on the third location for Wild Heaven.
Credit: Courtesy of @moderndayfoodies
Credit: Courtesy of @moderndayfoodies
“If you would have asked Eric and I years ago, would you ever go into a shopping center, I don’t think we would have thought that would have made sense for a brewery,” Purdy said. “But times have changed, and what people are interested in has changed, and creating these fun spaces has been really rewarding for us.”
The Toco Hills brewery will mark the second DeKalb County location for Wild Heaven, which opened its first taproom in Avondale Estates in 2014, followed by a second location in the Lee + White development in West End in 2019. Nick Purdy and Eric Johnson began contract brewing under the Wild Heaven name in 2010.
Twin brothers Justin and Jonathan Fox opened the original Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q at 1238 DeKalb Ave. NE more than 15 years ago, then added a standalone barbecue kiosk known as the “Que-osk”, along with a commissary facility, in 2016 in the Armour Yards development, followed by a location at The Works development on the Upper Westside. Fox Bros.’ food is also served in the Terrapin Taproom at Truist Park.
Located at the intersection of North Druid Hills and LaVista Roads, Toco Hills Shopping Center — owned and operated by real estate developer Edens — has undergone a major overhaul over the past few years.
Other food and beverage concepts at the shopping center include the Queso Shop, Spiller Park Coffee, Iron Age Korean Steakhouse, Salaryman, Chop’t Creative Salad Company, Goldberg’s Bagels, Masti - Indian Street Eats, La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant, Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe, La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant and Top Spice Thai and Malaysian.
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