???? Year-end restaurant closures

Best New Restaurants + Dunwoody Drive-Thru Drama

Dec. 4 — For today’s Side Dish, we’re diving into our Best New Restaurants of 2025 winners, plus stories on Alma Cocina’s Buckhead closure and the latest twist in Dunwoody’s drive-thru drama.

 In other Atlanta dining news, get opening details on Lewis Barbecue at Ansley Mall, a 24/7 Whataburger in Marietta, and The Westwood neighborhood bar in Westview. There’s also some sad restaurant closure news. Plus, we have some dining events to add to your calendar, such as Christmas on Cascade and a World Cup draw watch party at Brewhouse Cafe.

 In case you missed it in your inbox on Tuesday evening, here’s a link to the latest edition of “Family Meal“. In it, Beth breaks down the most-read dining stories of 2025, including stories on The Colonnade, Your DeKalb Farmers Market, and the year’s biggest restaurant openings. And Sarra shares a recipe for Danbi Seasonal Kitchen’s roasted kabocha squash with miso glaze. 

Cheers!

 Beth and  Sarra

Have You Heard?

 Restaurant Openings

Whataburger opened this week in Marietta. The Sandy Plains Road location is open 24/7, includes a double drive-thru, and serves breakfast from 11 p.m.-11 a.m. No, that’s not a typo. That’s late-night breakfast hours, folks.

Neighborhood bar The Westwood opened in Westview for food, drinks, and pool last week. Check out the food menu here and drinks menu here. 

Buckhead gained another steakhouse this month with the opening of Luella in the former Ivy space. Owned by Revival Restaurant Group – the same group behind The Ivy and Family Dog in Atlanta, and Little Betty in Birmingham – Luella is named for the owners’ daughters. Check out the menu here. 

A location of Yemeni coffee shop Haraz is now open on Spring Street in Midtown. 

The Local Tavern is now open at the Briar Vista Shopping Center in North Druid Hills. The neighborhood bar and restaurant is owned by the team behind Local on North in Duluth. 

The much-anticipated Atlanta location of Lewis Barbecue will officially open at Ansley Mall on Dec. 8. Look for a story on the barbecue joint’s debut online at Rough Draft next week. 

Coming Attraction

The owners behind 26 Thai, Pink Lotus, and Blackjack Bar will open Khao Thai Isan next year at The Mitchell in South Downtown. Part of the Centennial Yards development, expect Isan Thai street food and shareable small plates at Khao Thai. 

Restaurant Closures

Dish Korean Cuisine closed last month at the City Farmers Market complex on Buford Highway, also home to Food Terminal. 

The Atlanta location of Savannah-based Zunzi’s sandwich shop is now closed after seven years on Howell Mill Road. 

Bar Sale

Longtime downtown Atlanta watering hole Park Bar has sold in what real estate brokerage firm The Shumacher Group called a “blockbuster $2 million deal.” It’s unclear what the new owner has planned for the bar. The listing states new ownership has the right to “keep or convert.”

Add to Your Calendar 

Atlanta’s Latin American Association will partner with Georgia Agape Youth and Family Center to host a pop-up grocery and free food distribution event on Dec. 5. Fulton County SNAP Emergency Response donated $20,000 to the event, along with frozen meal donations from Urban Recipe. From 11 a.m.-1 p.m., up to 250 families can drive through or walk up during the food drive to receive packaged groceries.

People seeking a spot to watch the World Cup draw on Dec. 5 should make their way to Brewhouse Cafe in Little Five Points. Friday’s festivities begin at 12 p.m., with the announcement televised live on the big screens. In March, Men in Blazers named Brewhouse Cafe “the best soccer bar in the U.S.” A second, larger location of Brewhouse Cafe opens next year in South Downtown ahead of the World Cup in Atlanta. 

Cascade Heights coffee shop Cafe Bartique will host Christmas on Cascade on Dec. 6, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Look for seasonal sweets, drinks, opportunities to take photos with Santa, and a holiday market on the patio of neighboring Natalie Bianca restaurant. Free to attend. 

Weekly food festival Smorgasburg Atlanta kicks off the holidays on Dec. 6 with seasonal retail vendors, festive cocktails, and chances to snap photos with Santa. Smorgasburg operates every Saturday from South Downtown through Dec. 20. Smorgasburg will return for another season in South Downtown in March 2026. 

Celebrate the Holidays in Buckhead this weekend

SPONSORED BY LIVABLE BUCKHEAD

This Sat., Dec. 6, Livable Buckhead hosts a day of free, festive fun around Buckhead Village District.

· Decorate wreaths that will add holiday cheer to all 43 Atlanta fire stations and police precincts. (Noon-2 p.m.)

· Join the hot chocolate crawl in Buckhead Village District (4-7 p.m.). Sip hot chocolate or a cocktail and enjoy live music.

· Listen to holiday classics during the lighting of Buckhead’s tree in Charlie Loudermilk Park at 7:30 p.m.

 Join the festivities!

Top Stories From the Week

Atlanta’s Best New Restaurants of 2025

 Yesterday, we announced the winners of Rough Draft’s Best New Restaurants, an eating and reviewing endeavor that took months in order to compile the final list.

Many meals and debates later, we narrowed a list of dozens of contenders down to just 11 standout restaurants (and one collaboration) that kept capturing our attention this year. 

Best New Restaurants (overall)

1. Avize (Westside)
2. Danbi Seasonal Kitchen (Brookhaven)
3. Madeira Park (Poncey-Highland)
4. Sammy’s (Adair Park)
5. Tipsy Thaiger (Roswell)

Best of Brookhaven
Danbi’s Seasonal Kitchen

Best of Dunwoody
Yaba’s Bagels

Best of Sandy Springs
Nonna Dora’s Italian Eatery

Best of Tucker
Nicky’s Undefeated

Best New Bar
Lucky Star (Star Metals/Howell Mill)

Best Collaboration
The New South (chef collective)

Community Spirit Award
Minhwa Spirits (Doraville)

 Read more about each of our winners, plus your Readers’ Choice winners here.

Alma Cocina saying farewell to Buckhead  

Nearly six years after opening on Peachtree Road, Fifth Group will close the Buckhead location of its contemporary Mexican and Latin American restaurant, Alma Cocina, on Dec. 20.

Alma Cocina’s Buckhead location opened two months before the COVID-19 pandemic began. Fifth Group CEO Steve Simon said the location wasn’t able to regain its pre-COVID numbers, which ultimately led to the decision to close in Buckhead.

But Simon noted that Alma Cocina’s original location at 191 Peachtree Towers is doing extremely well and there’s no fear of that restaurant closing any time soon. 

 Sarra has the full scoop on the Buckhead closure here. 

Dunwoody raises concerns, nixes Raising Cane’s drive-thru permit

 Rough Draft’s Cathy Cobbs has been following this Dunwoody drive-thru drama for weeks. It all came to a head on Monday night when the Dunwoody City Council refused to grant a Special Land Use Permit (SLUP) to allow a drive-thru at the new Raising Cane’s on Ashford Dunwoody Road. 

A staff memo summarizing the SLUP request recommended the denial of the drive-thru application for a number of reasons, including concerns over the proximity of its curb cut to a nearby McDonald’s and traffic congestion. 

Representatives from Raising Cane’s clapped back saying that the company counts on revenue generated from drive-thrus, making this decision less than ideal for the fast-food chain. 

We have a feeling the drive-thru saga in Dunwoody will continue into 2026. 

 Read more from Cathy here. 

At the Market + Two Recipes

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH COMMUNITY FARMERS MARKETS

The weather is getting colder, but we’re here to keep you warm! Every week, Rough Draft Atlanta and Community Farmers Markets are partnering to bring you two recipes you can making using ingredients from your local farmers market. This week, we’ve got tasty miso soup and a hearty loaded sweet potato. Check out both recipes here.

Today’s Side Dish was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.

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