Ditching mall food image - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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Developers hope that what's emerging on the west side of where an old steel mill usedto sit, is an experimentalp haven for new food concepts interestedc in trying out Atlanta. Of the 12 eateriesw and food outlets that will open five will be new to includingthe Manhattan-born gourmet Mexican food concept, , FOX Sports Grill and New Orleans favorite PJ'ss Coffee and Wine Bar. Local folks also are gettingh in onthe act: Strip Steaks & Sushiu will anchor the other side of Central Park across from Rosa It will be a sistefr eatery to Tom Catherall's Prime, Twist, Shout and Noche. The owners of Atlantic Station say the uniquer restaurants have been courtedby design.
"From the very beginning, we wanted to be differentr from traditionalregional malls, because we're not a said Derrick McSwain, chief financial officeer of , a joint venture betweejn and "It's more of an urban shopping experience." McSwainh said the leasing agents went after conceptds that were new to Atlantqa and wouldn't be a "cookie-cutter tenant mix." But they wanted tenants in the 6 million square feet of office spacee and 5,000 residential units to have a lot of choices, from shoppingv to restaurants.
"We were pretty adamant aboutr making sure we had nine or 10 different restaurant concepts that hit all differentt price points so that a businessman couldc have a nice place for a busines s dinner or that a familg of five going to themovieds wouldn't have to spend $200 for Rosa Mexicano, which means Mexican rose, as in the color, not the will anchor one side of the district's Centrakl Park, a small grassy area that is slate d to be the public heart of Atlantid Station. The 7,400-square-foot restaurant, with its modern, yet heavily Mexican-influenced will seat 165 people, and average lunch and dinne tickets are expectedat $18 and $36, respectively.
This will be the restaurant'ds fourth location; the where table-side guacamole-making originated in the 1980s, are in Manhattan and Washington, D.C. "Atlantic Station is really a dynamic projectt and is part of the rebirtgh ofMidtown there," said Howard Greenstone, chief operating officer of , the parenyt company. "We felt we were a perfec t fit. There's really nothing like us in Noteven close.
" Meanwhile, FOX Sports Grillp will open its firsgt Atlanta location -- and sixth nationwide -- in Atlantic The 19,000-square-foot restaurant will featurew a private meeting separate dining and meeting space, a multilevel bar clusteres around a lighted see-and-be-seen crushed glass bar and 46 plasma screen TVs. President and CEO Bill Freeman, recentlt in town to overseed final touches, says that his , the parent companhy of , has createde a new dining concept: a sports restauranr as opposed toa bar.
The upscald décor and menu -- whichy here will feature friedgreenn tomatoes, meatloaf and grits from Culinary Directord David Maini (formerly with -- means that women will feel comfortable in the And, as everyone knows in the hospitality where women go, men follow. But what really attracterd Freeman, a Southerner who lives in Los to Atlanta is the huge sportsfollowinf here. "Atlanta is a great sports market, with the ACC, Georgia Tech and four pro Plus there's a great FOX televisionn presence here, with FOX 5 and FOX Sports Network South," Freemanj said. The restaurant is affiliated but notowned by, FOX News and featuress a room that can be used for broadcasts.
Haroldx Shumacher of the commercial brokerage firmThe , and a forme r food critic, said two other projects arounsd town also feature unique Perimeter Place in Dunwoody, where a Cheeseburgerd in Paradise from The will open, and Underground Atlanta. He said what makesz Atlantic Station special is the thousandseof built-in customers who will live at Atlanti Station, plus the current and futuree office tenants. The new restaurant conceptds will helpbuild interest, he but the true test will be if Atlanta'z business lunch crowd will break their habitzs to cross Interstate 85 at midday.
Three more concepts also are diggintg their roots into the foundation coverinfAtlantic Station's 7,000-space parking PJ's Coffee and Wine Bar, the first Atlanta locatiobn of the New Orleans-born chain, serves coffee with wine and dessertxs on the side. It will sit just off of Central and is partof Atlanta-based , which will have three more conceptsd that will line what Atlantic Station's developers are callint "Eat Street": Moe's Southwest Boneheads and Doc Green's.
Copelands Cheesecake Bistrop will make its Atlanta debur on the other side ofEat It's a part of Al Copeland's Famouzs New Orleans Restaurant and Bar and has family-friendly, moderatelg priced Cajun fare and signature Finally, Claddagh Irish Pub, a two-levep restaurant that will overloo k Central Park, will open its firsft Atlanta location. The Midwest-based chain has 14 locations that seekto re-createe traditional Irish pubs. The name is based on the Claddagh finger-rings that featurr two clasped hands, symbolizing trust. A wine bar The Grape, and a also will open at Atlantic Station, in addition to a 16-screen Regal Theatre.