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A sneak peek inside the new Meehan's Public House downtown
 Posted
2/26/2010 10:02:00 AM
Various distinguished Atlantans braved the buzz saws and the clusters of
construction workers hammering away for the first look inside the new
Meehan's Public House downtown Thursday afternoon.
And then Dish showed up, donned a hardhat and peeked in for a looksee
too.
Leading the tour was 101 Concepts partner Chris Segal, who's
understandably excited to bring the company's third Meehan's location to
180 Peachtree Street.
The building is the site of the late, lamented Macy's building.
Walking across a 100-year-old heartpine floor acquired from an old
cotton mill in Thomaston, Segal told the tour: "We tried to recycle as
many things as possible to make this as green as we could."
The mens room entrance, for example, is a former front door (complete
with mail slot) discovered at the Scott Antique Market.
Vintage chairs, an old courtroom table and even a shoeshine booth are
awaiting installation in the 180-seat eatery.
Segal said he had to sell his 101 Concepts partners on the idea of
venturing downtown with the Meehan's concept.
"When you visit downtown areas in other cities, there's a vibrancy there
that Atlanta is still working on," he explained. "We wanted to add
something new for the downtown visitor in addition to Hooters and Hard
Rock Cafe. We wanted to bring the friendliness of an Irish pub to
Peachtree."
Well, a traditional Irish pub with LED flat screen TVs, free WiFi and a
private dining room with a breath-taking stained glass sky light scored
in Augusta.
While Meehan's menu mainstays like the famous Guinness battered fish and
chips will have a prominent place on the menu downtown, chef Jordan
Wakefield will also be bringing his love for the farm-to-table
concept to the new Meehan's as well.
"I've already got local organic produce purveyors set up and locally
caught seafood as well," Wakefield told Dish. "I'm also looking at
adding things like prime rib to cater to the downtown crowd. I want to
take something simple and improve on it."
Wilma Sothern, Central Atlanta Progress vice-president for
marketing, was impressed by what she saw on the tour.
"It's going to make a terrific addition to downtown," she said. "And the
original integrity of the building remains too. It was great to walk
down Peachtree recently and walk right up an Irish pub. They took great
strides to work the pub into the building's facade."
With the build out continuing 24/7 on the space, Meehan's fans can look
forward to an early March opening.
Just between us?
The doors just might swing open as early as next week for a soft
opening. . .
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Richard L. Eldredge
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Very cool to have a new restaurant in the 180 building. That block has gone too long without a store front. It'll be interesting to see if this kind of atmosphere/menu will appeal to the crowds downtown.
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Posted By
Darin
On
2/26/2010 3:12:02 PM
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It's "heart pine", not "hard pine".
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Posted By
downtown worker
On
2/26/2010 2:07:28 PM
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