Early details on Doty’s Westside burger project

881

ATL Food Chatter: December 7, 2009
(To receive the Chatter and other culinary tidbits directly in your inbox, sign up for our weekly dining newsletter)


Shaun Doty’s
announcement that he is opening a burger joint on the Westside has created interested chatter in local food circles. Doty—formerly of Mumbo Jumbo and MidCity Cuisine and currently of Shaun’s in Inman Park—is aiming to open his burger spot in April in the White Provision development’s former condo sales office, next to the current location of West Egg. (This is a different White Provision space than where Anne Quantrano was considering a pizza restaurant; that space is apparently still available.)

Doty is still brainstorming with his team on a name that they can trademark, but he says that he has visited burger joints in New York, Chicago—where he really liked Epic Burger—Austin, Texas, and LA in order to develop his concept. Doty notes that, with so many burger concepts these days, what differentiates each restaurant in the key to success. He’s keeping those details under wraps for now, but says that the focus will be on quality of product and price, and that his goal is to bring a “higher level of expertise” to the fast-casual market.

Doty also says he wants to attract everyone from burger lovers to soccer moms with the 2,400 square-foot space being designed by Seiber Designs. He feels that his location is accessible from all parts of town and will become part of the Westside’s exciting growth, which he likens to the energy of Manhattan’s Meatpacking district earlier in the decade. And rather than just being competitors, he believes that his new joint and Richard Blais’ Flip Burger Boutique will create more synergy in the neighborhood.

NEWS AND NOTES:

Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison have been invited to participate in “Cookin’ in the Bluegrass: A Celebrity Chef Dinner Series” in conjunction with the Alltech FEI 2010 World Equestrian Games and sponsored by the James Beard Foundation. The dinner series will be held on-site at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington during the World Equestrian Games, September 25-October 10, 2010.

Alpharetta. Jacksonville-based Woody’s Bar-B-Que is slated to open their first Georgia store at 2500 North Point Court this spring.

Buckhead. Last Monday, press releases went out to Atlanta’s major media outlets announcing Prohibition, a “1920s underground speakeasy” serving serious cocktails and offering a cigar humidor at 56 East Andrews Drive. The on-the-down-low admittance process met with some online skepticism, comparing it to played-out trends on either coast. We’ll see if the concept flies here.

Decatur. HealthyWay Cafe, a Florida-based all-natural fast-casual concept, is slated to open its first Georgia franchise in Decatur in the first half of 2010.

Johns Creek. Garrison’s Broiler & Tap has closed after five years of operation.

Midtown. Hobnob, a beer and casual bites tavern reportedly from the Gilbert’s Cafe team, is slated to open in the former Caribou Cafe spot this January 2010.

Teela Italiano, sibling to the recently opened Teela Taqueria, is slated to open in the former Mambo Italiano space at 227 Sandy Springs Place this winter.

Westside. Abattoir’s lamb liver fritters were named one of the “10 Best Restaurant Dishes $12 and Under” by Food & Wine Magazine.

Question of the Week: What Atlanta restaurant was cited as the example of a 2010 menu trend by Restaurants & Institutions Magazine on their 20 Menu Trends for 2010 list?

P.S.  The answer to last week’s QOTW—What Buckhead Italian spot is rumored to converting to Mexican cuisine this spring?—is Lola. The rumor is that will become Cantina  this spring

Advertisement