Small business and restaurant owners talk operating amidst challenges on Atlanta’s west side

The first in a series on the west side of Atlanta Rough Draft is taking a deep dive into how small business owners residents and visitors to the area view the boom in improvement and the issues it has created in a formerly industrial pocket of the city Looking east over Westside Provisions District bottom and The Interlock center Via The Interlock Facebook Since amidst a advance boom nearly two dozen restaurants have closed between the Marietta Street Artery and th Street along Howell Mill Road on Atlanta s west side A large number of of these restaurants closed within two years of opening and speculation as to why the area is experiencing such a high number of closures ranges from exorbitant parking fees to traffic congestion However a modern gathering of neighborhood stakeholders revealed that the story behind these closures is much more complicated than just steep parking fees and congestion At a June meeting that brought together business owners restaurateurs and residents of the west side a survey was distributed to the approximately attendees The results indicated that percent of those in attendance felt new restaurant closures in an area encompassing the Marietta Street Artery and Howell Mill Road corridor between th and th streets were due to high operating costs expensive parking and vehicular traffic The meeting also explored employee retention solutions community-building efforts the high cost of living in the neighborhood and restaurant redundancy during a panel discussion and question-and-answer session Dona Matthews Chef Steven Satterfield Jacob Thomas and Cam Burke Photo by Beth McKibben Organized by Richard Dunn COO of the Atlanta Voice newspaper Charles Bourgeois candidate for District Atlanta City Council and Dona Matthews a hospitality consultant and member of the Atlanta Nightlife Advisory Council the West Midtown Hospitality and Small Business Summit included a panel of three restaurant owners Matthews acted as moderator providing Miller Union s Chef Steven Satterfield Rock Steady owner Jacob Thomas and Holiday Bar owner Cam Burke the opportunity to talk about the challenges as of now facing area restaurants Thomas Satterfield and Burke opened the discussion by elaborating on their strategies to stay relevant in an increasingly vulnerable Atlanta restaurant territory Miller Union has been in the neighborhood since The largest part vital part is to get people in the door and then to have people returning Satterfield stated of keeping Miller Union triumphant on the west side As a legacy restaurant we dependably want to engage people from our past to continue to return We have seen that demographic go down in the past year When Satterfield noted the area had been overdeveloped too promptly the audience audibly agreed Opening years ago in an abandoned warehouse in a heavily industrial area Satterfield recalled that sphere research for Miller Union s location evidenced a direct line to Buckhead Midtown and downtown Atlanta with access from I- I- and I- He knew it was a vulnerability opening on Brady Avenue It was one of those If you build it they will come And we were skeptical but we did build it and they did come Satterfield reported during the discussion Related story Upper Westside CID launches West Midtown parking map Brady Avenue at th Street on Atlanta s west side Photo by Logan C Ritchie A west side story It s unclear who coined the term Upper Westside when rise ramped up in the early s A plan adopted by Mayor Shirley Franklin and the Atlanta City Council refers to the area as the Upper West Side sometimes also referred to as Westside Midtown or West Midtown It s a horizontal jumble of neighborhoods running north to south from Collier Road at I- to Martin Luther King Jr Drive near Mercedes-Benz Stadium and east to west from industrial Marietta Boulevard to bendy Northside Drive Residents reference their neighborhoods by name like Underwood Hills Berkeley Park Knight Park Howell Station Blandtown and others Whether colloquially referred to as the Westside Upper Westside or West Midtown the collection of neighborhoods comprising this part of Atlanta is represented by Atlanta City Council members Byron Amos District Jason Dozier District Mary Norwood District Dustin Hillis District and five Neighborhood Planning Units NPU which help make recommendations to the city on zoning and land use Courtesy of the Upper Westside CID Despite being accessible via I- to the north and with four main points of entry running from east to west across the Connector th Street th Street th Street and North Avenue Satterfield disclosed that for numerous people living on the east side of Atlanta passing the interstate to the west side of the city is a psychological barrier Within every neighborhood there are more and more options for dining So it means that you don t have to go to a destination to get a somewhat similar experience or just don t feel like making the trek commented Satterfield who lives on the east side of Atlanta For several people when the option is to go out to eat tonight they d rather just go somewhere in the neighborhood Restaurant saturation on Atlanta s west side was another issue brought up during the summit s lively question-and-answer session BLU Seafood House owner Kechia Matadin noted that residents don t need four or five taco joints on the same strip She questioned the vetting of the type of restaurants and retail moving into the neighborhood and who these establishments truly serve residents versus visitors Before both closed independently owned pizzerias Humble Pie and Slim Husky s were just two of seven pizza joints in the area including corporate-owned Domino s Johnny s Papa John s and Blaze Pizza and local chain Fellini s And before the closures of Bartaco and Superica the restaurants were among six similar restaurants along the Marietta Street Artery Northside Drive and Howell Mill Road including Torchy s Tacos Velvet Taco Rreal Tacos and Taqueria del Sol The latter owned by Chef Eddie Hernandez opened in and is one of the original businesses part of the Westside Urban Industry now Westside Provisions District We don t need the same thing in the same area The developers are receiving money and incentives and no one is vetting the area no one is overseeing who s opening what and where Matadin explained who was frustrated by the lack of communication between developers and the area s business owners and residents What s in and what s out According to the survey at the June summit overdevelopment and high commercial and residential rents along the Marietta Street Artery and Howell Mill Road corridor were the preponderance key issues facing neighborhood stakeholders in attendance Multiple people felt these two issues directly contributed to the newest rash of restaurant closures Local and regional restaurants serving pizza tacos breakfast and Japanese food along with major chain restaurants like Wagamama Postino Wine Bar and Culinary Dropout have all opened and closed on the west side within the past two years As of publication the west side has faced more than closures since the beginning of the majority of latest being Bastone this May A slew of incoming tenants slated to open at developments along the Marietta Street Artery and around Howell Mill Road include a mix of local and regional restaurant groups and national and international chains But Satterfield noted during the West Midtown summit that Atlantans tend to help homegrown independently-owned businesses Closed in Urban Tree Cidery on Howell Mill Road in Berkeley Park Opened Slim Husky s on Howell Mill Road at th Street Opened Knuckies Hoagies at The Interlock Opened LOA Social Club at The Interlock Opened Superica on Howell Mill Road at th Street Opened Boxcar Betty s at Westside Paper on West Marietta Street Opened Wagamama at Star Metals Opened Damsel at The Works on Chattahoochee Avenue Opened Elsewhere Brewing at Westside Paper Opened Bar Diver at Westside Paper Opened Aziza and Falafel Nation at Westside Provisions District Opened Closed in Le Fat on Marietta Street Artery Opened Snooze A M Eatery on Howell Mill Road at th Street Opened Cultivate Food Coffee on Howell Mill Road near Collier Road Opened West Egg Cafe on Howell Mill Road at Brady Avenue Opened Culinary Dropout at the Brickworks on Marietta Street Artery Opened Postino Wine Bar at the Brickworks on Marietta Street Artery Opened Humble Pie at Star Metals Opened Pour Taproom at The Interlock Opened Doughnut Dollies on Howell Mill Road near Collier Road Opened Bastone at Howell Mill Road and th Street Opened Bartaco on Marietta Street Artery Opened Star Metals in Via Star Metals Facebook Upcoming locally owned restaurant openings in the area include Eden from Nooshe Jan Group Ladybird Grove and Mess Hall and The Chai Box Cafe which will take over the old Doughnut Dollies space on Howell Mill Road near Collier Road Fishmonger which just now closed on Howell Mill Road will eventually move into a new space inside Stella at Star Metals next door Pink Lotus backed by the owners of Thai Kitchen just took over the space previously occupied by Italian restaurant Donetto across from Miller Union on Brady Avenue The developers of Stella at Star Metals revealed this month the upcoming openings of cocktail bar Rabbit Ears and Italian restaurant F m Later this year Big Bad Breakfast owned by Mississippi-based chef John Currence will open on the opposite end of Howell Mill Road near Collier Road in the former Cultivate Food Coffee space In developer SJC Ventures publicized grocery chain Lidl would replace previously released Publix at Interlock Tower on Howell Mill Road SJC Ventures ratified with Rough Draft that Lidl should open later this fall at Interlock Tower Meanwhile longtime restaurants Marcel at Westside Provisions District and Cooks Soldiers on the corner of Howell Mill Road and th Street doubled down on the neighborhood renewing leases for another ten years Similar to Streets Alive the Westside Stride is meant to connect residents and businesses in the district Via Star Metals Facebook Region building Thomas revealed small businesses like Rock Steady along the Marietta Street Artery should tend to the area like gardeners Shopkeepers are interfacing with customers creating heritage and adjusting to the requirements of the neighborhood Restaurants and bars we re on the front line Thomas declared The west side wouldn t have become what it was without cool restaurants and cool bars His mantra Treat your regulars like celebrities Treat your celebrities like regulars Satterfield agreed and declared it s crucial for business owners to band together While he feels deep empathy for every one of those businesses that had to shut their doors he realizes that if people stop patronizing the west side of town Miller Union could be at threat of closing Likewise Burke reported that if Holiday Bar doesn t continue to evolve and customers aren t evolving with it he s doing a disservice to the people spending money there We have a arrangement to deliver he added People just want to be heard and you have to listen to those opinions and that s really where the population building comes in Burke commented We had our first Holiday Bar baby this year which I was really excited about The couple met at Holiday and now have a child So we celebrate those types of little wins The three-hour summit ended with lingering questions about how to open lines of communication between business owners area NPUs and residents Karmen Elizabeth resident and president of the Marietta Street Artery Association urged business owners to regularly attend monthly neighborhood meetings and engage with the group better What could they do for us What could we do for them What could we all do to kind of help the neighborhood one audience member questioned In the next article on the west side we will explore accessibility to trails and sidewalks pedestrian safety and the concept of a -minute neighborhood The post Small business and restaurant owners talk operating amidst challenges on Atlanta s west side appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta