LaRocco to open VITA Italian in Buckhead
Atlanta restaurateur and leukemia survivor, Tony LaRocco, will open VITA restaurant in March at 2110 Peachtree Road at Bennett Street, the former location for Mick’s and Harrison’s restaurants over the years.
After spending the majority of 2006 seriously ill in Emory University Hospital, LaRocco will be celebrating his second chance at life with VITA, which means life in Italian, which he describes as serving classic New York Italian fare in a festive, upbeat atmosphere.
Serving lunch and dinner daily, VITA will have a 70-item menu that includes appetizers, salads, pastas, seafood and meat dishes. Appetizers will range in price from $7 – $11 and entrees will average $14 – $15. Lunch prices will be $9 – $10.
LaRocco brought family-style dining to Atlanta with the opening of Fratelli di Napoli in Buckhead in 1995.
VITA will seat 250 in the restaurant and will have private dining options. It will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on weekdays and until midnight on weekends. The restaurant will open on Sundays starting in May.
Chima Brazilian Steakhouse coming to Buckhead
Chima Brazilian Steakhouse is opening this month at 3215 Peachtree Road in Buckhead, offering 15 gourmet meats served by Brazilian-trained gauchos who walk table to table with skewers of the meats ready to slice and serve to patrons.
An extension of the family-owned restaurant Chima Churrascaria in Brazil, the steakhouse’s Rodizio dining option includes the full selection of meats and the self-serve salad bar for a fixed price of $47.50.
Paul McHale, general manager of the Atlanta steakhouse said it is a different atmosphere from traditional American steakhouses. He said the restaurant will seat 350 and two private rooms with audio/video capabilities will be available for business meetings or other events.
Bruno Silva, managing director of Chima Brazilian Steakhouse, said the décor, which was designed by his mother, will contain furnishings imported from Brazil.
The company currently has locations in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. And Vienna, Va., and is planning to open restaurants soon in Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C.
Doc Green’s opens at Roswell/Wieuca center
Doc Green’s Salads & Grill opened a new restaurant at the Roswell/Wieuca Shopping Center, 4367 Roswell Road, in North Buckhead on Jan. 25.
As part of the grand opening festivities, 10 percent of all sales on January 26 and 27 went to benefit the Sandy Springs Fire Department. “Doc Green’s is proud to partner with the Sandy Springs Fire Department,” says Eric Williams, local Doc Green’s franchisee partner. “We appreciate all that the firefighters do for our community and we are glad to have this opportunity to give back.”
The city of Sandy Springs Fire Rescue has a station at Wieuca Road, near the new Doc Green’s location.
Jersey Mike’s opens store at Lindbergh City Center
Jersey Mike’s Franchise Systems has opened its 31st store in Georgia at the Lindbergh City Center in Buckhead Atlanta. The new modified Jersey Mike’s store, serving only cold sandwiches and open during lunchtime hours, is located in the glass atrium connecting the two AT&T towers.
Gary Dorfman, who also owns Jersey Mike’s stores in Midtown, Sandy Springs, Loehmann’s Plaza in N. Druid Hills and Buckhead, said, “With the ongoing growth in the area, Lindbergh was a natural choice to open my next Jersey Mike’s franchise.”
Jersey Mike’s at Lindbergh City Center is open Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Jersey Mike’s in the AT&T Towers at Lindbergh Center is at the intersection of Lindbergh Drive and Piedmont Road and convenient to the Lindbergh MARTA station.