Lazy Betty, the Michelin-star tasting menu restaurant from chefs Ron Hsu and Aaron Phillips, will make its Midtown debut on Sat., March 16. The restaurant takes over the former Empire State South space at 999 Peachtree at the corner of 10th and Peachtree.
Lazy Betty closed last month after five years in Candler Park ahead of a planned relocation to Midtown. The original Flying Biscuit Cafe on McLendon Avenue will move into the old Lazy Betty space later this spring.
Expect a seven-course tasting menu from Hsu and Phillips in Midtown. A vegetarian menu will also be available upon request. Tasting menus are $205 per person with the option to add wine, cocktail, or non-alcoholic cocktail pairings. Lazy Betty will be BYOB until its liquor license comes through from the city. Reservations are required for a table, but the bar and lounge will accommodate walk-ins and eventually serve an a la carte food menu.
Designed by Kat Blue of Blue Lantern Studios, the Midtown location leans more cosmopolitan with an emphasis on a connection to the natural world than its former cozy, neighborhood-driven home. Blue took advantage of the natural light pouring in from the large windows by accenting the space with live plants, dark woods, brass, and an earth-tone color palette. Heart pine floors run throughout the dining room and bar.
Blue refinished and repurposed the old Empire State South stone bar top and utilized a steel and glass window to display the restaurant’s collection of organic and biodynamic wines. The bar and lounge features a sweeping bird sculpture from Jennifer Thoem, who also created a similar sculpture for Lazy Betty in Candler Park.
The main dining room features terracotta plaster paint set off by teal velvet banquettes and walnut and marble furniture. Local artist Christina Kwan painted a large light display hanging above the dining room.
Two semi-private and private chef’s dining rooms will be available for events and more intimate dinner experiences.
Hsu and Phillips first met while working at Chef Eric Ripert’s restaurant Le Bernardin in New York City. Lazy Betty opened in 2019 inside the former Radial Cafe space on DeKalb Ave. Named for Hsu’s late mother and longtime Atlanta restaurateur, the “lazy” in the name references an inside joke about the family matriarch’s need to keep busy even after retirement. Betty Hsu died three months after Lazy Betty opened.
The chefs opened Humble Pie at the Interlock complex on Howell Mill Road in 2023. Hsu’s siblings, Howard and Anita, own Sweet Auburn BBQ in Poncey-Highland and Gezzo’s Coastal Cantina on Marietta Boulevard. They are also partners in the Poncey-Highland Peruvian restaurant Tio Lucho’s with Chef Arnaldo Castillo.