This story is part of a series on the west side of Atlanta in which Rough Draft deep dives into how small business owners, residents, and visitors to the area view the boom in development and the issues it has created in a formerly industrial pocket of the city.
When Jacob Hunter, co-owner of The Daily, starts his day at the cafe’s Westside location on Trabert Avenue, he tries to leave the house by 7:30 am. It’s a 10 to 15-minute drive from the Candler Park and Lake Claire area, where he lives. He usually arrives at Trabert Avenue in Berkeley Park before 8 a.m.
Back in 2022, when he and partners Michael and Melody Shemtov returned to their native Atlanta from Charleston, Hunter settled near Inman Park to be close to his children’s school. Since then, The Daily has grown to two more locations in Inman Park and Buckhead.
The goal, Hunter said, is to begin his day at The Daily in Inman Park. It’s not always possible, leading to a six-mile commute to the Westside or a 13-mile commute to The Daily in Buckhead.
Hunter isn’t constantly involved in day-to-day operations at The Daily. The Trabert Avenue location’s manager, Shay Raynor, covers most of the goings-on there. Hunter travels where and when he’s needed; sometimes that means hopping around to each location.
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“I have a few back roads that I take,” Hunter said of commuting to the Westside. “I take DeKalb all the way and turn onto Marietta and then Howell Mill.” If he takes the Connector, Hunter exits at 17th Street and travels west down some of the most heavily trafficked roads in the area.
Hunter said that it’s a pretty easy commute in the morning. Heading back east later in the day, however, can prove challenging.
Due to his children’s school schedule, he tries to leave the Trabert Avenue location off of Howell Mill Road near the Atlanta Waterworks around 1 p.m. By then, travel time from Berkeley Park to Inman Park and Lake Claire translates into a 30 to 40-minute commute.
Hunter takes the frustrating commute from west to east Atlanta in stride
“I don’t envy leaving there, but getting there, I find, is usually never a problem,” he said. “[Construction] can be kind of annoying, but I know it’s for future growth, so I can’t be too mad about it.”
For Hunter, the congestion between Chattahoochee Avenue and the Marietta Street Artery is a product of development on the Westside and can be circumvented with a simple strategy. All of The Daily locations, for example, close at 3 p.m.
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Despite the lack of proper infrastructure and congestion in the area, Hunter finds that it seldom affects ingredient and supply delivery times for the cafe. The vast majority of The Daily’s suppliers are local. Baked goods for all three locations are prepared in Inman Park. Tortillas for The Daily’s popular breakfast burritos are picked up from Poco Loco in Kirkwood. Coffee deliveries come from a rotation of local roasters.
But unlike Buckhead and Inman Park, The Daily on Trabert Avenue doesn’t get as much foot traffic, even being located within a block of busy Howell Mill Road. Hunter estimates that around 40 percent of the Westside location’s patrons live in the neighborhood, and the post-church crowd on Sunday, in particular, brings in a lot of weekend customers. There are also some loyal regulars, including people who’ve been dining here since day one.
Without an anchor business on the street, like a gym or a grocery store like Kroger, it’s been challenging to operate on Trabert Avenue. Hunter is hopeful that with the arrival of the new portion of the Beltline this summer, the trail will bring increased foot traffic and more visibility to The Daily and its neighbors, Floral Park Market and Monday Night Brewing.
“I don’t think we should be dependent on that for us to be successful, but an anchor business would help,” explained Hunter of the Westside becoming a more walkable neighborhood. “That’s why we’ve stuck it out this long, [especially with] the Beltline coming.”
