Restaurant Opening
Mediterranean-Italian restaurant Siena will open in Alpharetta on Dec. 20, taking over the former Gormania and Seven Seas Mediterranean Café spaces on Devore Road. The menu features dishes like sweet potato falafel, harissa chicken lollipops, and honey-lavender lamb chops. A children’s menu is also available, and brunch will begin early next year.
Coming Attraction
The team behind MidCity cocktail bar in Midtown will open Omma next year at Westside Paper. Leaning more towards a restaurant than a cocktail bar, look for Omma to feature an expanded drinks menu from that of MidCity and serve “internationally inspired food.” Omma joins Dumpling Factory, El Santo Gallo, and Pancake Social at the complex.
Since opening in 2023, Westside Paper has lost three food and dining establishments, including Elsewhere Brewing, Boxcar Betty’s, and Bar Diver. In an attempt to slow down closures last year, the developer shifted to courting and leasing to larger retail tenants like Padel Haus, Construction Resources Design, and Carbon Performance to help anchor the complex. Westside Paper resides along a spur trail of the Northwest Beltline, which was heavily promoted in the early days of the development and its shoutout for restaurant and bar tenants. At the time, the spur trail had yet to materialize. It finally opened in March and links to the Westside Beltline Connector.
Related: Will the Northwest Beltline boost Westside Atlanta restaurants?
Help Needed
The Atlanta Community Food Bank said this week that demand for food in December is 70 percent higher than during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic more than three years ago. Rising rents and cost of living have spiked in recent months, while hiring has remained mostly stagnant since President Trump announced reciprocal tariffs in April.
Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB) just received a $100,000 challenge grant that will allow the nonprofit to match any monetary donations dollar-for-dollar through the end of December. You can donate to ACFB here.
RIP
Radio Roasters founder Chip Grabow passed away suddenly on Dec. 11 after experiencing a medical emergency. Grabow founded Radio Roasters in 2014, opening the coffee roastery and coffee bar in Decatur, while also working as a producer at NPR. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that people donate to NPR in Grabow’s memory to help support the publicly funded news organization.
Chains Boosted by Nostalgia Dining
If you’ve seen full parking lots at your local Applebee’s, Olive Garden, or Chili’s in 2025, you’re not alone. Nostalgia dining and viral cheese pulls on social media have led to an uptick in patrons at chain restaurants across the country this year. Economic and political uncertainties seem to be driving the return to chain restaurants, as people seek comfort, familiarity, and affordability in their dining experiences. As for those viral cheese pulls on social media, it appears Gen Z has discovered the glories of Chili’s.
But nostalgia-driven dining is also trending on the local level. Across Atlanta this year, restaurants launched weekly specials, leaned into desserts, and served childhood food memories on plates in an attempt to attract more price-conscious diners and boost sluggish sales.
Related: As people scale back dining out, Atlanta restaurants roll out budget-friendly menus
Add to Your Calendar
Peruvian restaurant Tio Lucho’s in Poncey-Highland will host Noche Buena (“Good Night”) on Dec. 20, inspired by the late-night Christmas Eve celebrations of Peru and Latin America and other Spanish and Spanish-colonized countries like the Philippines. Expect holiday decor and twinkling lights, seasonal drinks and special dishes, and live music beginning at 10 p.m.
“Noche Buena is how I grew up celebrating the holidays. Families come together late, nobody rushes dinner, and midnight is when things really get going. That’s the feeling I want people to experience here,” Chef Arnaldo Castillo said of the event.
Noche Buena kicks off at 4 p.m. on Dec. 20. Reservations are highly encouraged.