In this week’s Quick Bites, get the latest on Atlanta’s recent restaurant openings, including a new yogurt spot in Doraville’s Asian Square and Home Grown’s new restaurant-within-a-restaurant. Plus, DBA Tacos & BBQ in Clarkston closes and pivots, a chopped cheese place opens soon in Little Five Points, and a barbecue restaurant in Dunwoody Village debuts weekend dueling piano shows.
Openings
Wyld Bird is now open for dinner service Wednesday through Sunday at Home Grown in Reynoldstown. The pollo asado operation is an extension of Brad Syfan and Chef Tony Seichrist’s The Wyld Dock Bar in Savannah.
Korean yogurt beverage chain Hey Yogurt in Doraville’s Asian Square is now open. In addition to Japanese-inspired, drinkable yogurt smoothies, Hey Yogurt offers desserts like cheesecake and croissant waffles. As part of the celebration, the shop plans to offer BOGO yogurt (same flavor only) through February 25.
The Library Bar inside bookstore Scholar & Scribe opened at Fayetteville’s Town at Trilith earlier this month. And breakfast restaurant Thumbs Up Diner in the town center rebranded to Greystone Local Eatery.
Closings
DBA Tacos & BBQ in Clarkston is closed “until further notice”. According to owner Matt Coggin, the Clarkston location will house an expanded DBA catering operation and host pop-ups. Coggin opened the location in a former combination Taco Bell and KFC on East Ponce de Leon Avenue in 2024. DBA Barbecue’s Chastain Park location remains open.
DePalma’s in Athens will close after 38 years on Feb. 27. The owners plan to retire. A new restaurant called Pompeii will open in March.
Coming attractions
Los Angeles-based chain New York’s Chopped Cheese will open in Little Five Points this spring.
The renovations at Rumi’s Kitchen in Sandy Springs are nearly complete, meaning the reopening is within sight.
Menu changes
In Sandy Springs, Persian and Middle Eastern restaurant Yalda added weekend brunch to the menu lineup. Yalda’s Howell Mill Road location added brunch in 2024.
In memoriam
Amore e Amore (formerly Il Localino) announced via a social media post that co-founder Giovanni Ferro died over the weekend. Ferro owned the Inman Park restaurant with his wife, Gale Parker.
“Giovanni had an extraordinary vision. Love flows through our dining rooms because of him. You can feel it the moment you walk in,” the post read.
That love was regularly expressed through Amore e Amore’s hospitality and creativity, which often extended to seasonal themes. There aren’t many places where you can comfortably dine on chicken piccata and massive antipasti plates and listen to 1980s dance tunes while wearing a silly hat.
The restaurant plans to host a memorial for Ferro later this spring.
Add to your calendar
Tickets are still available for the Stolen Goods Edna Lewis Sunday supper at Bread & Butterfly on Feb. 22. The event will feature a multiple-course meal by chefs Demetrius Brown (Heritage), Cleophus Hethington (Lucia Los Angeles), Justin Dixon (Humble Mumble), and Max Hines (Breaker Breaker). Seatings are at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
The Atlanta Muslim Festival Collective’s Ramadan Food Festival returns for a second year on Feb. 27, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., at 2077 Beaver Ruin Road in Norcross. Part night market and part food festival, the event will feature more than 60 halal food vendors, an artisan market, cultural activations, and an indoor-outdoor kids’ area. Tickets are $12. All faiths welcome.
Nakato Japanese Restaurant and the Tara Theatre are collaborating with bento and a movie on Feb. 22, featuring a 4 p.m. screening of Oscar-nominated Japanese film Kokuho. Nakato will offer a selection of bento boxes during the screening. Tickets for the movie and a bento box are $46 per person.
On March 10, Nakato owner Sachi Nakato Takahara will host a sakura spirits (cherry blossom) cocktail class at the Cheshire Bridge Road restaurant’s newly renovated bar. The lesson includes three cocktails utilizing Japanese sakura spirits, accompanied by small plates. Tickets are $70 per person.
Funwoody Village barbecue spot Morty’s Meat & Supply in Dunwoody will pursue a new tune and debut a dueling piano bar this spring. Starting in March, expect a dueling piano show every Friday and Saturday night.
