Scroll for pimento cheese!
March 5 — Hello, internet friends.
😵💫 It’s been a dramatic week for Atlanta restaurants.
In this week’s “Side Dish,” get the scoop on Slutty Vegan’s founder, Pinky Cole, filing for bankruptcy and joining “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” cast. Learn about the newest hotel steakhouse in Midtown. Plus, check out a bounty of food events, ranging from a burger week to a Lady Gaga dance party.
I have the details behind Rising Son’s closure in Avondale Estates, and an anonymous $1 million donation to Avondale Estates, “thanks to Waffle House.”
🍺 ICYMI, here’s a link to this week’s “Family Meal,” where Beth breaks down how UK brewpub chain BrewDog’s purchase by US-based cannabis and drinks company Tilray may affect Atlantans. And The Americano shares a recipe for seared scallops with cauliflower and pancetta.
See y’all next week,
🍰 Sarra
🗣️ Hawks fans: Join the Hawks as they hit the court against Steph Curry and the Warriors for Saturday night hoops on March 21, presented by QuickTrip. Don’t miss the action. Get tickets here! SPONSOR MESSAGE
Quick Bites
Slutty Vegan in the news…again
🍔 Following an announcement that Slutty Vegan’s Aisha “Pinky” Cole would join The Real Housewives of Atlanta cast for season 17, the vegan burger chain founder filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that Cole owes the Small Business Administration $1.2 million and $192,000 in Georgia taxes. Cole personally filed for bankruptcy in February.
😟 Earlier this week, Cole addressed her bankruptcy filing on Instagram with a parody post, as reported by the AJC. It’s unclear how Cole’s bankruptcy filing will affect Slutty Vegan locations in Atlanta.
Restaurant openings
🥩 Steakhouse and sushi restaurant Ashland opened at the Loews Atlanta in Midtown. While the hotel restaurant specializes in steak and sushi, Ashland takes inspiration from the American South and global cuisines, offering other dishes like lobster pot pie and vegan mushroom bolognese. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily.
🥙 The Sandy Springs location of Rumi’s Kitchen reopens Friday, after a series of interior and exterior renovations. The restaurant closed last year for renovations.
Coming attractions
🥟 Northern China Eatery will open a third location in Johns Creek, according to WhatNow Atlanta.
Hour extensions and menu changes
🥢1678 Omakase in Brookhaven now serves lunch and dinner on Mondays, bringing service to seven days a week. Expect unlimited hot sake with any omakase course on Mondays.
🦪 K5 Hospitality Group restaurants 5Church Midtown, 5Church Buckhead, and AltaToro feature $1 oysters on weekdays, from 3-7 p.m. Happy hour also includes $5 beers, $7 glasses of wine, and cocktail specials.
Farmers market season begins
👩🌾 Farmers market season begins this weekend, with both the Freedom Farmers Market and Peachtree Road Farmers Market kicking off the main markets. Catch Freedom Farmers Market at the Carter Center on Saturdays, from 8:30 a.m. to noon, and Peachtree Road Farmers Market at The Cathedral of St. Phillip on Peachtree on Saturdays, from 8:30 a.m to noon.
Add to your calendar
👯 Virtue Rooftop above 5Church Midtown will host Total Mayhem on March 6, a Lady Gaga-themed event. Expect fire pits, cocktails, sharable dishes, and desserts, along with a live music set by DJ Montana, starting at 8 p.m. No cover charge. 21+ to enter.
🏎️ The Buckhead and Beltline locations of Yeppa & Co. will host Formula 1 opening day watch parties on March 7, starting at 11 p.m. Expect races on the big screen, drink specials, and late-night focaccia, among other dishes. Securing a table in Buckhead requires a $100 minimum. People headed to the Beltline Formula 1 party can partake in magnums of P’s Rosé for $69.
🍀 Environmental activist Robin Greenfield will host a foraging walk at Mason Mill Park in Decatur on March 12, from 6-7:30 p.m. The following night, he’ll speak at Lake Claire Community Land Trust on Arizona Avenue, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Greenfield will discuss his year of foraging for food, which started in June 2025. Both events are free. Registration recommended.
👨🍳 Chefs Karl Gorline (Avize), Nicholas Grosse (Atlas), and Aaron Phillips and Austin Goetzman (Lazy Betty) will host a collaborative dinner at Avize on March 12. The Michelin-recognized trio of restaurants will also offer wine pairings by James Beard semi-finalist and Avize sommelier Taurean Philpott and Lazy Betty wine director and sommelier Gracie Barwick. Reservations available via OpenTable. $225 per person.
👩🏾🍳 The Understory dinner series at Burle’s Bar begins March 16 with a meal hosted by Atlanta chef and recipe developer Brianna Riddock (FORTH Atlanta). The evening will feature wines from The Donum Estate in Sonoma. Tickets are $190 per person and available through the Burle’s Bar website.
🏆 ENZO Steakhouse and Bar at Town at Trilith in Fayetteville will host its third annual Oscars viewing party March 15, starting at 6 p.m. Expect Red Carpet-style photos, movie-inspired cocktails, and dishes from Chef Andrea Montobbio. Tickets are $125 per person and include two drinks and food. Proceeds benefit local nonprofits Two Sparrows Village and Variety of Georgia.
🍔 Explore Gwinnett hosts Gwinnett Burger Week again this year, March 16-22. Attendees can enjoy specialty burgers from local restaurants for $12. Check out the complete list of participating restaurants at Explore Gwinnett. Read more about the burger week at Rough Draft Atlanta.
The ultimate residential resort
SPONSORED BY ATLANTA FINE HOMES
🌿 Set at the end of a private gated drive, this renovated Cumming estate delivers a true resort lifestyle minutes from GA-400 and Lake Lanier. Surrounded by creeks and hardwoods, the entertainer’s retreat features a heated pool and spa, tennis and pickleball courts, a fitness center, a theater, a 200-foot zip line, and a six-car garage with an RV bay.
Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty is Metro Atlanta’s No. 1 residential real estate company and No. 1 in luxury home sales above $1 million.
👉🏼 Explore our current listings.
Top Stories From the Week
Rising Son will close on March 29
☀️ This one hurts, y’all. Hudson Rouse announced he will close Rising Son on March 29 after 10 years in Avondale Estates. But it seems many of its dishes will carry over to Rouse’s new East Lake restaurant, Babygirl, slated to open in April.
⏩ Read more about Rising Son’s closure.
“Thanks to Waffle House,” Avondale Estates is $1 million richer
💰 The first-ever Waffle House opened in Avondale Estates in 1955, and according to an anonymous donor, that’s reason enough to gift the city a cool million. It turns out the relationship between Avondale Estates and Waffle House runs deep.
⏩ Learn more about the donation.
Atlanta Wine Auction moves to Pullman Yards
🍷 After 30-plus years at the High Museum, the Atlanta Wine Auction is switching things up and relocating to Pullman Yards in Kirkwood. This year’s three-day wine event runs from March 26-28.
⏩ Read more about the venue change and wine auction.
At the Market + Two Recipes
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH COMMUNITY FARMERS MARKETS
🍄🟫 Each week, Rough Draft Atlanta and Community Farmers Markets partner to give you two tasty recipes you can make using ingredients from your local farmers market. This time, mushrooms are the name of the game. We’ve got barbecued mushrooms and mushrooms with chimichurri – take your pick! Check out both recipes here.
🗣️ Hawks fans: Join the Hawks as they hit the court against Steph Curry and the Warriors for Saturday night hoops on March 21, presented by QuickTrip. Don’t miss the action. Get tickets here! SPONSOR MESSAGE
That Slaps!
😋 I finally made my way to The Westwood in Westview last week, and the bar is already a strong contender for one of my favorite openings of 2026.
I enjoyed the appetizers, especially the pimento cheese, egg rolls, and adult Lunchables (think pre-packaged, snack-sized charcuterie and cheese). But most of all, I’m taken by the aura here: the Donna Summer hits playing in the background, the green checkerboard floors, the option to have Cheerwine from the fountain (or as a Jell-o shot). I also loved watching people trickle in on a Wednesday night and recognize each other and Westwood regulars.
If I had to describe a neighborhood bar without using words, I’d simply open the door to The Westwood and walk right in any night of the week.
🍓 Also on my mind: strawberries.
With the start of spring just three weeks away, I’m taking any excuse I can to enjoy strawberry dishes, like Storico Fresco Alimentari’s strawberry gelato or strawberry tea from Taichi Bubble Tea mixed with strawberry jelly. You should also try the strawberry matcha at Sammy’s. Let me know about the restaurants serving your favorite strawberry dishes.
We’re always looking for recipes to highlight on Rough Draft. If you have a favorite dish from a restaurant you want the recipe for, please send me an email to sarra@roughdraftatlanta.com.