RIP New Soul Veg and Nàdair 😢
Thursday, June 25 — Hello, internet friends.
😵💫 Do you ever have days or weeks where you appreciate nutrients more than usual? I’m currently undergoing that phenomenon thanks to all the time I’ve spent running around downtown Atlanta in the heat since the World Cup started. My body is especially thankful for protein, iron, and blue Powerade this month. If you’re also enjoying all the outdoor World Cup activations around the metro area, don’t forget to refuel.
🍹 In this week’s Quick Bites, catch up on openings at Ponce City Market and in Avondale Estates, a Lawrenceville bakery’s temporary closure, and updates on some of our most anticipated restaurant openings of the summer.
Keep reading for details on two major restaurant closures and my observations from FIFA Fan Fest in Centennial Olympic Park and its adjacent Global Grub Alley food truck corridor.
✅ Make sure to read this week’s “Family Meal,” which includes Beth’s guide to Downtown restaurants and an espresso martini recipe from Jagger Suite, the new rooftop lounge at the Moxy Hotel.
One last thing! If you’re not on Twitter, X, or whatever the trillionaire owner wants us to call it, German social media darling FreddyLA7 now has an Instagram account. You know, so you can get the information straight from the source, if your feed is already packed with “Freddy watch” and “Freddy alert” posts.
See y’all next week,
🍰 Sarra
⚽ When the matches end, the dining begins. After cheering on your favorite teams across Atlanta, savor the city’s best tables during Buckhead Restaurant Week, July 27 through Aug. 1. More than 50 restaurants serve exclusive prix-fixe menus. Learn more here. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Quick Bites
Openings
🍸 Cocktail lounge La Cueva is now open at Ponce City Market.
🕺 Last Dance is now open in Avondale Estates.
☕ GRABACUP, a new coffee shop, opens in Chastain Park’s Agape Tennis Center on June 27.
🌶️ Habaneros will open in Midtown’s Spring Quarter development next week.
Closings
🍺 Pour Taproom on Peachtree closed after five years, as first reported by Tomorrow’s News Today.
🇲🇽 Both remaining locations of Guac y Margys will close after service on June 28, as first reported by Tomorrow’s News Today. The restaurant will throw a three-day-long going-away party from June 27 to 29.
🌮 Da Cocinta Magic Taco, the food truck on Clinton Street SE, has closed. The truck announced its closure on Instagram.
Temporary closing
🍞
Mega European Bakery in Lawrenceville is currently closed. They’ll reopen July 4.
Coming attractions
🍷 So. Fox, a wine-focused restaurant from the owners of Kinship, opens in the old Farm Burger Va-Hi space July 2.
🧑🌾 Upper West Market, an indoor farmers market located in Underwood Hills, will open later this month.
📖 Sargent, a restaurant and bookstore from the owners of Lucian, will open in Old Fourth Ward in July.
Community announcement
🐝 Congratulations to the Georgia Tech Food & Beverage Accelerator’s 2026 cohort: El Ponce, Boarding Pass Coffee Roasters, Bonappa Beverages, EZE Top Shelf Mixers, Gann’s Juices, Go Juicy ATL, Lady Belle by Charlette Bell, PurposePlantBased, Sumthin About Spice, and Tati’s Bread.
Add to your calendar
🇹🇷 Efendi Mediterranean Restaurant in Alpharetta is celebrating its 22nd birthday with a four-night anniversary weekend, June 25-28. Attractions include live music, belly dancing, comedy, a Turkish brunch, and a Turkiye vs. USMNT World Cup viewing party. All bottles of Turkish wine are $22 throughout the weekend, while members of the Efendi Insider Program can receive two signature cocktails for $22 each night.
🍑 Underground Atlanta is currently hosting Peaches on Peachtree, an activation focused on nature and sustainability. On June 27, July 4, and July 11, Underground Atlanta will host community events such as a Pearson Farm peach cart, peach cooking demonstrations, an educational water stewardship demonstration with Shades of Green Permaculture, sustainable vendors, and raffle prizes.
🐶 Athens Restaurant Week returns July 13 -19.
🇫🇷 Bar Blanc will host a Bastille Day event on July 14 from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $50 per person and include hors d’oeuvres, a steak carving station, a frites station, and miniature desserts. The festivities will include lawn games and a photo booth, and guests can purchase bar and Kir Royale bar tickets.
🎂 Midtown’s Amistad Coffee Shop will host a cake-decorating workshop with Fresita Cakes on July 18 from noon to 2 p.m. The workshop costs $70 per person and includes a 4-inch, 2-layer crumb cake, decorations, and a complimentary iced latte.
Where to Find Summer Inspired Drinks in Roswell
SPONSORED BY ROSWELL INC. AND VISIT ROSWELL
🍹 Explore Roswell’s beverage scene with a summer inspired twist. Enjoy Summer Sippin’ at participating locations all around Roswell.
The beverage competition returns for its 11th year and showcases creative seasonal beverages at restaurants, coffee shops, tasting rooms and breweries.
➞ Check out the NEW interactive event guide and rate every sip you try this summer to help decide the ‘Best Sip in Roswell.’ Get your sip on.
Top Stories
Michelin-recommended Nàdairto close
👎 This weekend, Kevin Gillespie’s Nàdair will close after just two years in Woodland Hills. The news comes months after Gillespie announced he was taking a step back from restaurant kitchens to pursue his PhD and write another book.
Nàdair was one of Rough Draft’s Best New Restaurants of 2024. It also made the 2024 and 2025 Atlanta Michelin Guide, the New York Times’ 2024 Best Restaurants List, and the New York Times’ 25 Best Restaurants in Atlanta list. Nàdair also received a Snail of Approval award from Slow Food Atlanta in 2025.
⏩ Read about this major closure here.
Have you tried Downtown’s Global Grub Alley?
🌮 Downtown is teeming with World Cup fan activations and tourist attractions, which makes it easy to overlook Global Grub Alley, a temporary food truck corridor set up along Walton Street.
My trips to Global Grub Alley included dishes like goat stew, pupusas (pictured), and gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches from local food producers and food truck operators.
⏩ Read my review of Global Grub Alley here.
West End vegan staple to close
😟 This one hurts, y’all.
The New Soul Veg, formerly known as Soul Vegetarian #1, will close in July after 47 years of business. In addition to being Atlanta’s first Black-owned vegan restaurant, The New Soul Veg helped shape the West End’s vegan food scene.
⏩ Read about the restaurant closure here.
At the Market
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH COMMUNITY FARMERS MARKETS
😋 Each week, Rough Draft Atlanta and Community Farmers Markets partner to bring you two recipes you can make at home using fresh ingredients from your local farmers market. This week, we’ve got a tasty vegan pesto and fried kohlrabi. Check out both recipes here.
⚽ When the matches end, the dining begins. After cheering on your favorite teams across Atlanta, savor the city’s best tables during Buckhead Restaurant Week, July 27 through Aug. 1. More than 50 restaurants serve exclusive prix-fixe menus. Learn more here. SPONSOR MESSAGE
That Slaps
🤔 If you know me IRL, then you’re aware I’m not the biggest champion of fine dining. I personally think Atlanta could benefit from more affordable dining coverage. (It wouldn’t hurt to focus on more, as one of my new dinner club friends said, “two-dollar-sign” establishments instead of defaulting to those with quadruple signs.) It’s not that I don’t appreciate fine dining, but I find multi-coursed tasting menus excessive to the point of discomfort. To be real, in a lot of cases, I’d much rather dine at a casual spot where I know I’ll enjoy the food without blowing my budget.
I recently had dinner at Avize with our editor-in-chief and dining editor Beth McKibben and friend and food writer extraordinaire Mike Jordan. It was my first time, unless you count the Serviceberry festival last summer. I ordered the upland cress salad (arugula, sheep’s milk feta – but not the stinky kind – French sorrel, Georgia peaches, pumpkin seed praline, fried shallots) and the North Georgia mountain trout ceviche with sea buckthorn, aji amarillo, and kurbishkernol.
🐟 Avize made me, quite literally, eat my words. It’s refined but still playful, and your taste buds can tell how much care Karl Gorline and his chefs put into the food here. One bite of that ceviche had me apologizing for talking smack about some of Atlanta’s overpriced restaurants. Avize is worth the splurge.
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.
