A location of Buckhead restaurant institution Hal’s “The Steakhouse” will open at Spring Quarter in Midtown, with another location planned for downtown Roswell. Both of the new Hal’s locations will open next spring.
In Midtown, Hal’s will take over the Patterson House space, formerly home to the H.M. Patterson & Son Spring Hill Chapel funeral home on Spring Street.
Spring Quarter developer Portman Holdings previously announced that restaurateur Steve Palmer of Indigo Road Hospitality would bring a “morning-to-night [food and beverage] destination” to the nearly century-old H.M. Patterson building. That restaurant never materialized.
With Hal’s on board, all of the restaurant spaces at Spring Quarter have been leased.
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Deciding to expand
Hal’s owner Sammy Jimenez said the history of the Patterson House was part of the allure of expanding to Midtown. By pairing an iconic building with an iconic restaurant, “history will meet history,” Jimenez told Rough Draft.
Patterson House was designed by architect Philip T. Shutze and built in 1928. It’s best known as the location of the H.M. Patterson & Son Spring Hill Chapel funeral home, which closed in 2020.
Jimenez said the Midtown location of Hal’s will be unlike any other restaurant in Atlanta. With 24,000 square feet to fill, the steakhouse will feature a patio, cafe and coffee shop, and a fine art gallery on the second floor. Art from Jimenez’s separate venture with curators Alex Soto and Andres Rodriguez will rotate on the walls throughout the gallery, which will also host cocktail hours and private events.
What to expect
The coffee shop will open in the morning serving some breakfast dishes, followed by lunch at the European-style cafe. While the cafe menu has yet to be finalized, Jimenez said people can expect simple, yet well done dishes. Later in the day, Hal’s transforms again for dinner, serving steak, seafood, pasta, and its popular Caesar salad.
Jimenez tapped Maison Malueé’s María Domínguez, a longtime Hal’s customer, to handle the design.
“I always like to do business with the people that support us,” he said. “We are going to keep the essence of the concept, which is the greens, the browns, the wood. The building is very special and we’re going to have to adjust and adapt to that.”
The plan is to preserve much of the French finishings and to let the ornate design details inside and English Vernacular Revival architecture outside do much of the work.
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Hal Nowak opened his eponymous steakhouse in Buckhead in 1989. One of the first in a neighborhood now known for its steakhouses, Hal’s stands as one of Buckhead’s dining institutions, alongside Aria, La Grotta, Chops Lobster Bar, and Johnny’s Hideaway.
Midtown will become the third location of Hal’s in Atlanta. A second location opened two years ago in Nashville. And the steakhouse will expand again next spring with a location planned for downtown Roswell.
Jimenez said that following Nowak’s retirement, he prioritized expanding Hal’s. That decision provided the framework for Nashville, and later for Midtown and Roswell.
The Roswell location, just a few doors down from Little Alley Steak at the corner of Canton Street and Elizabeth Way, will include a rooftop patio and valet parking. Jimenez called valet parking a “deal-maker” for people traveling to eat at Hal’s in Roswell.
Portman Holdings broke ground on Spring Quarter in 2022. A number of restaurants are now open at the development, including rooftop lounge Celestia, omakase restaurant Ishin, Mexican restaurant Habaneros, and Japanese restaurant Sozou. Indian fine dining restaurant Pataaka should open in the coming months.
Beyond its restaurants, Spring Quarter also features the Sora residential tower and an office tower flanking the Connector.
