Scott reported yesterday that the old Tossed location in the Artisan seems to have a new tenet (noted by activity inside and an absent “For Lease” sign).
Lyn confirmed but wasn’t able to give me the name yet. If anyone knows details spill the beans in the comments section!
P.S. Great news for the city since that’s a pretty expensive commercial space. Really interested to find out who it is!
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Sorry everyone…not sure why comments were closed on this post originally.
Let the speculation begin!
Maybe Countrywide is expanding.
Yeah, right!
Bottom line – nobody wanted to think about tossed salad so close to the courthouse.
What this town needs is a decent ice cream store. Is that too much to ask?
The new shop in place of Indie has a good selection of ice cream — Cliche. They are open until 8 or 9 PM every night but Monday; Mondays they close at 2 PM. They also have great coffee, sandwiches, and pastries.
I hear Greene’s has frozen yogurt but haven’t tried it.
I went to Cafe Cliche the other day for ice cream — excellent (Heath bar yoghurt…)
The Yogurt Tap is coming to Church Street in the old Houseworks space. They hope to open by mid-July. It’s a self-serve frozen yogurt place… whatever that looks like! It sounds pretty good on this hot day, and I can assure you the merchants on Church are thrilled since that spot has been vacant since April 2008.
Thanks Ann! Great info!
YAY! I love fro-yo– it’ll be nice to have some choices.
What happened to that ice cream place with the antique cars?
I wondered that too….back in the spring my kids and I looked in the windows at the antique cars….but recently we drove by and though the sign is still up, the opening date is covered and it looks like they’ve dismantled the stuff inside…I guess it’s DOA.
No, he put up a big new sign over the door last week. Still no ETA.
http://next-stop-decatur-ga.blogspot.com/2009/06/relics-rarities-opening-soon_13.html
I hear they have started opening Farrell’s again – if they open one here I’ll host the Decatur Metro “Zoo” party!
Does anyone know of an good Indian restaurant that delivers?
Bhojanic has EXCELLENT Indian food and delivers to Decatur through Zifty.com.
A good family and lunch time burger, ice cream and shake place would be great. An ‘Mom & Pop’ place that services burgers, hot dogs on the grill, wonderful fries, ice cream and salads for the health people. I think that would be a great idea for the Atlanta Bread space.
-tw
If only Alon’s would move in. All our problems would be solved. The new store up by Perimeter Mall has everything the other store has, plus gelato. mmm.
Mmmmm, yes! Alon’s curried shrimp salad (to die for) & Krakowskis (little crunchy-chewy raspberry-filled marzipan macaroon-like squares– also to die for) would be even better if they were within walking distance…
The lease has yet to be finalized, so the tenant will not be disclosed until that process completes. It would involve combining the former Countrywide and Tossed spaces. The construction process would take about four months, with the new place looking at an opening sometime in November.
Thanks for this info Carl! I’m very surprised by this news, since I heard that a big part of the problem with leasing this space was the sheer size, combined with the high rents at the Artisan.
What could possibly need this much room?? PLEASE be a grocery store! I know, wishful thinking.
Hmmm … very intriguing. Pretty large space and long buildout. Wonder what it could be.
It would seem to rule out another clothing store and certainly wouldn’t be an eating establishment, with Ted’s next door, Thumbs Up and (ugh) Ruby Tuesday across the street.
The landlord assures me that as soon as a lease is signed he will notify me so that we can get the information out. Thanks for all of the ideas listed above. We really appreciate it hearing from residents and will plug these ideas into our leasing efforts.
Please woo Trader Joes!
I second that…Trader Joes would be awesome!
The city has attempted to woo TJ’s in the past and failed…but not for lack of effort. TJ’s may market themselves as the “alt-grocery store” but not in terms of urban planning. They want a big box in a huge sea of parking and Decatur won’t provide that.
The other reason I’ve heard they won’t come to Decatur is because it’s not upscale enough to the east and south.
Pretty snobby outlook from a purveryor of $2.50 bottles of wine.
Oops, sorry for the poor spelling. I meant “purveyor.”
Trader Joe’s has urban stores in Manhattan. If it can work there, then I don’t understand why it can’t work in Decatur. I mean, suburban plaza is pretty much a sea of parking lots.
I think the real reason is that the demographics don’t work. TJ’s is kind of a white bread suburban chain that specializes in prepackaged, people in a hurry foods.
Never been real impressed myself. I’d prefer a real specialty market specializing in fresh produce and such or even an actual functioning Kroger or Publix.
Ok, here’s a guess (wishful thinking) from left field, where I often find myself:
Lady and Sons
Paul Deen’s first out of Savannah location. I know, I know….all those howls from health foodies, but LORD it would bring masses of folks to our downtown and that business would spill over to others. Folks from downtown hotels would travel on MARTA to go to that restaurant.
With Paula’s burgeoning empire of cookware, condiments, FURNITURE, you gotta’ think they have to be planning on taking the restaurant at LEAST regional.
I’m sure this would be considered sacrilege in some parts, but I’m significantly underwhelmed by Ms. Deen & her “empire”. As a lifelong Southerner whose family had an abundance of great Southern cooks, I have to say that the food at her restaurant in Savannah was just mediocre when we visited. Every time I see her (on TV or in magazines), she comes across as just a little too… contrived (not really the word I’m looking for, but the only way I can put it). I applaud her for coming up on her own, out of hardship, but I gotta call a spade a spade here.
I, too, would’ve hoped for something more along the lines of a Trader Joe’s, but I can see why they wouldn’t want that particular space– no grocery store would, alternative or otherwise. People who are coming to stock up on food aren’t usually on foot, and don’t want to have to carry a half-dozen bags (ergo, they’ll need to be able to park). So, I guess I’m just hoping for some enterprise that’s looking to put down roots & stay as long as possible– whatever it may be.
Just saying that her restaurant would be a HUGE business draw for Decatur. HUGE.
Certainly won’t debate the epicureanism of her offerings, but as she herself would tell you, she is a cook, not a chef. I see it as a Mary Mac’s kind of place and not designed to be high cuisine. You can’t deny the ridiculously long lines at teh Savannah location as a testament to her draw. Besides, IMO Decatur already has its’ share of “hoity toity” places
to eat haute cuisine for the food snobs.
Ain’t nothin’ wrong with some good fried okra and some mac and cheese. Besides, she would have the financial “legs” to make a go of it.
BTW, Trader Joes’ ain’t happening…fuggedaboutit.
Yeah, if you want overpriced, only mediocre, but much celebrated southern cooking, that draws from the surrounding masses, but for which people in Decatur rarely go, we’ve already got Watershed.
Of course, when you are talking about Watershed, you can also throw in a hint of pretention, i.e., “I realize that the restaurant is virtually empty, but do you have reservations?”
Right on…Sam!
Couldn’t resist.
I eat at Watershed. I live in Decatur. You get asked if you have a reservation so that they can give you Open Table credit and so they can keep their records straight–not to be pretentious. I love this blog but I wince every time that I see a business attacked for no apparent reason. This wasn’t a thread on Watershed. To me, it’s like witnessing an attack on a neighbor. I want to read and participate in this blog but each time I see something like your post (and you’re not the only one certainly) it makes me want to disassociate. I would prefer that when we post we say things as if we would same them to the owner of the business, face-to-face. Maybe you’re the type of person who would just go up to Scott Peacock and tell him you think his cooking is “mediocre,” but I doubt it. Chances are if you wanted to be effective you would present the criticisms in the nicest and most constructive way possible. They read the blogs too. Why should they get their face slapped as they are reading along about their city with the rest of us. Consider this a general call for civility. Am I the only person who gets upset with this? Am I just super sensitive? Why do people seem so mean on blogs?
Agreed. It’s part of the reason why I enforce my rules as stringently as I do.
Now usually, I’m a bit more lenient about criticisms of businesses, but the more vague they become the less tolerant I am. Altmod is right that the people that own businesses in this town read these comments and are affected by them. I’ve even talked to business owners on the phone about this in the past because they were so upset about what was by commenters.
I’m going to leave this one up, in large part because I think it’s an important conversation and because I think Watershed can take one nasty blog comment. They’re an establishment. But in the future, vague slights against local businesses will be taken down. You may see this as strict when compared to the free-for-all that is the rest of the internet, but we’re a small town and this blog can quickly go from a positive to a negative.
That said, specific criticisms are always welcome.
And isn’t the next step in the cycle of pretentiousness that when a place/fad becomes too popular, you shun it?
Wow. It’s kind of funny how noone came to the defense of Paula Deen when she was being attacked in the previous comments for being “mediocre,” “contrived,” “overpriced and uninspiring,” “pedestrian,” and “overrated.”
But to call Watershed overrated and pretentious, oh no … that cannot be tolerated!
But that is fine. I vote with my wallet and I don’t eat there after a half a dozen bad experiences over the last few years. Sorry.
The rule is: no personal attacks.
Of course the gray area is how I interpret that, walking the line between stifling conversation and being counterproductive to the community.
As I’ve learned, there are a million different scenarios where it’s a toss up as how to treat it. In this specific instance, my rationale is that Paula Deen is a public figure and therefore subject to a different level of “protection.” Also, she doesn’t read this blog and would probably care less if she did. Watershed is a local establishment.
If you have a gripe, be specific, so at least they something to respond to. That’s all I ask.
Sam I didn’t like that either. That said, I don’t think Paula Deem is my neighbor or is reading this blog. That is why I got frustrated. DM–wasn’t meant to be a critique of your moderating but you probably know that.
I know it wasn’t altmod. Mostly I just say these things to justify my own positions to myself.
These blogs are where people express and discuss opinions on a variety of subjects. The key point here is “opinions”–which we all have and should be given the opportunity to express them. Also though, once an opinion is posted then the poster must be prepared for a discussion, or even a backlash, which often happens with anonymous blog postings. With the anonymity comes a certain amount venom–people are more apt to express their opinions freely here–which should be appreciated to a degree. In a face to face conversation there may not be that much venom, but you also will not get as much truth.
AMEN Altmod! You have articulated what I have been so frustrated about with comments on this blog. They hide behind excuses like….’it’s the nature of the blogging, etc.. To me, it’s just plain not nice. I like your suggestion to write/comment as if you were writing/speaking to the owner. Thank you!
Maybe everyone has grown up with different types of people. People sometimes are VERY rude when expressing strongly-held opinions–blog posting or not. However, the opinions posted here about Watershed (and other Decatur institutions) do not seem to be all that rude–let alone offensive. If a reader feels certain establishments should be off-limits to criticism then maybe the readers ARE being a little over-sensitive.
No one here is hiding behind any rationale–it’s a discussion board, at times you just have to let it go.
(A complete stoner-surfer dude once told me, after a car accident, to “acknowledge, move on…)
Kaiser is moving into the new space. Walk in clinic…
Disappointing, but I’d bet you are right. Who else can afford the rent but some giant health care company? I guess you now know why they are fighting reform so hard.
Really? Kaiser walk-in clinic? =(
Yuck.
Heard Kaiser’s food is awful.
But their rolls are pretty good when fresh.
Lady and Sons?
Yikes
Had one of the most overpriced and uninspiring meals of my life last summer when staying on Tybee. Almost laughable how pedestrian the food was.
Everyone had different taste. AGAIN, my point was simply the business it would bring to downtown, not the EPICUREAN NOTORIETY or HAUTE CUISINE. You can choose to ignore that if you must.
Business is business and sales tax revenue helps our city.
We have many successful food purveyors that would fall into the “pedestrian” category.
It ain’t happenin’ so guess that is all I will offer on this.
SAAC, I do see your point, but my point is that even “everyday” food can be uncommonly good (I’ll put my grandmother’s biscuits and stewed neckbones up against anything at Le Cirque any day). Ms. Deen’s is just overrated. I would love to see something that draws lots of folks in, but I wouldn’t want it to be something so mediocre that one visit would be enough for most people. Just my two bits.
I understand.
Morrison’s and Piccadilly seem to do well with really bad (IMO), overcooked canned food, though.
I can think of several celebrity restaurants throughout the country where the food is “Meh!”, but packs in the crowds on the name alone.
Glad that Artisan has filled the space. Shame their will be no sales tax revenue derived.
If downtown wants more or better or more diverse retail, it needs more rooftops and more office workers. When Andres Duany was in town, he said, “Density makes the donuts fresher.”
This density fetish…so do we all crowd together in our hovels and take trips to the outskirts to look at grass and trees once in a while?
Duany must be a terrible gardener with a black thumb to love concrete and density so much.
At the risk of stating the obvious, densifying in appropriate centers is what allows natural preservation elsewhere. Residences have to go somewhere. Would you prefer they replace your grass and trees in the form of subdivisions?
That’s the model they used in Gwinnett. Doesn’t seem very environmentally concerned to me.
Why can’t we offer people choices, ranging from rural to urban? Both have their benefits and drawbacks but you can’t truly offer one end of the spectrum without also offering the opposite end to balance it out.
If anything most of our region’s problems stem not from a “density fetish” but of having an anti-density fetish.
Crowd into our hovels??? Come on. That’s a stretch.
” take trips to the outskirts to look at grass and trees once in a while” That’s why we have street trees. Just kidding.
There is a valid point in there somewhere, however. Urban spaces need open spaces and parks. It would be great if downtown Decatur had more such spaces, and hopefully some can be worked into future projects. There are probably more of open spaces in downtown than we think. The court house square, the Marta Plaza, the church lawns, the plazas around office buildings and the patios at various Decatur restaurants all contribute to the open space in downtown.
I always found it interesting that everyone derides MARTA for what it did to the center of town, but really, without the closure of Sycamore, we really wouldn’t have a town center for any of our festivals.
I’m one of those people, but it’s still kind of interesting to think about.
Just a shame in retrospect that there are TWO entrances, whereas if there had been only one., the church street side could have been the ideal location for a bandstand type space with seating tapering out towards Church. Then when festivals/concerts were happening…crowds could have backfilled down Sycamore in front of library, etc.
Two entries was a bad idea.
SAACJack, if I ever ran for office (not gonna happen), I’d have a platform of getting all of those busses at that second entrance out of downtown (moving them to East Lake or Avondale, both of which have much more room) and converting that bus terminal into more useful space that benefits Decatur. It’s a LOT of space in the heart of the City performing a function that could likely function better elsewhere. It would also remove a lot of noise, heat, and pollution from downtown. Excluding the #2 bus on Ponce (which doesn’t stop at that terminal) and the Cliff/CCTMA bus to Emory (which doesn’t have to stop there), how many Decatur residents ever use the other busses there? True, closing the Swanton entrance would mean I’d have to walk a bit further (since I live west of the station) but it would be worth it for an improved downtown. (For those that think having the bus heat island is a good thing, be glad I’m not actually running for office).
Carl,
The buses that are currently in that “island” used to stop right in front of the MARTA station on Church St. clogging up traffic in that area. They built the bus terminal over on the other side in the mid ’90’s to get that traffic off Church and I think it has resulted in much improvement.
You may not like the buses being there, but the point of buses is to lead traffic to the nearest rail station. Unfortunately for your point of view, the major road arteries leading to Decatur come through downtown and not East Lake or Avondale.
Furthermore, even if the buses were elminated, I don’t see why you would shut off an entrance on the west side in any event. What would be the point?
I think having MARTA come through the center of town is actually one of the best things that ever happened to Decatur. The alternative was putting it over by the railroad which wouldn’t have spurred the higher density, smart growth type development we have seen in downtown over the past 10-15 years.
Yes, it was painful for those businesses in the 1970’s to deal with, but, also, once completed it opened up new opportunities. I’m not sure that anyone is really pining away for any of those businesses that went under 30 years ago because of the MARTA construction.
The bigger shame is not MARTA, but the destruction of the west side of the square by the new courthouse and that crazy bird chirping building. For the new courthouse, they could have used the giant parking lot where the Calloway Building is now and saved that entire part of the square.
I also kind of like the two entrances for MARTA. Having a dedicated side for bus transfer traffic takes all of that off that traffic off the street.
Don’t get me started…!
Think of all the employees who will be occupying the Tossed space, and the customers they will bring to that location. During construction and after the grand opening, all of that activity means good business for Decatur’s merchants. Let’s roll out the welcome mat!
Indeed! If this is in fact a walk-in clinic, then it certainly goes a long way in contributing to the diversity of businesses in Decatur.
I believe there’s a fairly new walk-in clinic just up the street, where there was once a Century 21 office…next door to Watershed. Are walk-in clinics the new boutiques?
If it is a Kaiser clinic, it will be open only to Kaiser patients. Kaiser offers after-hours and weekend care a handful of its locations. As a Kaiser patient, it will be nice to have a walk-in clinic closer to home. It will be interesting to see what hours this location will be open.
Isn’t that just a primary care doctor?
The site next to Watershed is Ponce Preventive Care. I wasn’t aware that it was a walk up clinic. They do have an excellent weight loss program called Healthy Weight.
Here ist he rub: pricey rents equal less than exciting (retail) tenants, who must justify the rent somehow. (Maybe pricey rents would equal more exciting residents, as if Ted would move upstairs from Teds …)
Hope the Kaiser patients get to park free–oh wait, will they have to pay the Artisan hourly rate? yikes!
I’m sure they’ll validate.