Did the Pharmhouse Restaurant Close?
Decatur Metro | January 14, 2010A week ago, Beverly sent in a note inquiring to the current status of the Pharmhouse Restaurant along the Sycamore sidewalk on the southern side of Decatur Square. She recounted…
We’ve tried to get in there a couple of times since Christmas but it’s never open. I hate to see this one close so quickly – we really like it!
At that time, I sent an email along to Chef Wayne, but never received a reply.
This morning, Billy revived my Pharmhouse curiousity with a similar question “…what is up with pharmhouse? Did they close?”
Unable to make person-to-person contact, I humbly turn this question over to the masses. Anyone know more?
Latest from Decaturish
I sure don’t have the answer, but if it’s true, that was a short run.
On another note, yesterday I saw someone, presumably an employee, peeling the plastic signage off of the windows of the Best Time coffee, etc., place in the old SunTrust space. Maybe they were in violation of the sign ordinance?
I’ve wanted to try Pharmhouse since it opened, but it has been closed every time my partner and I have stopped by (afternoons and evenings). Also – there were no hours posted outside the restaurant or on their website, which made it really difficult to plan a trip there. I emailed the staff from their website weeks ago, but never received a reply. It’s really a shame – the menu looked good and we love to support our community restaurants.
I was able to go there once a few days before they got their liquor license, but after leaving something there, I tried to call them about a dozen times and they never seem to be open. I think it’s done for!
I was just there for my birthday in early December – the food was excellent and our waitress was attentive and awesome. I would be very sad to hear that they had to close
I liked them, too– but if they’re closed, I have a feeling that name may have helped do them in.
Yeah, from what I know, it was a pretty textbook example of how NOT to open a restaurant, from the weird name, to the total lack of promotion, to the inconsistent hours. The menu seemed pretty uninspired, and from the few people I know who ate there, the food lived up to that impression.
The good news is that the Iberian Pig, which opened at the same time a few doors down, was as savvy about their opening as the Pharmhouse was not, and seems to have been rewarded with steady business.
Let’s hope for something better in the Pharmhouse space.
I’ll go further — the name was not just weird, but an affirmatively off-putting suggestion of food combined with prescrption drugs I never even considered going there.
No big loss there. When I went they were out of many items, the service was awful, and the food was worse. I expected some sort of farm-to-table or at least good wholesome ingredients and got undercooked everything and fresh-from-the-freezer fries. Yuck. I told many a friend of the experience. Hopefully we can get something better in its place.
I agree, Nancy. I wasn’t impressed either.
I went there twice – first time they had their liquor license, the second time they did not. I thought the food was just okay, but nothing that I couldn’t get somewhere else. Both times there was only one server, who couldn’t quite keep up with the number of people who came in.
OT- but why are none of the Decatur blogs posting about the weird pocketbook/coffee shop took over the Wordsmiths space? I give that tragic combo about 2 months.
Maybe so, but it’s a MARTA kind of place (caters to the needs of MARTA riders), so it might do OK.
“a Marta kind of place” ???
“the needs of Marta riders”???
This says a lot about who you imagine rides Marta. You really should get on the train and make your own observations about “who rides Marta.” I guess you would consider me atypical, since I don’t wear a do-rag and have never felt the need for one!
I do ride MARTA from time to time and stand by my comment. MARTA rider are a diverse lot, but you would have to admit the majority are blue collar and service workers and students. That’s not a discriminatory comment, only a fact.
Gee, I ride it most days and I wear a long wool coat, heels, and a nice scarf. I see lots of Georgia State professors and students every day and lots of other folks that look a lot like me. I think of MARTA as a neat melting pot. There’s few bums around some of the stations but not too many inside the stations or on the trains. MARTA could definitely improve, especially if it had some more funding, but it isn’t like riding the AA train through the South Bronx!
Thanks, I agree. Condescension toward “Marta riders” really rankles me.
Careful – saying something even remotely negative about MARTA riders really rankles the regulars. They will react as a mother bear who feels their cubs are in danger.
Of course the ridership is mostly blue collar! It’s called public transportation, which means the public uses it. And guess what, most of the public is blue collar. How someone reads that as a put-down I’ll never understand.
Sorry Steve, but by the end of the day you’ll probably be told to move to Alpharetta.
I agree…it’s quite a weird combination of stuff they’re selling. Cheap jewelry, scarves,du-rags, coffee and hot dogs! Hmm.
I noticed that last weekend; kind of a bummer but not surprised that that’s the best tenant in the market given how bad things are for small businesses and landlords. But frankly there are a handful of retailers along that strip that nobody likes to talk about…
Does anyone know anything about the STOP WORK order on the door at the old Atlanta Bread space? Saw it today as I went to buy $14 worth of yogurt at the Tap.
Look close – it’s been there since October. My guess is that the permit was for demo only and the Stop Work was issued when they started putting something back in.
If the fact that they stopped answering phone calls and emails wasn’t enough of a sign that the Pharmhouse has closed, this sign might seal the deal.
My husband and I ate there at least once a week – the food was great quality and in the right price range for frequent dining. The menu had a lot of comfort food items but with Chef Wayne’s creative twist and quality ingredients to keep it interesting. We tried to go back twice in the last week but have resigned ourselves to the fact that it really is gone. Everyone who worked there was always so nice and I feel so sorry for them – I hope they find new opportunities soon. The Iberian Pig next door might be fine for occasional dining but it is not somewhere I would frequent like the Pharmhouse. We tried Mac McGee’s, the new Irish pub next door when it first opened and it was pretty good. We tried to go back last night and it was packed so I think they will be around for a while.
Noticed today that there is a “For Lease” sign in the window.