Grindhouse Coming To Decatur?
Decatur Metro | January 14, 2010Scoutmob – a new Atlanta website offering daily, local deals with write-ups on local area businesses – has a report from contributor Eli of “Tomorrow’s News Today Atlanta“, that the famous Grindhouse burgers of the Sweet Auburn Curb Market might be building a second home in Decatur.
“After the success of his original location at Sweet Auburn Curb Market, owner Alex Brounstein has his sights set on a second location. He’s been scouting metro neighborhoods and has narrowed his search to downtown Decatur and the Cheshire Bridge/LaVista ‘hood. Since his hope is to rehab a second generation space, my money is on Decatur being the winner. Best part of all? The new space should be nearly 3,000 square feet! Great news, since the lunch wait at the original location tended to get too long for folks on a time crunch. Mr. Brounstein, as of this week, claims he does have a couple specific sites in mind, though for obvious reasons, he couldn’t elaborate. The goal is to have something in place within the next 60-90 days, and have an opening date by year’s end.”
h/t: Andisheh
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I wrote a story on Grindhouse for the Business Chronicle and can confirm that Alex is looking at either Decatur or the Cheshire Bridge area… Warren of Decatur CD and I were discussing how awesome a burger joint would be in the empty Azio space. Might be too upscale for Grindhouse, however.
Isn’t the Farm Burger now officially going into the spot next to Watershed? That’s a lot of ground beef (and bison) in Decatur, but a whole lot for that stretch of W. Ponce.
3000 square feet? Maybe he’ll take over Depeaux and make everyone happy.
I don’t think this is welcome news, and I love me some burgers. Right now, you can get great ones at Leon’s, Ted’s, the Pig, the Brick, and soon the Farm. I haven’t tried Mac Macgee’s yet, but given its pedigree, you’d expect a pretty good one there too. I’m afraid we’re going to have so many places in this style that none can sustain. Unlike booze, you can really only have one burger per evening.
Come on, can’t we diversify a bit?
Agreed. Don’t forget Cakes & Ale has a terrific burger as well and is the only constant on their ever changing menu.
I disagree. All the places listed serve burgers, but they are not burger joints. Their burgers range from decent to very good, but I wouldn’t call any of them exceptional. Short of Holeman & Finch, Grindhouse is making the best burgers going in the ATL, and I think Decatur would welcome them with open arms. You can only have so many frozen yogurt stands.
What about the ABC space? It’s pretty big, albeit not 3,000 sq. ft.
Lump, I’m calling you out on one point. The burger at the Pig is SPECTACULAR. Top of my list fantastic. I look at the menu and see things I really want to try, but I can’t get past the burger. I think it measures up with any in Atlanta.
I’ve not been at Holeman & Finch during the short burger window, so I can’t make that comparison. But I’ve had H&F veterans tell me that they are in the same league.
Well, sounds like both of us have some research to do, since you’ve never had the H&F burger and I’ve never had the Pig’s.
For the moment, I’ll take your word that it falls into the exceptional burger category, but A) you still have to eat it in a relatively upscale sit-down establishment, and B) it cannot be customized. So my main point about Grindhouse being a different animal stands.
Lump, I’m with you on those other points. I’ll get to H&F and report back soon.
This is how we roll in Decatur. We’ve got 15 smoothie shops, 15 Irish pubs, and now 15 burger joints.
And like everywhere else in ATL metro, you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a Mexican place.
There’s a Decatur Metro t-shirt slogan somewhere in all of this, but I’ve got a long drive ahead of me to go get some BBQ (hint….hint).
Really? Are Fox Bros. and Community Q THAT far???
30307 and 30033, respectively.
But I don’t want to make the point too overtly, because then we’ll have 15 BBQ joints within walking distance of the square.
Point taken, but it’s hard for me to conceive of better ‘cue than those two places, drive or no drive.
Agreed. We really do not need another burger joint, or food business for that matter. Decatur needs to diversify a little more. Maybe a better location would be in the avondale area.
If you are right, they will fail and be replaced by something else. Either way, no use in debating this; it will all shake out in whether or not people patronize the place. Also, it’s not strictly an issue of the number of burger joints, it’s an issue of relative quality, atmosphere, etc. Heck, we did not really need Leon’s, did we? But it’s nice to have.
Completely agree with DEM. On paper, Leon’s was doing more or less the same thing as 10 other places in town. But they did it better than most and are arguably the most successful new business to open in Decatur in the last two years.
Moreover, the lack of a certain type of business here does not guarantee that simply opening a business of that type will end in success. Wordsmith’s was a perfect example of that.
Yeah, but the beauty of Grindhouse is they are great burgers and don’t start at $7.95 (or require a pint of Belgian ale or Guinness to wash down). The real secret for cheap burgers is Emory Village’s Wonderful World of Burgers and Fries (home of the $2.00 Sweetwater 420). You can thank me later…
+1
Yes, places like Leon’s and Cakes & Ale serve burgers, but you’re going to be there for a couple hours in either instance and will probably have to make a reservation at the latter. And as Mike said, you can’t JUST order a burger there. Have to get drinks, apps, etc. The only place to get a quick burger in Decatur is McDonald’s and I don’t even consider that food.
I find the burger snobbery around here appalling. Diversity is good, and I’m all for it, but come on.
Bring it on!
I think everyone is missing the point, which is that Grindhouse burgers are really, really good. And it’s a whole different experience from any other place in Decatur – it’s a burger stand really, not an ordinary restaurant.
“Decatur Metro–trying to help us get over ourselves”
No, wait, that was the other thread. sorry!
I think Grindhouse has a much better product than Wonderful World. Both are great price points but WW has far less flavor is most likely using meat a step above Checkers. Good value at both, but Grindhouse has better tasting blends that are unmatched in quality.
Decatur: Burgers Galore, Still No Trader Joe’s
Rest of the World: Trader Joe’s Galore; Still No YDFM
YES!! I finally made it over to the Sweet Auburn Market and had a burger there and it was great! The onion rings are pretty good too. The Pharmhouse location could be a good one for them too.
Turns out I used to work with Mr. Brounstein for a couple of years before he opened Grindhouse. I just got off of the phone with him and he says that, while Decatur is on his radar screen it’s not Option A right now. He did look seriously at a space on West Ponce but couldn’t get a lease deal worked out with the landlord. He’s moving down another path much more seriously right now. He’s interested in a second location because he’s limited at Sweet Auburn to only lunch and no alcohol. He’d like to have a Taq. Del Sol-type burger spot (counter-service sit-down) and thinks Decatur would work for Grindhouse. But until he finds the right real estate, which he hasn’t yet, he won’t be coming here. Also he said that after a slow November and December, business is picking back up. Saturday was their best day ever.
Glad to see a successful business at Sweet Auburn Curb Market. But what’s the deal with no alcohol and no evenings? I’d really like to see that place morph into a more European market with all types of food vendors all times of the day. It is really the only old school type market left in Atlanta. Who manages the place?
So what’s with the domesticated animal theme running through Decatur? The Pig, the Goat, the Farm, Ducks…you could join in and refer to your site as the Yak, DM!
rofl
5 Guys or DIE!