Girls make mark at NYO

from Dunwoody Reporter - November 2021

by Rough Draft Atlanta: Atlanta Intown, Reporter Newspapers

Restaurant of the Year

DINING

A ‘Cheers’ for Dunwoody: New bar opening soon

BY SAMMIE PURCELL

The first restaurant in the Dunwoody Village’s new entertainment complex is expected to open up in early November.

Bar(n) – a craft wine, beer, and whiskey bar – will open around Nov. 5, said David Abes of Dash Hospitality. It will be the first piece of a new entertainment complex in the Dunwoody Village, a shopping and retail center at 1317 Dunwoody Village Parkway. The complex will be located at an open courtyard in the village, and it will include four additional restaurants, a plethora of outdoor seating, and a stage and outdoor screen.

“We had to start with Bar(n), because we thought it was the right fit for people to come to the community,” Abes said. “I just want this to be ‘Cheers’ for Dunwoody.”

If residents go see Bar(n) right now, they would find it still under construction. But the spirit of the bar is still starting to shine through. The space is expected to have a rustic feel. It features large, garage doors that open up and create an easy flow from the indoors to the outdoors. Patrons will be able to order from the bar from both the outside and inside, enjoying light bites like charcuterie while they drink. Project Manager Cyndi Sterne said the menu isn’t ready to be shared yet, but all the meat will be locally cured and the cheeses will be from the Southeast.

Sterne, who came onto the project in July, said the plan is to take the community that Dunwoody already has and build around it.

“We’re trying to bring a little bit of that Beltline feel, a little bit of that Chattahoochee Works feel, a little bit of that to Dunwoody,” she said. “All the bones are here, all the structure is here. The community’s here.”

Bar(n) is the first spot to open in the courtyard, but it won’t be the last. When Bar(n) opens, so will a food truck from Cuco’s Cantina, serving up Mexican street food for residents. Abes said Cuco’s and a barbeque restaurant called Morty’s Meat Supply are expected to open up physical locations around the courtyard in May 2022, and two other restaurants – the Mediterranean Yoffi and a seafood restaurant called Message in a Bottle – are expected to open in the fall of 2022.

Bar(n) and the four restaurants will be situated surrounding a courtyard, where

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patrons will find four-tops, picnic tables, club chairs, and the like to relax in. Sterne said visitors will be able to choose a table in the courtyard and order from any restaurant they wish.

“The beauty of it is you can be sitting at a table with a carnivore, an herbivore, and a little kid, and everybody’s going to have something,” she said.

Abes envisions the courtyard as not just a place to eat, but an event center as well. The courtyard will have a stage located at the top of the stairs, where bands and singer-songwriters will be able to play on weekends. There will also be a large screen so patrons can catch the latest Atlanta United, Braves, or Falcons game on a night out.

Sterne said she would also like to host family-friendly events on the weekends, such as music classes for kids, or gingerbread-making classes with the holidays coming up. There are also a few workout centers in the Dunwoody Village area, and Sterne said it’s possible residents will see outdoor yoga or barre classes in the courtyard in the future.

As far as a grand opening party? That might be a little off in the future. Sterne said Bar(n) plans to keep things a little quiet for a while as they get staff trained and the spot up and running. But residents can look forward to more next year.

“We’re hoping in the spring that we’ll have a really big party for the community,” Sterne said.

For Abes, this city center has been a long time coming, and he hopes it will help bring a little bit of the “fun” back to Dunwoody – an effort that he’s trademarked and calls “Funwoody.”

“It’s just what Dunwoody needs,” he said. “They need that city center.”