Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Ever since opening at the Piedmont Commons Shopping Center (1050 East Piedmont Road) more than a decade ago, Righteous ‘Que has been closed on Sundays.
That’s about to change as the restaurant will be open for a few hours each Sunday, starting this coming week.
The Sunday lunch hours are from 11:30-3:30 p.m.
The change is the latest evolution of a Southern barbecue spot that’s had success what had been a tricky location for restaurants.
Righteous ‘Que was started by Patrick Verzone as a home cookout/catering effort, initially for friends, family and church members.
He opened up a brick-and-mortar space at Piedmont Commons in 2012, then moved into larger space in the same retail center that had had sporadic tenets in a number of food genres.
The former Righteous ‘Que space is now occupied by Belen de la Cruz Empanadas and Pastries.
In a video posted this week, Verzone said that “as we get closer to football season, we’ll be throwing in some wings.”
Serving Sunday Mimosas
Two longstanding East Cobb restaurants that specialize in Sunday service—they’re breakfast and brunch spots—will soon be offering mimosas to their customers.
Eggs Upp Grill (4401 Shallowford Road) and J. Christophers at the Woodlawn Square Shopping Center on Johnson Ferry Road recently had to get county approval to do so, since they didn’t have pouring licenses.
The process takes several steps, and in the case of both restaurants, started with initial denials by the Cobb Business License Divison.
That’s because both establishments are located within 300 feet of homes, schools, libraries, parks and places of worship—the county ordinance’s distance requirement—and quite a few restaurants have had to appeal those denials as a result.
The Cobb License Review Board approved the Eggs Up and J. Christopher’s requests for beer, wine and Sunday alcohol sales, and the Cobb Board of Commissioners recently upheld those approvals by consent.
The process has become standard and routine, but it’s also cumbersome for restaurant owners.
In addition to their applications, they also have to fill out extensive questionnaires stating whether their serving alcohol will have an “adverse effect” on those homes, schools, libraries, parks and places of worship.
The restaurants also have to explain how they plan to train employees to serve alcohol, if they’ve provided written policies and procedures for doing so, the percentage breakdown between food and alcohol sales and more (36 questions are asked).
County officials also compile a list of nearby establishments that serve alcohol as the applications are considered.
In the case of Eggs Up, its ownership told the county it’s being required to serve mimosas at the behest of the company.
That will start after a remodeling project that will keep the restaurant closed for at least another week.
Sterling Estates serves up its version of a Philly cheesesteak at the Taste of East Cobb.
2027 Taste of East Cobb date
Organizers of the Taste of East Cobb (Walton Band Parent Association) announced last week that the 2027 event will be held earlier than usual.
The festival will take place April 17, 2027, at its familiar venue at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church.
The Taste of East Cobb traditionally has been held the first Saturday in May, a week after the much larger Taste of Marietta.
The new date for the Taste of East Cobb—two weeks earlier than usual—will now be a week ahead of the Marietta Square festival, which is set for April 25, 2027.
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An East Cobb Thai restaurant received an especially low health inspection score in a visit this week by Cobb and Douglas Public Health.
On Monday inspectors visited Thai Taste (4796 Canton Road, near Jamerson Road) and wrote up a myriad of violations for a “U” grade.
Restaurants that get scores of 70 or lower (“C” grade or lower) are re-inspected within 10 working days, but Thai Taste’s score is lower than usual even for a failing inspection.
The major violations included improper food handling, a lack of sanitary cleaning procedures, non-continuous processes for cooking raw animal foods and significant managerial issues.
Among them included not having a person-in-charge when inspectors arrived at Thai Taste on Monday afternoon for what turned out to be a three-hour inspection.
“The only one employee was not aware of when food was cooked on what day or what time of the day, when employee shall wash his hands and could not answer any of EHS questions,” according to the inspection report, compiled by Elena Petra of Cobb and Douglas Public Health’s Environmental Health and Safety agency, which conducts food health inspections.
“The other employee (the cook) was not speaking English. There must be a person in charge on the premises of the food service establishment at all times.”
Petra also observed an employee “re-entering the kitchen with soiled gloves from previously cutting chicken earlier.” When he was told he needed to wash his hands, according to the inspection, the employee “went to the hand sink and turned on the water, rubbed his hands together for about 10 seconds without soap, half dried them and proceeded to handle clean dishes.”
That was one of four nine-point deductions at Thai Taste, along with a failure to separate and cover food properly.
The inspector noticed a large bag of raw bean sprouts “resting directly on top of raw eggs in the RIC in the main kitchen. Observed raw bagged scallops resting directly on top of half raw mussels. Mussels were not covered and were half shelled.”
Petra also docked Thai Taste nine points when an employee cut raw chicken wearing gloves, then placed the chicken in bags with soiled gloves. He was ordered to remove the gloves and wash his hands, according to the report, which he eventually did.
The restaurant was given deadlines to correct some of the violations. At the end of the report, Petra wrote that “EHS will reach out to the owner regarding the findings in this inspection. Neither employees were comfortable signing the inspection in the absence of the owner.”
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
An Indian restaurant in East Cobb that failed a health inspection last week got a much better score on Thursday.
Cobb and Douglas Public Health inspectors gave Vatica Indian Cuisine (1475 Terrell Mill Road, Suite 105) a score of 90, or A, upon a re-inspection.
Vatica received a score of 57 on June 17 for a variety of violations, including food-handling and storage issues, food build-up on surfaces throughout the kitchen and the presence of roaches.
On Thursday, inspectors docked the restaurant nine points after seeing “employee using bare fingers to remove ghee from a container, then apply it to uncooked naan in main kitchen. The same container of ghee was used on ready-to-eat cooked naan in main kitchen.”
Otherwise, the major issues cited in the original report had been corrected, although inspectors also cited Vatica on Thursday for not posting the initial inspection report in public view.
“The most current inspection report shall be prominently displayed in public view at all times, within fifteen feet of the front or primary public door and between five feet and seven feet from the floor and in an area where it can be read at a distance of one foot away,” states the re-inspection report (which you can view here).
Restaurants that get scores of 70 or below are typically re-inspected with 10 working days.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
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Cobb and Douglas Public Health will be revisiting an Indian restaurant in East Cobb which it gave a failing health inspection on Wednesday.
The agency inspected Vatica Indian Cuisine (1475 Terrell Mill Road, Suite 105), and after being on premises for more than three hours, issued a score of 57, or U, for unsatisfactory, citing a variety of major violations.
Among them are an employee touching dirty dishes then preparing food without washing hands, containers of raw meat stacked on one another in a walk-in cooler, uncovered containers of spices and ingredients on counters and improper food storage temperatures.
Vatica also was docked points for “food debris and encrustration on floors, walls, and ceiling fixtures throughout main kitchen” and roaches “on floors in prep area and storage area, behind freezer chest in storage area, and on prep table next to stove in main kitchen.”
Health inspectors said they would return in 10 days after providing a detailed report of corrective action (you can view it here) for some of the violations.
Vatica was ordered to obtain a thermometer to read temperatures for “cold thin foods” and was given 24 hours to do so, and was told to clean the food debris and encrustation by the time of the re-inspection.
Inspectors also said the restaurant needs to “remove harboring conditions” for the roaches before the next visit and to “routinely inspect the premises for evidence of pests.”
On its previous inspection, in December 2025, Vatica received a health score of 80, and an 88 in April 2025.
The latter is the highest score the restaurant has received since 2023.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
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Daniele Furfaro and his wife Bella have received a variety of honors in the three years they’re run Mezza Luna in East Cobb.
At the end of May, Mezza Luna owner Daniele Furfaro announced his restaurant at the Pavilions at East Lake Shopping Center will be changing names and getting a menu make-over as well.
What he had rebranded Mezza Luna Furfaro Italian Restaurant to distinguish it from the original Mezza Luna restaurant in Smyrna will soon be known as Trattoria Bella.
“We are changing names because we don’t want be confused about the other Mezza Luna,” Furfaro told East Cobb News. “And plus, we going to update the menu and bar drinks and decorate over the restaurant.”
The changes will take place gradually over the summer, and the restaurant (2100 Roswell Road, Suite 2198) is remaining open.
Bella Furfaro, who like her husband is a native of Italy, is the namesake of the rebrand, and she oversaw Mezza Luna’s recent dining room upgrade.
In an East Cobb Newssponsored post in February, Furfaro explained that he added his name to the restaurant because diners thought the two spots were still had the same owners. He was originally a partner in the East Cobb business before becoming its owner in 2023.
The Furfaros also have been busy moving their family, which includes two daughters, to East Cobb after living in Woodstock.
“Mezza Luna Pasta & Seafood remains your neighborhood Italian table in Marietta: handmade pastas, seafood, wine, cocktails, and service that makes dinner feel personal,” the restaurant noted on its website. “Trattoria Bella is the next chapter, carrying the same spirit into a refreshed experience” that is “a subtle rebrand inspired by the same family passion and a more elevated evening out.”
In May, Mezza Luna sponsored a table at the Taste of East Cobb for the first time, and won the Best Taste award.
Furfaro has been teasing to the rebrand with short videos on the restaurant’s new Facebook page, and on Thursday the soft opening continues with a five-course wine dinner, “An Evening of Coastal Elegance.”
New pop-up farmer’s markets
After more than three years of home delivery of fresh fruits and vegetables (we featured them here in 2022), an East Cobb produce business is giving shoppers a chance to enjoy a retail operation once again.
Holland Botanical, which delivers to the greater East Cobb area on Tuesdays for advance orders only, recently started a pop-up market on the weekends.
It takes place Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the parking lot of Jackie’s Fine Wine and Spirits (3140 Johnson Ferry Road), and during the week publishes the lineup of available items.
Holland Botanical originally began as a pop-up in the nearby Shallowford Falls Shopping Center, then switched to delivery only during COVID.
Coming this Friday, the Mabry Farm market opens daily from dawn to dusk (4480 Wesley Chapel Road), featuring blackberries, blueberries and apples grown on the premises. Later in the summer, they expect to have tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers avaiable.
Payment is via a cash deposit box at the top of the orchard, or by Venmo.
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Several restaurants in East Cobb will be participating in Cobb Travel and Tourism’s annual Cobb Foodie Week promotion.
The event takes place from June 20-27, and customers will be able to redeem digital coupons for meals, appetizers and other menu items from more than 50 restaurants in Cobb.
Here’s how it works, per Cobb Travel:
“After signing up for a Meal Deals Pass onCobbFoodieWeek.com, participants will instantly receive a digital passport on their phone through text or email and can save the pass to their home screen for easy access, without ever downloading an app! The Meal Deals will be ready to use starting June 20th and can be redeemed by presenting the pass to the staff at participating restaurants.”
The restaurants will be detailing their specific promotions here, and here’s who’s taking part in East Cobb:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
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Several months after its building was destroyed in a fire, the owners of the Chin Chin Chinese restaurant in East Cobb are in the process of relocating.
Chin Chin Chen Asian Fusion will be opening in the former Zaxby’s space at 3030 Johnson Ferry Road, near the Northeast Cobb YMCA and Walmart.
The premises is still being renovated, with a construction dumpster located near the front. There’s no further information available about when the restaurant will open; East Cobb News has left a message with Qing Yun Chen, the applicant for the relocated business.
According to Cobb County business license information, Chin Chin Chen applied for an alcohol license in April. Cobb property tax records also indicate that the building was purchased in February by Yung Heng LLC, an entity with an address the same as Chen’s.
Chin Chin had operated for nearly three decades in a building on Johnson Ferry Road near Parkaire Landing that caught fire last September and was severely damaged. An online fundraiser begun by Sabrina Gao, daughter of co-owner Jasmine Chen, raised several thousand dollars as the family vowed to rebuild.
Chicago’s closes
Not far from the Chin Chin Chen site another longstanding East Cobb restaurant has apparently closed for good.
Chicago’s Steaks and Seafood, which was open for more than 35 years in various locations, closed its doors on Saturday at the Shallowford Crossing Shopping Center (4401 Shallowford Road at Johnson Ferry).
Social media messages in recent weeks speculated about the closing, especially after Chicago’s received a failing health inspection in March, The restaurant later received a ‘B’ score on a follow-up, with ownership acknowledging the issues but saying they had all been addressed.
After that, Chicago’s regularly updated its social media channels to reflect menu changes and live music acts, but did not indicate anything about closing.
Its last Facebook post on May 23 promoted live entertainment. A message on Chicago’s Google listing indicates it’s closed temporarily, but there are no signs on the exterior of the restaurant.
East Cobb News has left multiple messages with Chicago’s management seeking information but has not received a response.
Chicago’s was a popular venue for upscale dining in East Cobb and with live entertainment and cocktails at a speakeasy lounge.
Ownership has changed hands twice since 2017, with the latest acquisition in 2022.
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East Cobb Middle School had perfect inspection scores, like many school cafeterias do.
The 2025-26 school year is in the books, and the Cobb County School District and local private schools have been noting their academic, athletic and other success metrics.
Some of the most impressive numbers they racked up are health inspection reports at their cafeterias, which almost always result in scores of 100.
As we noted in the below compilations, public and private school cafeterias got nothing less than scores of “A” and that’s been routine for a number of years, and not just Cobb County.
Given the struggles of some well-known East Cobb restaurants to get high or even passing scores, East Cobb News recently asked Cobb and Douglas Health about the disparities.
That’s the local inspecting agency under the Georgia Department of Health, and in addition to commercial restaurants, their inspectors visit school cafeterias, as well as food vendors at Truist Park, Whitewater, Six Flags and community pools and clubhouses that have food service.
The specific question we had for the health inspectors about the school cafeterias is if they are inspected the same way and—no pun intended—if they’re graded on a curve.
Christopher Hutcheson, the Cobb and Douglas Public Health Director of Environmental Health, told us that the school cafeterias go through the same inspection process as everyone else:
“The school systems put a lot of effort into training their staff, and their cafeteria managers are focused on proper food handling and cleanliness at the individual school level. That’s not to say that there aren’t a lot of restaurants in Cobb that operate at the same level as schools, but we see more consistency with schools as a group.”
Like the commercial restaurants, the school cafeterias are inspected typically twice a year, with some exceptions. Here’s what we put together; click the links to view the inspection reports for school cafeterias in the past year.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
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“I love East Cobb,” she said. “I’ve owned multiple businesses there and raised my kids there. But I just feel that Sandy Springs will be a better place for us.”
Original report:
A little more than two years after opening in the former Red Sky Tapas space, Reunion Kitchen and Bar said Tuesday the restaurant will be relocating
Management wrote on the Reunion Facebook page Tuesday afternoon that the decision is due to “the continued rise in rent and operating costs.”
“East Cobb has meant so much to us, and this community will always be part of the Reunion story,” the message began.
Reunion will close at the end of this week for the rest of the summer and “begin preparing for our next chapter. This is not goodbye—just a pause while we work toward reopening Reunion in our new home.”
The message didn’t indicate where the restaurant would be moving, or to say if it would remain in East Cobb, only that it wouldn’t be far away.
“We would love to see all of our amazing guests and friends one more time this week, so come enjoy dinner, cocktails, live music, and celebrate the memories we’ve created together,” the message said.
East Cobb News has left a message with Reunion co-0wner Ilene Kapper Oxman, who said in response that “I prefer not to say until the week is over” when asked about where the restaurant will be relocated. “I need to finish negotiating.”
Oxman, a former East Cobb resident, opened Reunion in April 2024 with two other partners at the Market Plaza Shopping Center (1255 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 16) with an upscale dinner menu and live music to try and fill the void of Red Sky, which closed in 2022.
Initially the new restaurant was to be called 1255 Social, reflecting the street address.
Oxman, who has been an owner Harry’s Pizza and Subs in Sandy Springs, said at the time the name was switched to Reunion “as a testament to the power of bringing people together. Whether it’s a gathering of family, friends, or colleagues, Reunion is the place where memories are made, and connections are forged.”
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The La Madeleine French-themed cafe at Providence Square has closed, as of Friday.
There are twin signs on the door thanking customers for their patronage but the reason for the closure wasn’t indicated.
According to the ToNeTo restaurant and retail website, this is the most recent closing for the Texas-based chain, which has more than 80 locations in the U.S.
A Sandy Springs La Madeleine location closed in January, and according to the sign posted on the door of the former East Cobb site, only two Gwinnett cafes remain in metro Atlanta.
The Providence Square shopping center features a number of fast-casual restaurant concepts, including the adjacent Chicken Salad Chick and nearby Einstein Bagel, as well as Salata and the newly opened Beyond Juicery and Eatery.
Another sign taped to the front window at the former La Madeleine in East Cobb says that “Everything must go. Souvenirs, antiques, picture frames. Make me an offer.”
Temporary Closure
The Chipotle Mexican Grill at Merchant’s Walk is closed temporarily. A sign at the entrance doesn’t indicate the reason or how long the closure will be in effect.
“We apologize for the inconvenience and will be up and running as soon as possible.”
Inside the premises, chairs were stacked on top of tables.
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