Irwin Street Market’s ‘Bob’ Closes

Fast food restaurant announces on Facebook it will reopen as new concept.

Fast food restaurant announces on Facebook it will reopen as new concept.

UPDATE (July 30, 2014): Irwin Street Market’s ‘Bob’ to reopen as The Georgia Cafe

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Bob, the restaurant that replaced Bell Street Burritos in Irwin Street Market this past November, closed its doors over the weekend.

“..A new and exciting concept is coming in and we will no longer be Bob,” the restaurant said in a recent Facebook post.

“We hope you will remember us fondly as we will remember all of you. It’s been a wonderful experience and we thank all of you for your support. We’ll be taking this page down shortly, but wanted to make sure we at least sent our love first!”

Eater Atlanta was first to raise suspicion that Bob might have closed when its website was taken offline, and the signage removed from the restaurant’s storefront.

The restaurant, at 660 Irwin St., was founded by Jake Rothschild of Jake’s Ice Cream.

Developing…

What would you like to see open in Bob’s place? Tell us in the comments!

Photo courtesy Wax-atlanta.com.

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

11 Responses

  1. I would love to see balanced organic food meals as a concept. 1/3 protein, 1/3 healthy carb, 1/3 healthy fats. With Irwin Street Market about to compete with Krog Street Market, ISW needs to hit it out of the park and provide something no one else has.

    Bob’s had 3 major problems. 1) Their food started out gluten-free, everything was made fresh – but they had so much transition with management and employees that the recipes went by the wayside and you basically were eating rubbery food that had been under a heat lamp for too long. 2) I would count on waiting at least 30 minutes for 2 skewers….with or without customers there. They were usually understaffed 3) That place is constantly out of their ingredients so it was tough to deliver a reliable and repeatable product that people would enjoy and keep coming back. Plus, the lack of drainage outside of Bob’s always lent for a stale water smell that was less than appetizing.

    Irwin Street Market typically serves GREAT food and uses fresh ingredients – much of which are locally grown. But they are out of major ingredients most of the time, therefore limiting their menu. Plus, it’s so poorly laid out that the concept should have a more connected flow and be more consistent in their customer service.

    I live so close to Irwin Street Market and I am hopeful this group will be able to thrive as they move forward.

  2. Krog Street Market will either swallow this place … or help it thrive. Just a matter of time to see which direction wins.

  3. THANK. GOD.

    “Bob” was just further proof that Jake Rothschild is an egomaniacal moron with no business sense. I LOVE kebabs and was extremely excited when the place opened… Until I read the menu. It was very obvious that ALL the effort behind that place was put into creating campy cutsie descriptions of the food and not creating actual food. Attempting to eat their “food” confirmed my suspicions.

    I suppose you could try to put a positive spin on the situation and say it wasn’t that the food and service where atrocious but instead say “Bob” was doomed due to all the negative karma created by the way Bell Street was run out of the building.

    Either way, let’s hope Rothschild finally goes away and good businesses open in Irwin Street Market.

  4. IF Bell Street Burritos was driven away by the management, then I hope Irwin Street Market will beg and plead with them to come back under any arrangement the BSB owners find amenable.

    BUT IF Bell Street Burritos left on its own because it lost enthusiasm for this busy and presumably profitable location, then I hope we never see them again. And I would like to see another cheap, delicious offering like Arepa Mia or Grindhouse.

    And at the end of the day, I want good information as much as I want good food: The owners of Irwin Street Market and Bell Street Burritos owe us a simple, honest answer about what happened.

  5. @JoeInAtlanta, you are going to hear two different things from both parties. The Irwin folks will say that Bell Street Burritos kept their kitchen in horrible condition so that’s why they were asked to leave. The Bell Street folks will tell you that the they (Irwin Sreet Market) kicked them out so they could do their own concept (Bobs). Probably somewhere in the middle is the truth.

  6. Raise your hand if you didn’t see this coming… Couldn’t agree more, KenBud. ISM has only two directions to go once KSM is complete.

    Personally, I think it will fail. Once upon a time, the quirky mismatched furniture and dingy interior might have had charm but now it just looks like a dump.

    Maybe if they focused on a simple concept and spent money on renovating the interior instead of churning out a “new concept” every 6 months, they would find some consistency.

    If they were smart they would call up Illegal Foods who just got kicked out of Joystick to get in there. Those guys have great food and a cult following and the Beltline would give them even more exposure.

    And finally, I know I am going against the grain here, but BSB might be the most overrated quick food concept in this city and I had no hard feelings about them leaving. Do people just say they like it because everyone else says it’s good? I tried it multiple times with an open mind when it was at ISM and not once was I impressed. Stop drinking the kool-aid people! Formulate your own thoughts!

  7. I could tell this concept was doomed from the minute it was hatched. In fact, I am one of the people who refused to step foot in the place for 2 reasons: 1) I could see the writing on the wall and knew Bell Street had gotten booted against their will, despite the fact they provided a huge boost in business to the Irwin St. Market; 2) The Bob menu looked absolutely atrocious – it’s amazing they were kept open this long.

    A previous poster alluded to this – the management at Irwin St. Market is running out of time to fix this sinking ship. It will not be able to compete with the facilities and talent about to open at the Krog St. Market.

    At the end of the day, the consumers will decide who is going to get their business and we are running out of reasons to visit Irwin Street Market.

  8. Have lived across from this location at Studioplex for 6 years and the revolving door with businesses in that space has been laughable. Some good concepts, some bad but it seems they almost always leave with a bad taste from the building owner. Tried to support the place in the past, but after the Bell Street debacle, I could no longer do it and that seems to be the same sentiment from many others in the neighborhood. Hope something good comes in to change that perception but I’m not holding my breath.

  9. ISM should take lessons from Savi just down the road in Inman Park on how to make this sort of thing work. That Savi location has booze, a small market, fresh meats and cheeses, to-go meals, and breakfast and lunch served. It’s a perfect neighborhood market.

    Meanwhile, ISM has….what, exactly? What is it? Right now it’s an assortment of mismatched furniture, good ice cream, and food sometimes if they’ve got ingredients on hand or if they didn’t run out the day before or if you can find someone to tend to the kitchen or, or, or. BSB gave that ISM an air of professionalism that had the place packed regularly. Bob, for all of ISM’s hubris, was the exact opposite of that. That picture of the Bob exterior says it all (though you can’t see the almost-always-empty seating inside).

  10. Won’t someone just open a decent coffee shop?! Is that so hard? I tried to order a very simple latte from ISM once and had to tell the girl how to make it. That place is ashambles. Btw, bell street could’ve done even better but refused to open on Sundays for religious reasons. So many times I forgot that and was disappointed.

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