Watershed to close Saturday, plans for relocation

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Restaurant announces scheduled closure and relocation via email newsletter.

Watershed Restaurant in Decatur is closing Saturday, August 6.

The restaurant located on West Ponce De Leon Avenue opened 13 years ago.

The restaurant announced plans to relocate to a yet-to-be announced location in an email to patrons Sunday.

“One of Atlanta’s most iconic southern restaurants reveals its plans for relocation in Atlanta,” according to the email.  “The new location (to be announced) will combine a fine dining experience with a casual and comfortable atmosphere.”

The new location will offer a bar, larger dining room, private dining, outdoor patio and “ample” parking,  the email notes.

Emily Saliers, owner of Watershed, said the decision to relocate was not an easy one.

“While it was not an easy decision to leave Decatur, we are unable to offer our guests these added amenities in our current location,” Sailers said. “We are deeply grateful to the Decatur community for 13 years of support.”

Watershed’s Decatur location will be closing after dinner on Saturday evening August 6 so that the owners can begin working on the new restaurant which they anticipate opening by the end of the year.

Developing…

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

27 Responses

  1. Suburbanist – I’d love for that to be true as I’d dine there much more often (I love Decatur, just don’t get out there as much as I’d like). But I doubt it’ll be AS. Please let me be wrong 🙂

  2. I can’t believe the comments I’m reading. Moving to Atlantic Station would mean the demise of Watershed. Don’t you read the papers and hear the crime reports? A.S. is a cesspool of crime now and it’s unsafe to go there, especially at night. The businesses there are having a hard time surviving and many of the owners of the lovely condos have had serious buyer’s remorse. I think the owners of Watershed are far too savvy to place their highly acclaimed restaurant at a dying venue such as A.S. I know many people who frequent Watershed often but I don’t know a single one who is likely to follow it to A.S. Maybe Dunwoody or Brookhaven?

  3. Lou – Can you please back up some of your remarks? “cesspool of crime now and it’s unsafe to go there, especially at night.” Is it because there are (said in hushed tones) blacks there? Could you back up “businesses there are having a hard time surviving”? Can you back up anything?

  4. That part of the announcement that is interesting to me is the reference to ample parking. Does anyone know if they are looking to build from the ground up or move into an existing building? I don’t see many options for this unless they move to an up and coming area of the city or head to the burbs.

  5. Lou-Your an idiot. AS is turning the corner, and it’ll take some local restaurants to put it over the top. Lets hope Watershed is the first of many.

  6. @ Lou – AS is significantly better now than it was 6 months ago. As much as I disagree with the development, it’s taking a turn for the better.

    @ AJ – Lou said nothing that was directly or indirectly related to race. The fact that you use that as the basis of your retort is pathetic.

    It would be a great thing to see a local restaurant come to AS. I don’t know if the development is ready for it, but I think it would make a huge and positive impact. It would set a precedent for other local retailers/restaurants who may be thinking about AS. That said, a more likely spot would be Brookhaven. Moving from Decatur into AS is a pretty big shift in concept & crowd, moving from one quaint little community to another is a bit more likely. Plus, isn’t there a bunch of available space at Town in Brookhaven?

  7. I think they are going to want to be close enough to their Decatur roots since that is their primary customer base. Moving to Duwoody or AS would not be the same vibe and the Decaturites would be less likely to venture to that location. Oakhurst could be a possibility specifically in the former grocery store that is now a church that could be redone (doubt that will happen because not much of a fascade), but there is plenty of parking. There is a spot in Little Five Points that could work such as next to the Sherwin Williams since this end of L5P is being redone with Wrecking Bar and Camelli’s. I am thinking a place that is off the beaten path like Floataway Cafe or Wahoo will probably be where they drop roots.

  8. AS is bad but not so bad that it’s comparable to Compton. Let’s just say the initial intentions of what this place was supposed to be was just a pipe dream. I have encountered situations where I almost had to defend myself and fiance with deadly force at least twice in the parking deck below. Security is slow to respond but once they do, they still do not have the training or proper protocol to defuse the hostiles. I live in midtown and will not go over there unless I have to and with protection of course.

    Just watch your back and your surroundings when walking below deck and even above.

  9. @Urbanist – I trust you’re not naive enough to think that what I said isn’t the case. As for your pathetic comment – really? Considering half the commenters on this blog think it is you who is pathetic, your choice of words are ironic.

    @zb – so you’re pointing to an April incident. What about this one:
    http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/three-teens-wounded-in-979383.html
    or this one: http://buckhead.patch.com/articles/four-charged-in-connection-with-buckhead-shooting
    or this one: http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/dunwoody-day-care-shooting-796180.html

    Until Atlanta (and surrounding communities) takes crime seriously, it’s going to be everywhere. At least AS has a police precinct.

  10. Wow, Lou, Can we say OTPer. I also heard Midtown is a haven for hippies, you won’t come out of Piedmont Park alive, and Ansley is a crack den! The year is 2011, Lou is in 1982.

  11. Also for the record I think most intown folks would take their chances with AS, whatever they may be, before dodging the minivans and strollers of Dunwoody, or the leased BMW’s and former fratties and sorostitutes of Brookhaven.

  12. Oh, snap! Does anyone else think they might be the restaurant that was rumored to possibly be opening in the old Sears tire location as a precursor to Ponce City Market? I mean, think about it, from one garage to another and right across the street from Truex’s old Repast. Also right across the street from 4th & Swift. Oh, damn, that would be sweet!

  13. Good call John F.

    Though I do wonder why they’re closing now and not remaining open until the new location is complete.

  14. @ AJ – There was no reference, not even an implication, to race. You have no clue what Lou “meant”, but what you do know is that he referenced AS as a cesspool of crime (which it earned a reputation for in its past), without making any racial accusations at all. Now, if you want to draw the conclusion that AS’s history of crime is rooted with a concentration in a specific demographic or race, that’s your choice. However, Lou didn’t, and accusing him of such is completely baseless and weak. It happens all too often by feeble-minded people (this being no exception), when they can’t defer to logic.

  15. Atlantic Station is lost. Too much time has passed with it floundering and the urban issues that unfortunately it has suffered. People in midtown and Buckhead have long since written it off. We now have to hope that the new developer taking over the Street of Buckhead can learn from and not repeat Atlantic Station’s mistakes. And the Buckhead community will not stand this time for the area to suffer the problems and crime the Village endured before. That you can be sure of.

  16. AS is a win for Atlanta, period. It was a dump! Atlanta is a diverse town that has a heavy Black population with income & education levels that range from Very High to low. Therefore, we (Atlantans) have a broad consumer base. Living in town equates to shopping, dining and just being comfortable with sometimes being a minority. If you’re not comfortable, places like Alpharetta & Milton are fine alternatives. The Black population here is unlike any other for several reasons. It is heavily influenced by Black culture… AU Center, music industry, cultural arts (have you been to the High recently?), professional services, local government, the list goes on and on. I’m not dismissing that there is a crime element in Atlanta (and in many other major metro cities by the way) But just because there are lots of Black people does not equate to, “failure, disaster, crime, mistake” Ponce City Market will be an amazing development w/ unique shopping & dining (different offerings than AS) AND it too will carry a broad / Black consumer base.

  17. @LP

    So is Ponce City Market going to ‘carry’ a broad consumer base or a black consumer base?

    Incidentally, I think everyone here is aware of other places to move if they don’t like to live around a diverse crowd. No one here was calling out any other race from what I can tell so the old “GA 400 is ready when you are!” refrain is out of place.

  18. @LP, no one said “lots of Black people equates to, failure, disaster, crime, mistake.” i think “lots of shootings” and “a real estate market so bad that you can’t get an FHA approved loan for a condo there” makes it a failure/disaster/crime/mistake. there are other neighborhoods near downtown with lots of black people that are a lot more pleasant to be in. grant park, decatur, etc. they have restaurants restaurants i’d actually go to, for one. if you want to go hang out at what amounts to a dangerous mall, though, have at it.

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