Though decidedly scant on details and saying that he and his team have “made the first step towards opening a new restaurant in Midtown in 2023,” operating principal of 5Church Midtown, 5Church Buckhead, and Virtue Rooftop Ayman Kamel confirmed he is currently working on a new project called Toro, which will be located at 915 West Peachtree Street.
“We’ve been watching this location for a while and had to move fast when it became available because it’s perfect for our new concept,” Kamel tells What Now Atlanta. “We look forward to telling everyone more about Toro when the plans are farther along.”
The 5Church brand was founded in Charlotte in 2012 and expanded to Charleston in 2015. A year later, Kamel relocated to Atlanta and launched 5Church Midtown. At the time, Kamel told
the Charlotte Business Journal, “We love the growth that’s happening in Atlanta and feel there is a lot of continuity between Charlotte, Charleston and Atlanta.”
In the years since Kamel has parted ways with that initial team and started his own venture in Atlanta. Likewise, those first two 5Church outposts in North Carolina were rebranded last year as Church and Union Charlotte and Church and Union Charleston, meaning 5Church Midtown and 5Church Buckhead are what remains of the brand portfolio, with Kamel serving as the sole principal of all operations.
Walter Jordan of The DWRC Group is working with the Toro team on “expediting all building permits and obtaining all local and state liquor licenses,” the consultant told What Now Atlanta.
