Cuban sandwich and coffee shop Cubanos ATL, currently with three metro Atlanta locations, including Sandy Springs, Cumming, and Chattahoochee Food Works, Thursday announced an upcoming fourth location, at 1050 E Piedmont Rd, inside the existing and operating Belen De La Cruz Empanadas & Pastries, beginning on May 25, 2022.
“Earlier this year, I began looking for a retail restaurant space in the Marietta area and quickly learned that retail vacancy in metro Atlanta has become limited and rents are expensive,” Cubanos ATL owner Ozzy Llanes said in a press release. “On top of the already high labor and food costs the restaurant industry has been seeing, I knew I would have to get creative if I planned to open another location successfully.”
Llanes leveraged his friendship with fellow immigrant restauranteur Belen de la Cruz, owner of her namesake bakery, Belen De La Cruz Empanadas & Pastries, striking a creative partnership where they will operate both concepts out of the same Marietta retail space, sharing the operating expenses.
De la Cruz successfully opened her first eponymous shop in John’s Creek in February 2020, followed by a Marietta location in March 2021 and a Chattahoochee Food Works location in August 2021. Her menus feature a selection of Argentinean-style empanadas, cakes, and pastries.
“I’m excited to welcome my friend Ozzy and Cubanos ATL to our Marietta location,” De la Cruz said. “We are both fans of each other’s cuisine, and it’s a win-win business model for both brands. We plan to use this partnership as a pilot with potential growth together in the future.”
Llanes and de la Cruz’s friendship began on social media in early 2020 when they were both in the process of opening their first restaurant locations in the middle of the pandemic. Their friendship grew further when they both opened food stalls inside the Chattahoochee Food Works.
“Belen and I have very similar backgrounds,” Llanes said. “She is an immigrant from Argentina, and I am an immigrant from Cuba. We both champion the same goal of sharing our culture and cuisine with as many people as possible. The citizens of Marietta will now have a one-stop shop where they can indulge in authentic Cuban coffee and sandwiches and delicious Argentinean-style empanadas, cakes, and pastries.”
Operating hours for both concepts will be Monday to Saturday from 11:30 am to 7:00 pm, closed on Sundays.
2 Responses
So excited! I was born and raised in Tampa and Cuban sandwiches are one of the things I miss most. The sandwiches at Cubanos ATL are the real deal made on Cuban bread flown in from La Segunda bakery in Tampa. Now I won’t have to drive to the Sandy Springs location
!
Now they just need to come up to Gwinnett (Suwanee/Duluth) and partner with someone!