Korean-Mexican fusion taqueria to replace Abrigo Midtown
Hankook Taqueria is opening a second in-town location.
The Korean-Mexican fused taqueria will open in Midtown by mid-August, according to a Facebook post Wednesday.
“…We finally have a new restaurant opening in addition to our original location,” the post said. “It will be [located] between 5th and 6th streets on Juniper! Hopefully mid-August!”
Tomas Lee, owner of the Taqueria, neglected to return several calls made to the restaurant over the past few weeks to confirm the exact location Hankook will occupy.
So What Now Atlanta took to the streets and uncovered a lease was secured Wednesday morning for the now-shuttered Abrigo Midtown.
The original Hankook on Collier Road on the Westside ran into a little bit of trouble when it failed a health inspection in May.
Lee, a Buckhead Life alumnus, also owns Yumbii Food Truck in partnership with Carson Young which serves similar fare found at Hankook.
In other news, Little Five Points is expected to get OMG Taco, another Korean-Mexican fused taqueria concept.
9 Responses
Remember when this stretch of Juniper was Restaurant Row? It’d be cool to have that energy back.
Yeah, too bad Novare’s Viewpoint project has added absolutely nothing to this section of the Midtown Mile… I mean, CLEAR Wireless and EVOS Healthy Burgers? Not exactly bringing in the crowds. Hopefully this concept succeeds where others have failed. It can’t possibly be worse than Abrigo (which suffered from terrible management and food).
Yeah… I think I’ll pass…
http://whatnowatlanta.com/2011/06/02/king-and-i-hankook-taqueria-and-others-that-failed-health-inspections-last-month/
Yes! Now I can walk there instead of driving into no-man’s land.
I wonder if anything will ever open in the old Avra space?
K-Dogg – I have to agree that Viewpoint hasn’t added a lot of exciting street level options yet, but I think that’s more due to the economy and not the developer. At least they added more residential density. However, the way they finished the rear of the building is a travesty. I look forward to the day when it’s finished and it doesn’t just present a driveway to Juniper.
Despite the negative reviews, I always enjoyed Abrigo and I was disappointed when they closed.
I’m excited about this concept and I it will be a good alternative to Escorpio. But I really hope the new tenants remove the blue facade that blocks the entrance to the space. Even when the restaurant is open and well lit, it tends to look closed and feels completely uninviting.
It’s always interesting to me that when one restaurant dies, another similar concept regenerates. Wasn’t this place a Mexican joint before Abrigo took the space? That said, Abrigo was an abysmal failure in every sense of the term. Service was pathetic, food was sub-par, design was eh, bartenders were painfully slow, etc. Hopefully this new place wont continue the tradition of failure here…
Hankook is wonderful for people who have never heard, seen or eaten a Korean Taco in their life. Too bad this is the worst introduction and first impression for the Atlanta pedestrians to this west coast icon. It’s a shame people will use this as the standard measure if they go out to Cali. As for opening a full service restaurant as opposed to the college cafeteria on Collier and a food truck, this concept will never make it. Filling seats on Juniper is like filling the Grand Canyon, it ain’t gonna happen. And to top it off, opening in the same location of multiple failed Mexican/Latin themed restaurant. This move is as smart as the geniuses who opened Smash Burger in the Fat Burger space. WTF were they thinking? Every restaurant on Juniper are closed for a common reason.
I’m not sure about the location, but I was just saying today Hankook should open up a bigger restaurant… well, here they are! I look forward to giving it a try…
Calamari Taco’s, Pork Sliders, Sesame Fries… awesome.