Lime Fresh Mexican Grill to replace Midtown’s Bakeshop

Is the Midtown bakery relocating? Owner won’t say.

UPDATE (Nov. 25, 2011): Midtown’s Bakeshop plans to rise again

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Bakeshop, which replaced Gold Star Bakery in 2009, at 903 Peachtree Street in Midtown, is now also being replaced.

Florida-based Lime Fresh Mexican Grill, in partnership with Ruby Tuesday Inc., will take the Midtown bakery’s place, according to a permit filed with City of Atlanta Monday.

The Mexican grill, which is also opening a Buckhead location in space formerly belonging to Johnny Rockets, will spend an estimated $90,000.00 altering the existing bakery, according to the permit.

What Now Atlanta spoke to Jonathan St. Hilaire, chef and owner at Bakeshop, in a telephone call Wednesday. We asked if the Midtown bakery would relocate. Hilaire had no comment.

Developing…

Photo courtesy of CitySeekr.com

 

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

34 Responses

  1. Bakeshop’s baked goods were subpar and overpriced. Their sandwiches, while tasty, were overpriced. I wanted this place to be good. I liked the atmosphere. I don’t mind paying for quality, but when a simple cupcake is so dry you’re not going to make it. As for Lime, that’s going to make parking over there fun – 3 restaurants with about 15 spots! Yes, urbanist, people should walk. But some people drive too.

  2. Midtown is the new Buckhead. It’s too expensive for anything unique to make it there anymore. Witness 10th and Piedmont.

  3. Agree with AJ, re: quality of Bakeshop goods.

    But hate the fact that another $hit mexican joint is going to open up. Creative this city is not.

  4. First Noon Midtown and now this. Can’t anything make it in Midtown? Are we ever going to see a connection between downtown and Buckhead??

  5. Have had many good experiences out of the Bake Shop – sorry to hear it is closing. Even sorrier that we will have another chain operated restaurant on the corner and even sorrier that it will be another mediocre mexican one. Hard for independents to make it in this town.

  6. This sucks! I love Bakeshop. I’m sorry to read that others had bad experiences here, but I always enjoyed mine. Prices are high, but I expect that from shops on Peachtree and put up with it if I think the quality is equally high. In my opinion, the breads and pastries are always top notch.

    Though I think the thing I’ll miss most is the coffee! I was so excited when Bakeshop opened because Noon had stopped doing breakfast (and closed soon after) and left the Peachtree corridor with NO independent place to get quality coffee. Now we’re at a loss again. Can no good indie coffee/pastry place last on Peachtree in Midtown?

    Majorly bummed about this.

  7. The Lime Fresh Mexican Grill chain is NOT owned by Ruby Tuesday, Inc. It is an independent restaurant chain based in Miami with approximately 10 corporate-owned locations throughout Florida. Ruby Tuesday, Inc is a franchisee of Lime and owns the development rights to all states east of the Mississippi River and north of Florida. Ruby Tuesday currently operates 1 Lime franchise in Alabama and plans to open another 12-15 franchised locations in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia, and DC in 2012.

  8. hi tammy, it turns out ruby tuesday does not own lime fresh but is working with them to open 200 locations. here’s a note from a company spokesperson:

    “In 2010, Ruby Tuesday signed an agreement with Lime Fresh Mexican Grill to open up 200 locations throughout the Eastern United States under a Master License Agreement. Lime Fresh Mexican Grill continues expansion corporately throughout the state of Florida, the Western United States and Internationally and continues to control and direct the brand as a whole from the corporate office in Miami.”

    we’ve corrected this information in the article.

    –cjs

  9. Thanks. I’ve owned Ruby Tuesday stock for a number of years, so I try to keep up to date on the company! Their most recent earnings conference call was where they provided detailed information on their Lime plans. I believe they’re opening locations in DC/NoVA and Nashville in early 2012 before opening the two stores here in Atlanta in late spring 2012.

  10. Let’s at least look at the good news. The space is being backfilled immediately, Bakeshop is not definitely closing and may simply be relocating (though if they were I am sure we would have been told that by now), and the space will continue to drive traffic to the area.

  11. Can any people familiar with / working for Lime tell me why it is not an average Mexican restaurant? Seriously, if there are no significant points, Lime should reconsider this lease location. I live in Midtown and know of no one who would be excited by this here.

  12. I agree, Brett. With Zocalo so close by, and whose owners have invested much in their sense of “neighborhood destination,” I can’t imagine who would frequent Lime. I’m sure it’s not a bad place, just a poor choice for this location. Maybe Outwrite would be a better fit since at least seven other restaurants are within a block’s walk in three of four directions?

  13. Brett, I can’t answer your question, but really? You think Lime should reconsider the lease location? Because you know of no one excited? Just because it doesn’t excite you, nor the few people you know – and I’m not saying you don’t have many friends – I’m just saying, it’s new news, so how many people have you told that are not excited… where was I. Just because it doesn’t excite you does not mean that Lime cares. Think about everyday Mexican food in midtown walking distance from where Lime will be. There’s not many options. There’s Zocalo. There’s Escorpian. Zocalo is closest to “everyday” Mexican in the area. I think Lime will do fine. Hopefully it is good and has some unique choices, but if it’s similar to La Parilla or Los Bravos, I still think it’ll do just fine.

  14. Never eaten there, but I follow the company since it’s affiliated with a company in which I’ve invested. If you check out their Facebook page, they seem to have quite a few fans that are head over heels about them. My favorite thing about them, though, is the grand opening signs they put up at all new store openings that read: “So authentically Mexican, we couldn’t open a store in Arizona. So we came here instead.” I believe a company making somewhat of a political statement like that will fit in just fine with the liberal-leaning Midtown area. (Here’s a pic of the sign: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150158317556791&set=a.10150158312681791.291769.245846316790&type=3&theater)

  15. @darin: Empire State South serves Counter Culture coffee. And they’ve got tasty snacks to boot. Different vibe than Bakeshop, sure. But quality joe nonetheless.

  16. I’m not being elitist here, I’d be happy to go during lunch in Alpharetta. But at home, I’d take guests to Mexican places like Zocalo/Escorpion/Prickly Pear long before what I’ve seen of Lime.

    My point is to differentiate somehow and give me and others rational excuse to go. South Forsyth could use a high quality normal Mexican place much more than Midtown.

  17. Got some cupcakes at Bakeshop once earlier this year — thought they were OK but overpriced. Honestly, looking at the Bakeshop menu, I thought most of the items there were overpriced.

    I’ll give Lime Fresh a chance but, to me, there are enough similar options in the neighborhood as is.

  18. This makes me sad. I’ve been a regular guest at Bakeshop since the day it opened. It provided everything I was looking for when I wanted to get out in the morning – yummy coffee, a cordial staff, an energetic setting, and friendly clientele. I hope we’ll soon see another Starbucks alternative in our great little neighborhood.

  19. This will become a visiting Kennesaw hick’s watering hole. It’ll be a place where all the dbags who commute in once a month, in their newest outlet Ed Hardy, can grab a bite to eat before standing in line at Opera, and it’ll be a place where the suburban trash can grab a meal before their one big annual outing to the Fox. They’ll get to go home, and talk about how good the food was “in the city” (which, compared to their usual taco bell diets, will be true).

    Ever wondered why Atlanta’s best restaurants (Top Flr, Rathbun’s, JCT, etc.) are in secondary, and less central locations? It’s because they’re geared towards locals, and not the shit brand of tourists this city gets, so that their environment isn’t flooded with people who can’t properly pronounce offal.

  20. Who in the Hell are you, and from where did you come? Just because I live in the suburbs I am trash? My job is in the suburbs, so my partner and I, at 22, bought a great house in a great loaction, close to our jobs. We both have masters degrees. My partner is currently attending law school. What part of not wanting to sit in traffic to go to work makes us trash? Wait. Maybe it’s because we aren’t pompous asses.

  21. Agree ericson. I have lived in atlanta most of my 37 years. People like urbanist should get out of town and go somewhere else. Go to new York with all your elitist snobs. Folks like that embarrass me as an Atlantan.

    And by the way, intown would not have any reliable business if it weren’t for locals and suburban customers both.

    Ericson I certainly hope you come on down to town as much as you can. Most of us will welcome you with open arms.

  22. Urbanist, you hate the “out of towners” cause that used to be you, right? Pretty elitist. I live on peachtree in midtown and welcome this addition. Even though you may live in Atlanta, you don’t walk this or every part of the city every day.

    Can you name the restaurants in Times Square. You strive for that unique setting but, you have blinders on so you only see what you want.

  23. @ Ericson – I never said “you” were trash, I said “suburban trash”, identifying those from the suburbs that are trash. There’s trash in the city, just the same as there is in the suburbs, just the same as there is in more rural areas. This place is going to be a place that caters to the “trash” from the suburbs. It’ll appease those with little to no taste, love gimmicky crap, and can’t stand the idea of trying something unique or new…that’s the suburban stereotype. As with all stereotypes, they exist for a reason. Congratulations on your degrees, your choose one of five floorplans house-in-a-box, and your partners law aspirations…you must be very proud.

    @ Brian – It’s people like me that actually put pressure on this city to change for the better. Whether it’s through opinion, or actual action, there is a contingency of people who actually want to make this city an exciting, unique, and diverse place. It’s people like you who would rather accept the status quo, and make excuses for all the short comings, with a backstop no more substantial than “I love Atlanta for what it is”. Call NY, or any other world class city for that matter, a place of “elitist snobs” all you want. However, those “elitist snobs” live in cities that set the bar for things like sustainability, happiness, health, culture, the list goes on. Just because you’re ok living in a mediocre world, doesn’t mean the rest of us are.

    @ Midtown – Congratulations for living on Peachtree, that must be quite an achievement for you. I live in Midtown too – it’s the most urban area of the city…sadly so. I walk that part of the city everyday, and am usually pretty disappointed. Particularly when I see great real estate taken up by some banal chain that offers nothing new or creative to the city.

    I could name a few restaurants in Times Square – Red Lobster, Olive Garden, TGIFridays. I’m sure that list goes on. So to answer your question – no, I do not want to strive for the “unique” setting of Times Square. It’s a cesspool of crappy stores, chain restaurants, and head-up-their ass tourists. I’m sure Times Square is “unique” to you, but for those of us with a semblance of taste, it’s a disaster. So I guess it makes sense why you’d see certain parts of Atlanta in the same way.

  24. Urbanist makes me want to commit suicide.

    Seriously, if you want to change this city for the better, instead of spreading your negativity around on a blog, why don’t you actually do something and open up a creative, unique business in Midtown? You have plenty to say, so you must have some new, exciting, creative ideas you can share with the rest of us by opening up your own place.

    Oh wait, you just want someone else to do it for you and if it isn’t exactly what you would like, you can just get on a blog and talk a bunch of crap about it.

  25. @kelli rose – There has been a good Chinese restaurant nearby for many years – MuLan. Whenever I eat there it is almost completely empty. But the food is good and the prices are reasonable. We also had Silk, and they were always empty. And don’t forget about Noodle (maybe not Chinese in the strict sense, but Asian), which gets at least some patronage. It has always baffled me how most restaurants stay open in Midtown – because we don’t eat at them. Between the single-family homes, the condo towers, the apartments, Georgia Tech, and the hotels and office buildings these places should stay full. A few trendy spots like Vortex stay packed, but most others seem to do a very meager business both at lunch and in the evening. We simply don’t walk to, and eat at, the places we have.

  26. I wanted Bakeshop to succeed, but the two times I bought bread there it was very expensive and mediocre, so I didn’t return. You maybe can charge a bit more if you have a Peachtree Street address, but you can’t charge a lot more for a mediocre product. That business model won’t work, either for a bakery or for a Mexican restaurant.

  27. I loved Bakeshop and am sad to see it go. Their coffee was great, and I really enjoyed the food too (excellent breakfast chicken sandwhich, and the scones were awesome).

  28. This whole thing is funny. People talking about things they have never tried. People loving a bakery that closed because there were not enough people who loved it to apparently make them enough money to stay. Thats business. If you dont like it why didnt you and your rich friends pool money to buy it and put what you want there instead of complaining. Just dont eat there if you dont like it. Its there to give you another option. Gees, did any of you call the bakery owners and see if there was any way you or the rest of the community could help? Quit complaining like children. Be lucky you can eat at all. Try it. You might like it for one thing or another and if not you have two other CHOICES next door. Be thankful you can afford to stay in midtown close to everything.

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