Could the suburbs not handle the cuban-style eatery?
LottaFrutta Gourmet Fruit House and Market, arguably one of the city’s best restaurants, has shuttered its Avalon outpost in Alpharetta, North American Properties (NAP), Avalon’s developer, confirmed in an email to What Now Atlanta (WNA) Tuesday.
The order-at-the-counter restaurant that specializes in Cuban-style sandwiches, fruit cups, smoothies, and salads, closed for good sometime last week.
LottaFrutta Avalon was covered with butcher-like paper from floor to ceiling over the weekend, several WNA readers report.
It’s unclear why LottaFrutta – which first opened mid-2015 at the mixed-use development – shuttered its Avalon location. LottaFrutta owner Myrna Perez did not immediately return WNA’s request for comment.
NAP, in a statement to WNA Tuesday, suggests the restaurant was not a good fit for the North Fulton market:
“The recent closing of LottaFrutta provides us with an opportunity to welcome an exciting new concept that better resonates with the North Fulton market. There’s significant interest in the space due to its premier location next to the region’s top performing Marlow’s Tavern. As Avalon continues to grow, we will continue to refine our merchandising strategy to offer a best-in-class retail and restaurant mix. The second phase of Avalon is 87 percent pre-leased in anticipation of its April 2017 opening. As always, we welcome community feedback and ideas for new retailers and restaurants using the hashtag #AvalonInsider.”
Andrew Randall, a WNA reader and Avalon patron, thinks the competition was too stiff for the eatery.
“We are very sad about this but it doesn’t come as a surprise because [LottaFrutta was] rarely busy and couldn’t seem to find their place among all the other food options around them,” Randall told WNA in an email Monday.
How can a restaurant with two overwhelmingly successful locations – the original on Auburn Avenue and a second at the Atlanta airport – not survive in Alpharetta just 29.5 miles north of its Old Fourth Ward restaurant?
Was it not Applebee’s-y enough?
4 Responses
Oh, the arrogance and ignorance of the ITP snobbery. It’s as though not embracing a darling (a chain, no less!) of some ITP neighborhoods is an indicator of a lack of sophistication.
Their fruit was good at the original location, but unless their sandwiches got better than the crappy George Foreman Grill paninis they sold, I can only say I’m surprised they’ve lasted add long as they have in total. I haven’t visited in years.
“…arguably one of the city’s best restaurants”
I mean, I like Lotta Frutta. A lot. But I don’t hear many arguments that it is a top Atlanta offering…
Also, I have to say, part of it’s charm is the nature of the original location. I’m not sure it translates well to a more traditional brick and mortar like Avalon or even Atlantic Station. I hope that if they expand further, they continue looking for historic locations that were once corner stores and markets.
the problem was it’s location within avalon. it was tucked away behind the bulk of the offerings. yes, it was next to marlow’s, but marlow’s enterance was facing out and right next to the movie theater. lotta frutta’s was tucked away, hidden, unless you were coming in from the tiny parking lot on that side you’d never see it.