Move Over Igloos, This BeltLine Restaurant is Serving Guests in Greenhouses

Ladybird Grove & Mess Hall opened 'Greenhouses in the Grove' over the weekend to make outdoor dining a tad cozier during winter months
Ladybird Grove & Mess Hall opened 'Greenhouses in the Grove' - Photo 1
Photo: Ashley Wilson

Ladybird Grove & Mess Hall over the weekend debuted its “Greenhouses in the Grove” dining option to make eating outdoors a tad bit cozier amid the winter months. The greenhouses are a novel departure from the ever-popular igloos which can be found on The Roof at Ponce City Market and Publico during the Midtown restaurant’s Santa’s Pub pop-up going on now.

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“Perfect for small holiday gatherings, the Greenhouses are located in Ladybird’s outdoor Grove area and are equipped with cozy electric fireplaces, twinkling lights, lush greenery, and communal tables,” a spokesperson told What Now Atlanta in an email.

The Greenhouses can be reserved for two hours for groups of up to 10 at $40 per hour, and guests can order from Ladybird’s a la carte menu. A full bar selection is also available a la carte with seasonal cocktails such as Spiced Mexican Hot Chocolate, Hot Apple Cider, and Hot Toddies. Guests can also opt to order family-style items that feed two to three guests, including the Backyard BBQ Board with pulled pork, St. Louis-style ribs, local cheddar wurst, mac-n-cheese, potato salad, bourbon BBQ sauce, and pickles, and Whole Smoked Chicken with one wood-smoked chicken, skillet cornbread, mac-n-cheese, potato salad, and white BBQ sauce. The Greenhouses have a BYOB (Bring Your Own Blanket) policy. Upon arrival, one guest from the group can check in with the front desk to be seated in a semi-private Greenhouse.

Ladybird’s launch of the Greenhouses in the Grove has gotten off to a rough start, however. Quianah Upton, the entrepreneur opening Nourish Botanica — a “greenhouse and plant-based eatery” — next year, claims the restaurant stole the greenhouse idea from her. “In October I sent [Ladybird’s PR team] a message about our [GoFundMe] campaign,” for Nourish Botanica, Upton wrote over the weekend on Instagram. “They saw the message and lo [sic] and behold their client [Ladybird] suddenly has an idea to upgrade their failed base camp tent to a greenhouse dining concept.” Ladybird last year launched a “Base Camp Tents” concept that has morphed into the greenhouses this year.

Reps for Ladybird on Monday did not respond to What Now Atlanta’s request for comment, but Owner Michael Lennox did address Upton’s claims on Instagram saying, “I’ve visited restaurants using greenhouses in the past and more examples started appearing this year as restaurants around the world started using them for socially distanced dining.” Lennox said he had been exploring ideas for upgrading the base camps and encourages folks to visit Upton’s page “to find out more about her Nourish Botanica concept and visit Nourish Botanica’s GoFundMe page to support.”

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Photo: Ashley Wilson
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Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

8 Responses

  1. It’s obviously been a brutal year for restaurants but it’s nice to see the creative innovations people come up with. Thank goodness we’re not LA.

  2. Calm down Quianah. Nobody stole anything from you.
    If you think you invented dining in a greenhouse– you’d be wrong.

  3. Quianah Upton has some nerve. On her own Go Fund Me page the photo she uses to promote “her” restaurant is literally stolen from the restaurant at the Line Hotel in LA. Lady Bird did not “steal” anything from her.

    1. From her GoFundMe page–

      DECEMBER 4, 2020

      by Quianah Upton, Organizer

      We are super hurt, extremely frustrated and angry. Ladybird, a local restaurant here in Atlanta has co-opted our concept to build Atlanta’s first greenhouse dining concept. Their PR company Blue Hominy followed us a few months ago and we sent them our campaign via IG DM’s in October. IG shows that they saw the message. This week they released photos of the greenhouse dining areas that they have built on their luxurious location on the Beltline that they have the privilege and access to. 

      This is white supremacy at its finest. Or at its worst. It’s beyond just recreating the idea, they have co-opted all of the promotion, networking and effort that this has taken for me to build up the excitement about someone bringing this concept to Atlanta. This is years in the making for me because I don’t have access to the funds they have!

      They’ve co-opted and piggybacked on not only my black creativity, but on your belief in the healing of black life! They did this because they think they can!

      Please go to their Instagram page @ladybirdatlanta and message them to let them know we will not stand for this! 

      Please stand with us in our effort to get them to take down the greenhouse and stop promoting Nourish Botanica’s “greenhouse dining” concept.  

      This is exactly why I am buying land to build a space: to invest in black freedom. This is the moment when I need you MOST! Please share.

      White supremacy???
      Get a life, and stop diluting the actual injustices caused by white supremacy.

      1. I’m well to the left of being sensitive to privilege etc, but Q gotta be kidding me with this.

        My advice, focus on what gets served in the greenhouses. And, if you’re afraid you’re going to fail because someone else is playing the same gimmick in town, you’re definitely in the wrong game. Also, if it’s that instrumental to your success, maybe don’t tell everyone before you even get started.

  4. Upton should stop spreading hate speech on the internet and bullying for her own personal gain. The owner of ladybird has done so much for the community feeding thousands of families through this pandemic.

  5. Great idea…that is all over the internet with many dozens of examples already implemented. LadyBird is not on the cutting edge of this idea but rather taking a well-know idea and just implementing it in their restaurant. Sounds like a good business decision. As for Nourish Botanica, they have not even found a location yet, let alone made actual development plans etc. I wish them the best, but to try and claim victimhood in this case just raises the image of someone trying to increase their GoFundMe resources with publicity. Not a good look IMO.

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