Urban Hai is opening at 77 12th St NE in Midtown. According to lease intel, the new restaurant concept will open mid-2022. It will occupy suite 7, a 3,622-square-foot space.
The location was previously home to BurgerFi, a ‘farm-to-tray’ burger concept that closed its Midtown doors for good in 2018. The space has been vacant for the past four years.
Tomorrow’s News Today reports that Urban Hai will be a Chinese concept from restaurateur Gary Lin with Chef Wang Hai at the helm. Neither Lin nor Hai are strangers to Atlanta’s Chinese cuisine dining scene.
Hai is behind Hai Authentic Cuisine, a Chinese restaurant that has locations in Decatur’s Suburban Plaza Shopping Center and Alpharetta’s Plaza at Windward. Starting his kitchen career at the young age of 15, Hai worked under a number of chefs in northern China and learned different types of Chinese cuisines from different regions. He then traveled to Europe and Russia, working in various restaurants with Western influences, before coming to the U.S. and working alongside Peter Chang in Maryland as his partner and regional chef.
Besides owning Hai Authentic, Lin also owns a number of other Atlanta-area restaurants: Wei Authentic Chinese in Buford and Marietta, Urban Wu in Buckhead, and Hao Chinese in East Point.
Urban Hai’s menu will feature Peking duck served several different ways, duck fried rice, and other “dim sum style” small plate options. Popular American-Chinese dishes such as Mongolian beef and orange chicken, as well as traditional Sichuan dishes like mapo tofu, will also be offered. The forthcoming restaurant will also feature a full bar.
A premier high-rise apartment property, 77 12th is located in the heart of the 12th and Midtown district and offers breathtaking views of Midtown, Piedmont Park, and Downtown. The neighborhood includes such restaurants as Flying Biscuit Café, Five Guys, The Vortex Bar and Grill, STK Steakhouse and Tin Lizzy’s Taco Americana. Featured nightlife includes Sivas Hookah Lounge, Sutra Lounge, and Foxtrot Liquor Bar. Fox Theatre, Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA), the Atlanta Botanical Garden and more arts and entertainment establishments are all in the vicinity of 77 12th, as well.
