Eatery to shutter after 11 years at the property.
UPDATE: Paces Properties responds to Stone Soup Kitchen Eviction Backlash.
Stone Soup Kitchen, a neighborhood stand-by in Grant Park since 2005, has announced plans to shutter on August 23.
The date is significant because it marks exactly 38 years since Stone Soup was incorporated as a grocery co-op in the Virginia-Highland neighborhood.
Rick says that Paces Properties, which this year acquired the building and a few others surrounding the property, gave the eatery a 60-day eviction notice on June 30, 2016.
Here is the full press release, issued to What Now Atlanta:
Stone Soup Kitchen, the bustling breakfast-lunch café nestled between Grant Park and Cabbagetown, is being forced to cease operation at its location. Its final day of regular business will be Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016.
On June 30, 2016, Stone Soup Kitchen received a “you have 60 days” eviction notice from Paces Properties. Earlier this year, Paces bought the Woodward Avenue building (the addresses of 580-588 Woodward Ave.) that includes the restaurant and a few other business tenants.
“It was a little bit like getting divorce papers in the mail when you didn’t even see a divorce coming,” said Sarah Rick, owner of Stone Soup Kitchen.
After purchasing the Woodward Ave. building, Paces sought to raise the rent on the café enough to make it “completely unaffordable,” Rick said. “We’d have to totally rework our concept, not to mention the necessary leasehold improvements, that we would also need to pay for.”
“As a tenant here, things have been iffy for about two years,” Rick added. “It’s a sad way to go out. Our 17 employees have taken the news well. I’m glad they at least have a little time to explore new opportunities.”
Rick and her staff have been “overwhelmed” by longtime customers expressing sorrow and even outrage that the friendly neighborhood café must vacate the premises. Many have commented that it was Stone Soup that helped elevate the area to a much more pleasant and safe destination.
Is there a possibility that the restaurant can move to another location? “We continue to do everything we can to secure a future for Stone Soup Kitchen,” added Rick.
To prepare for her forthcoming retirement, Rick had already spent the last two years in discussions and negotiations with prospective buyers. Very recently, she had a formal buy-sell agreement with another restaurant group that would likely have continued the restaurant at its location, even keeping the name Stone Soup Kitchen. But that deal was also contingent upon them securing an affordable lease from Paces Properties. That was not to be.
While Stone Soup Kitchen opened in August 2005, its roots in Atlanta go back several decades. Rick, an Emory graduate, was co-owner of the independent health-conscious grocery store, also named Stone Soup, that operated from 1978-1994 in Virginia-Highland.
As a matter of fact, the Grant Park café and its catering division will close exactly 38 years to the day that the Stone Soup Natural Foods grocery store was incorporated: Aug. 23, 1978.
“It’s amazing how many people came into the restaurant during these past 11 years and mentioned that they had been regulars of the old Stone Soup,” Sarah Rick said. “Some of the things that we carried with us from the old grocery store to the restaurant have been our independent spirit, good community vibe, and commitment to providing food that is fresh, healthy and delicious. (In-between the two Stone Soup ventures, Rick and her grocery store partners started Savage Pizza in Little Five Points, which she left in 1998).
Stone Soup Kitchen has also been an asset within the community, regularly hosting events to raise funds for everything from canine rescue to Atlanta Pride.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story cited the AJC as the source. Stone Soup Kitchen has since issued a press release directly to WNA and the AJC was since removed as the source.
Where should the restaurant relocate? Tell us below..
3 Responses
60 days for a beloved restaurant to find a new home, relocate and all those employees essentially jobless now.
That’s just MEAN, Paces Properties. I hope that karma bites you in the a$$.
We’ll miss you SSK.
Come to Kirkwood. We’d love to have you.
Come to the West End! You’d be so welcome here!