The Usual is set to open on Tuesday, February 15, 2022, on the ground level of Arya Peachtree, at 1777 Peachtree Street NE in Brookwood Hills, the restaurant announced Tuesday.
DASH Hospitality Owner David Abes and Culinary Director Chef Nick Leahy are the team behind the 3,500 square-foot eatery which will serve a “curated food and beverage menu that is a step-up from traditional tavern fare.”
Abes and Leahy first worked together on Leahy’s French eatery Aix, now known as Nick’s Westside — and Leahy used to run the nearby Saltyard restaurant.
“The name The Usual came about after a few brainstorming sessions about what the menu would look like and how the space would feel and as a team,” Leahy said. “We all wanted to create a comfortable place for guests to call home. Our menu is a contemporary approach to traditional American and southern fare.”
Leahy has named Jason Hall Executive Chef of The Usual. Hall was the Sous Chef at Saltyard.
The menu includes starters such as Loaded Pub Fries with the option to add Crispy Pork Belly and Georgia White Popcorn Shrimp, Crispy Housemade Hot Pickle Spears with hot sauce aioli, and Smoked Springer Mountain Wings with buffalo or Alabama white sauce. There are several styles of salads with the option to add proteins, including The Usual Tavern Salad with local lettuces, kale, seasonal vegetables, and Za’atar vinaigrette. A variety of sandwiches that come with potato chip or fries, including Slow Roasted Pork Belly with local lettuces, fried green tomato on a pretzel bun, The Usual Burger, a smash-style with Georgia Grass Fed Beef, spicy cheddar, fried shallots, and comeback sauce, and The Grilled Cheese with Sweetgrass Green Hill, Sweetgrass Tomme, house pimento cheese on brioche toast.
Main courses include Smoked Georgia Grass Fed Short Rib with pimento cheese grit cake, jus and Vidalia onion jam, Low Country seafood, dumplings, and a few classic dishes such as steak frites, strip steak, or hangar steak with side green salad. Sides include a list of rotating seasonal vegetables and a selection of desserts. A kid’s menu is also available.
Matt Gibbons has been named Beverage Director and is the current General Manager and Beverage Director at Nick’s Westside. The team has spent the last year developing a craft cocktail menu including a list of classics with a twist such as the Arya Spritz, vodka with house-made strawberry-tarragon syrup and floral garnish; a Usual Old Fashioned, apple and vanilla-infused bourbon, sorghum, angostura, and barrel-aged bitters topped with a dehydrated apple ring garnish; and The Dragon Lady, lemongrass infused-gin, The Select, Lustau Vermouth, and melon bitters. The Dragon Lady is an homage to the mural on the restaurant’s back wall designed by Amy Price of Starling Studios.
There’s a mural on the rear wall that is a nod to the building’s namesake, Arya from Game of Thrones. “She watches you as you enter the restaurant,” according to the announcement. “However, custom pixelated artwork takes on a completely different aesthetic up close.”
The rear wall of the booths is anchored by back-lit cherry wood panels routed with morse code — three dots and a dash makes the pattern, which is V for Victory, used to signal the end of WW2.
The Usual also features event space with outdoor patio seating. It will start online ordering and lunch services shortly after opening. Hours are Tuesday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Editor’s note: an update to this article corrects Amy Price’s name the spelling of Starling Studio.
