In place of Meehan's Public House which closed its Buckhead location on East Paces Ferry Road Friday evening after nearly four years in business, a group of business partners plan to open Irby's Tavern. Sources close to the situation indicate that Meehan's sudden closure [without warning to their employees or patrons] was brought about by the fact the the offer to assume the restaurant's lease was "now or never," and that 101 Concepts took the opportunity to dedicate their resources to their other concepts/locations.
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| Meehan's Buckhead Saturday night |
The new sports bar will be all about Atlanta's sports teams: the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta United FC, among others, according to Jack Murphy, one of the partners. Murphy is a Director at Atlanta-based development firm Carter. (Perhaps Irby's will also pay homage to Atlanta sports teams of years past, such as the Georgia Force, Atlanta Flames and Atlanta Thrashers, among others.)
According to his profile on the Carter website, he is an Atlanta native and University of Georgia graduate where he received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in finance. Murphy is "a humongous sports fan and lives for Georgia football."
Murphy and his other native Atlantan partners saw a void in the market for a truly hometown owned and operated sports bar with a laser focus on Atlanta sports teams.
Hospitality veteran Mark Nelson will serve as General Manager for Irby's, having most recently been Director of Operations for Hobnob, with locations in Midtown and Brookhaven. Before Hobnob, Nelson was General Manager for a number of other restaurants including Mary Mac's, Bugaboo Creek and TGI Friday's, among others, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Chef Suzanne Vizethann of Buckhead's Buttermilk Kitchen is consulting on the menu according to Murphy. The menu, said to be "upscale American fare," will be better than your typical bar food according to Murphy.
Murphy says he and his partners plan to make limited tweaks to the restaurant itself and hope to open "soon."
Irby's Tavern is meant to pay homage to Henry Irby, merchant and farm owner, for whom Irbyville, which became Buckhead, was named. The Irby, a new high-rise apartment building from Alliance Residential that is currently under construction on Irby Avenue, Cains Hill Place and Paces Ferry Place, is, like the road, also named for Henry Irby.
A disagreement between the owners of Meehan's and neighboring restaurant Cafe Agora reportedly led to the owners of the popular Mediterranean restaurant erecting a fence separating the rear of the two restaurants Saturday morning. The fence, while innocent in appearance, prevents the owners of the new restaurant from accessing the Agora dumpster that the two neighboring restaurants previously shared. The Meehan's space was not originally constructed to be a restaurant, and as such, has limited space and no onsite dumpster.
The absence of an accessible dumpster could prevent Irby's from opening [on time or at all], a hurdle Murphy indicates he and his partners are currently trying to negotiate with Agora's ownership.
Are you excited at the prospect of an Atlanta-centric sports bar? Do you think the idea of an Atlanta focused sports bar is novel or just a sales gimmick? What is your favorite sports bar in Atlanta? Why?
Please share your thoughts below.