American Roadhouse, a Virginia-Highland landmark since 1989, confirmed Monday on their Facebook page that they will close this coming Sunday, August 26. The popular breakfast and brunch eatery will reportedly reopen "soon" as Truva Turkish Kitchen, is an offshoot of the original Truva at the corner of Andrew Young International Boulevard and Peachtree Center Avenue in Downtown Atlanta.
"Hello everyone! American Roadhouse final day is Sunday, August 26th. We've been around for almost 30 years and appreciate your patronage. We are super excited about our renovations! We expect to reopen soon as Truva Turkish Kitchen! Will keep you updated..."
Ed Udoff opened and operated the original American Roadhouse in Virginia-Highland for over 20 years before opening a second location at the Pencil Factory Lofts on Decatur Street in downtown Atlanta during the spring of 2012. In the fall of 2012, Udoff sold the Virginia-Highland location to local restaurant veteran Emile Blau with whom Udoff had worked together with during their shared time at Buckhead steakhouse Bone's in the 1980s.
By early 2013, the Pencil Factory outpost had closed and by early 2016, Blau had sold the original location to Istanbul native Muzaffer "Muzo" Saritas, owner of Truva, Cuts, a downtown steakhouse and two Metro Cafe Diner locations, one downtown, the other in Stone Mountain. Collectively, the restaurant's are all part of Selin Industries LLC, an umbrella company Saritas owns.
After selling American Roadhouse, Blau launched his own hospitality consulting business before becoming Director of Outlets and General Manager as South City Kitchen at The Hotel at Avalon. After a relatively short stint, Blau came back intown and since this past June, has been the General Manager of Cafe Intermezzo Midtown, according to his LinkedIn page.
According to a permit filed with the City of Atlanta in June, Saritas plans to spend $80,000 on a minor facelift of the 3,500 square foot space that will include new furniture, tile, paint and a bar counter. Plans call for the work to only take a couple of weeks but sources close to the restaurant anticipate a slightly longer conversion process.
The new Truva will feature a similar but not identical menu to that of its downtown counterpart. The menu, while still primarily Mediterranean, will reportedly feature some "lighter fare" in an effort to be more neighborhood/family friendly. Plans are also in place to continue offering weekend brunch with at least a few American Roadhouse menu items expected to continue on as past of new restaurant.
In addition to the Truva conversion, Saritas claims to have signed a lease on the old J&J Bourbon Bar at North Highland and St. Charles Avenues but as of now no permits have been filed for work on the space. For a number of years, the highly visible space operated as Belly General Store but it closed in 2015, eventually becoming the short-lived and rather odd J&J Bourbon Bar.
The original Truva opened in late 2009 in a large portion of a former Steak & Ale restaurant.
Are you sad to be losing such an iconic intown breakfast eatery? Have you ever been to Truva? What type of restaurant would you most like to see open in Virginia-Highland?
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