Tucker is getting a scary new restaurant. Haunted House Restaurant - that's literally the name - is opening soon in Northlake Festival (4073 Lavista Road, Suite 323). The new restaurant spans nearly 12,000 square feet and is the second overall restaurant for the business that began in Cleveland Heights, Ohio in 2021.
Essentially, the restaurant is just what it sounds like, a Haunted House-themed restaurant complete with costumed staff, themed food and "scary" decor. The restaurant seems also to encourage patrons to dress up, too, and get in the "spirit."
The restaurant proudly states:
"The only thing scary...
...is how good our food is."
Examples of the restaurant's themed food includes the Nashville Massacre (fried hot shrimp with avocado mousse, braised pico salsa), Ecto Burger (Impossible Burger with vegan BBQ pulled pork and vegan smoked Gouda) and Nightmare on Elm Street Corn, among other options. The restaurant also features a variety of "Potions Bowls," shareable cocktails served in a 51-ounce glass chalice. "If you're looking for a bit of bippity, boppity, boom.... order our Potion Bowl for a magical spell bounding experience." Perhaps the scariest thing about the menu: Pepsi products!
The existing location is open for dinner during the week and weekend brunch. The restaurant is closed on Mondays.
Haunted House Restaurant, co-owned by serial entrepreneur Andre Scott and Ryan “DJ Ryan Wolf” Gullatt, the official DJ of the Cleveland Browns, among others, will reportedly run the Tucker outpost as a corporate location but additional franchised units are in the works.
Haunted House Restaurant joins several new and upcoming restaurants in Northlake Festival including Five Guys, which opened May 8 in a space beside Verizon and adjacent to Chick-fil-A along LaVista Road. KPot Korean BBQ & Hot Pot is expected to open soon in a onetime Blockbuster Video close to the main entrance of the center, also along LaVista Road.
A franchise of struggling pizza operator Uncle Maddio's Pizza closed at the center as of May 1.
Real estate sources tell ToNeTo Atlanta that Northlake Festival was recently sold, and that new ownership is being more aggressive in their leasing efforts than the center's previous owners.
Leases are reportedly in the works for several of the center's larger "big box" spaces including the former Toys R Us (44,037 square feet), Hi-Fi Buys (14,825 square feet) and Haverty's (25,905 square feet).
[Fun fact: Having grown up in the area, we bought our first Nintendo 64 at the Northlake Festival Toys R Us and our family's first DVD player at the center's Hi-Fi Buys]
Increased leasing activity likely means that the City of Tucker's desire that the property is redeveloped in what they envisioned as "Tower Park" are less likely now than ever.
Current anchors in center include PetSmart, a recently renovated Goodwill (in a former OfficeMax) and Movie Tavern (in a converted former AMC Theaters).
Haunted House Restaurant in Tucker should definitely open in time for Halloween 2023. In addition, another location is reportedly in the works in Orlando as well as several others across the country.
Does the idea of a Haunted House-themed restaurant excite you? What is your fondest memory of Northlake Festival? What other types of restaurants or retailers would you like to see open at Northlake Festival?
Please share your thoughts below.