Citizens Market, the fledgling food hall at Phipps Plaza in Buckhead is nearing its two year anniversary and with it comes more change. Another "exciting concept" has been removed from the hall and is being replaced by a local upstart.
That flaw was finally addressed this past February when Cultivate, a locally owned coffee and breakfast spot, was introduced in place of EllaMia. Later, in September, with traffic and sales still seemingly not meeting expectations, Simon, the mall's owner and partner in the food hall, again heeded our advice (without credit, naturally), and introduced another local operator in place of one of their "established" brands.
Cicci Di Carne, which offered "A taste of Tuscany from the world's most legendary butcher, Dario Cecchini"was replaced with Pizza Jeans, a casual pizza joint birthed from former Ponce City Market spot Root Baking Co.
In addition to Pizza Jeans, Citizens Market also, in recent months, added "Firebelly Wings," a virtual restaurant brand from Nextbite, a company that helps restaurant operators leverage their existing but underutilized kitchen capacity to offer new foods.
Mad Dads Philly's, the new addition, is seemingly replacing Sam’s Crispy Chicken, which was removed from the Citizens Market website. Firebelly Wings was also removed, but it's unclear if Mad Dads is taking over the total space or if the hall plans to bring in another "virtual brand," too.
The original Mad Dads Philly’s opened in November 2023 by native Philadelphian Tony Sharpe and his wife Pamela in the cloud kitchen "Buckhead Food Hub" along Piedmont Road in Buckhead. The Sharpes opened their first full-fledged stall at Halidom Eatery, a new food hall along Moreland Avenue, in May. A second location came online in November at Roswell Junction along South Atlanta Street in Roswell.
The stall's menu includes authentic Philadelphia cheesesteaks and hoagies, as well as wings, bowls, and a few vegan options.
The new Citizens Market location is meant to replace the cloud kitchen location which had reached the end of its current lease. The Citizens Market location is reportedly slated to open in early January. That said, the fact that the couple will have opened three locations within twelve months is a little scary to consider, given that none will have had enough time to attract customers and grow sales, and each will likely need hands-on attention to do so.
One key component of Citizens that may be a hurdle for some operators to entertain opening - even at reduced rent - is the fact that all stalls must work out of one central kitchen for all prep, as the facility was designed for a single operator rather than independent ones as it has now.
Although still listed on the Citizens website, El Pollo Verde seemed very much abandoned when we visited Monday, but alas, that may just be the typical look of stalls at Citizens Market. If closed permanently, this could be an indication of another planned replacement stall, or just the operator cutting costs... or both.
One recent Citizens Market review on Google read in part:
"The place was not crowded at all on a Saturday for lunch (which is a red flag, a Buckhead eatery that is not crowded on a December afternoon is a red flag, especially since the mall had a lot of people). I was expecting a more elevated experience, but this food hall is a scam and it’s just a mall food court."
The review ended by suggesting that they'd choose a department store restaurant over the food hall in future visits:
"It was a very disappointing and next time I would rather go to the cafe at Nordstrom."
The majority of the hall's recent reviews are negative, with an overall 3.7 rating across 138 Google reviews after roughly 20 months in business. Delbar Buckhead, which by comparison has been open less than 30 days, already has 180 reviews with an overall rating of 4.9 stars.
What are your thoughts on the current state of and roster at Citizens Market at Phipps Plaza? What has been your experience at Citizens Market? Can Citizens Market at Phipps Plaza be fixed or is it a lost cause?
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