None of the new places announced for East Atlanta Village this year needs a new building. A wine bar is going into the old East Atlanta Animal Clinic. A Filipino tiki counter is taking over a former juice bar. An arcade bar is moving into the lounge across from The EARL. The 1910s bank at the main crossroads has been gutted to a shell and is being split into four suites. The Village is coming back inside its own walls.
The AJC's restaurant critic wrote in August that a new wave of dining is headed to EAV after several years of closures. He named Happy Donuts, which closed in 2022 after 20 years, and the Elder Tree pub, which closed in 2024 after a dozen. What's different about this wave is where it's landing.
The bank at the crossroads sets the terms
Start at Flat Shoals and Glenwood, where the Marbut and Minor Building has stood since sometime between 1911 and 1916. It was a SunTrust branch from 2010 and stayed a bank under the Truist name until the branch moved out last year.
Urbanize Atlanta reported in April that Pellerin Real Estate had finished demolition work it had planned for several years at 514 Flat Shoals Ave. Pellerin also built the Village's Southern Feed Store food hall and The Beacon retail district. The building has been stripped to a cold shell and is being leased. Floorplans divide its two floors into four suites and other spaces totaling more than 12,000 square feet, and the old bank vault is staying.
The outside is protected. The brick façade and masonry columns are part of what makes the building central to the East Atlanta Historic District, which joined the National Register of Historic Places in 2021. Pellerin agreed in 2022 to a permanent historic easement that, as SaportaReport described it, protects the building from demolition and keeps its architectural character intact.
Next door at 512 Flat Shoals, in the separate building known as the Marbut, the former Just Loaf'n po' boy space is empty. Urbanize reported that conversations with several restaurants were underway and that two had reached the letter-of-intent stage, the last step before a lease. East Atlanta Comics has also expanded into more space at 512.
Address by address down Flat Shoals
The same pattern repeats for about two blocks. Here is each building, what it was, and where things stood in late October 2026.
| Address | What it was | What's going in | Status, late October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 514 Flat Shoals Ave. | Marbut and Minor Building, most recently a Truist branch | Four suites, vault kept | Being leased, no tenants announced |
| 512 Flat Shoals Ave. | Just Loaf'n | Restaurant space | Two restaurants at letter-of-intent stage as of April |
| 485 Flat Shoals Ave. | East Side Lounge | Joystick Gamebar with Mambo Zombi | October target, no opening date posted |
| 493B Flat Shoals Ave. SE | Silvers Delight All Natural Juice | Zarate Tiki Co. | Website lists hours, no opening date announced |
| 461-B Flat Shoals Ave. | East Atlanta Animal Clinic | Bar Schmutzi | AJC puts the opening in 2027 |
| 481 Flat Shoals Ave., Suite A | East Atlanta Skateshop | Still in permitting as of September | |
| 530 Flat Shoals Ave. SE | Big Al's Cigar Shop | Targeted end of September, watch for an announcement |
Several of these operators chose an older building because of what it already had.
The rooms that came with a head start
Hoodline reported that Marcus Fernandez, the bartender and chef behind Zarate Tiki Co., told the AJC he picked the old Silvers Delight storefront because it would be relatively turnkey for simple street food and island-inspired cocktails. Zarate started in 2023 as a pop-up and catering business. The name comes from the small corner store his grandmother ran on Zarate Street in the Philippines, where he helped open up before school as a kid. The menu includes lumpia, halo-halo and ube ice cream, and What Now Atlanta reported the shop will run mostly as a grab-and-go spot with fresh juices, which is close to what the space sold before. Zarate's website lists the Flat Shoals address and service hours.
Joystick Gamebar is moving into a room that was already a bar. Rough Draft Atlanta reported in July that co-owners Johnny Martinez and Brandon Ley closed their Edgewood Avenue location after 14 years and are taking the former East Side Lounge across from The EARL. They're bringing arcade and pinball games, new games, an updated food menu and a third partner. That partner is Kysha Cyrus of Mambo Zombi, and the EAV location combines the two concepts. Martinez told Rough Draft that EAV is full of people who care about where they live and support local businesses. Rough Draft's October 1 roundup still listed the bar as coming in October, so the Joystick Instagram is the place to watch for the date.
Bar Schmutzi is the longest wait, and the change in use there is the biggest. Jarrett Stieber, chef and owner of Little Bear in Summerhill, is turning the former East Atlanta Animal Clinic at 461-B Flat Shoals into a European-style wine bar with a short small-plates menu, according to What Now Atlanta. The AJC's August piece puts the opening in 2027.
Big Al's Cigar Shop is taking 2,500 square feet at 530 Flat Shoals, and the building already has a mural on its Glenwood Avenue side. Co-owner John Hammond told What Now Atlanta that his partner Al spent 10 to 15 years at local shops, including Cigar City Club and J's Cigars & Coffee House, before they decided to open their own. Plans include a large humidor, ample seating, two garage doors and jazz in the background. Hammond said an opening announcement would come on the shop's Instagram.
The one you can sit in now is on Gresham
Of everything on the list, Sagra at 535 Gresham Ave. SE is the one already serving. It sits a turn off Flat Shoals. The AJC reported that it began limited service on Aug. 29 and poured BYOB while it waited on a liquor license.
Sagra follows the same pattern as the rest of the street. Founder Eric Di Nardo moved to East Atlanta Village with his wife in 2021 and later worked as a sommelier at Bacchanalia. Rough Draft reported that he watched for a property that fit his idea. When the Gresham building came under new ownership, he negotiated a lease with a few upgrades, including a tasting room and a fenced back patio.
The model is the Venetian bacaro, a small neighborhood wine bar that serves cicchetti. At Sagra that means Italian-grape wines alongside sourdough pizza, focaccia and Italian snacks. To keep the list affordable for the neighborhood, some glasses start at $9. For anyone who has spent the year walking past papered windows, Sagra is the open door, and a back patio still works on a November evening.
A shop where the profits go to kids
The newcomer at 481 Flat Shoals Ave., Suite A, works differently from the rest. East Atlanta Kids Club, a nonprofit active since 1998, is opening East Atlanta Skateshop there. It will sell skate goods and youth-designed merchandise, and it's meant to be a third place for kids and teens. The club's skateshop page says 100% of shop profits support its no-cost youth programs. In a social media post quoted by What Now Atlanta, the club said it believes "East Atlanta's growth should include meaningful spaces for kids and teens." As of that September report, the shop was in permitting with construction still ahead and no opening timeline.
Skating has a second project a few blocks away. At the East Atlanta Community Association's July 14 meeting, New Line Skate Park showed concept art for a skate area in the center of Brownwood Park, replacing the black cement paddle area. A 15-person design review group has been formed. According to the meeting minutes, neighbors asked for green space, tree preservation and all-ages access, so the plan is being renamed a "skate garden" with native plants and rain gardens. Updated designs will come back after another round of design review. Like the storefronts, this one reworks a part of the park that already exists instead of adding a new site.
Thursdays on Stokeswood still run through Nov. 19
Most of these openings are still weeks or months away, but the East Atlanta Village Farmers Market is already running. It's open Thursdays from 4 to 8 p.m. at 572 Stokeswood Ave. SE, and its 2026 season ends Nov. 19. That leaves today, Nov. 5, plus Nov. 12 and Nov. 19. After the market, it's a short walk past the bank corner and the papered windows on Flat Shoals to a glass at Sagra on Gresham. Because so few of these opening dates are firm, check each business's own channels before you make a special trip.
You can track the rest of the Village on our East Atlanta Village neighborhood page. For a nearby comparison, see how Grant Park spent its spring on a second Sunday market.
At Bolst Homes, we pay attention to places like East Atlanta Skateshop, where profits from a storefront go back to the neighborhood's kids. Every transaction we close supports housing and community work in the neighborhoods we serve. When you're ready to talk about your own corner of East Atlanta, we're glad to help. Find a Home. Make an Impact.
