The week before kickoff turned into an opening spree for downtown and South Downtown Atlanta, as a cluster of new restaurants, pop-ups and food halls raced to flip on their lights before the World Cup spotlight arrived.
In South Downtown, the Atlanta Ventures-led revitalization added Dough in the Box and El Tesoro, both opening in recent days along the rapidly filling Broad Street corridor. They join a neighborhood that has gone from largely vacant storefronts to one of the city's busiest restaurant frontiers in a matter of months.
Downtown proper saw CTR Food Works, a new food hall, come online, while Hell Yeah! Gluten Free launched as a pop-up inside the historic Daily World Building in Sweet Auburn — one of several concepts seeded by the Downtown Pop-Up Opportunity Fund, a program designed to fill empty ground-floor space with local operators.
A few blocks away, Highland Bakery & Bar opened a pop-up at 131 Walker Street that runs through July 20, serving sandwiches, snacks and drinks to the World Cup crowds, and Last Dance began a phased rollout of limited-service dates ahead of full walk-in service starting June 25.
The wave adds to an already busy stretch that includes the recently opened Irish Exit at Centennial Yards, underscoring how quickly downtown's dining map is being redrawn as the tournament brings a global audience to the city's core.
Source: Rough Draft Atlanta
