South Downtown is getting a new breakfast-and-lunch counter from two names well known to Atlanta diners. Chef Todd Ginsberg and restaurateur Josh Kim are partnering on a counter-service concept at 185 Mitchell St., according to an announcement from South Downtown in September 2025. The spot did not yet have a name at the time of the announcement.
The idea traces back to Ginsberg's childhood. Growing up in New Jersey, he spent time in diners, and his interest in how they work grew sharper in the period just before he enrolled in culinary school. What drew him in, he told What Now Atlanta, was how open the format is: one customer can stop in for nothing more than a cup of black coffee and a piece of pie, while another can settle in for a full meal. He also pointed to the way diners have moved forward in the kitchen, focusing on simple food prepared well, as the kind of cooking he enjoys most. That combination became the starting point for the new concept.
The room itself will be compact at roughly 900 square feet. Plans call for lots of windows and natural light, and the overall feel is meant to be an updated take on the classic diner.
On the menu, breakfast will be served all day. Alongside it, guests can expect four salads and a short list of five or six sandwiches. The pair is also bringing their sour cream doughnuts, which will be made in house. Those doughnuts already have a following thanks to Bloom Roadside in Milton, where Ginsberg joined Kim as a partner several years ago.
Ginsberg's resume on the Atlanta dining scene includes The General Muir and Fred's Meat and Bread. With Kim, he had spent about a year searching for a second location before South Downtown invited them to tour the Mitchell Street space and shared its vision for the project. Ginsberg said that pitch won them over and that they wanted to be part of it.
The partners see the new spot as a regular stop for the neighborhood. Ginsberg described the need for a place where the people who will live and work in South Downtown can come back two or three times a week for a breakfast sandwich, a drip coffee or a doughnut, and said that is the role they hope to fill.
The opening was targeted for April 2026.
Original reporting by Emily McGinn for What Now Atlanta.