Lawrence’s Cafe closed earlier this summer months just after extra than 30 several years serving Lebanese dishes from operator Tony Chebib, initially on Buford Freeway, then from West School Avenue in Oakhurst. The proprietor of Edgewood neighborhood Mexican cafe El Tesoro designs to take around the area and open a new restaurant there by the finish of the 12 months.
An announcement created on Fb in July cites the pandemic as the reason at the rear of the closure of Lawrence’s Cafe, but implies Chebib may be seeking to reopen the cafe somewhere else in Atlanta.
“After 32 decades in small business and 10 yrs at our present-day Decatur location, it is with sadness that we announce we acquired bought by a different organization and are closing on July 30th, 2021,” the article reads. “The last 16 months have been some of the hardest for Lawrence’s Cafe (and everyone) and inspite of our ideal initiatives, the pandemic won. Through our closing, we will be looking for a new spot.”
Chebib initially opened Lawrence’s Cafe in 1990 on Buford Freeway, prior to relocating the restaurant practically a decade in the past to West University Avenue, following doorway to Revolution Doughnuts. Chebib, who grew up in Falougha Mount-Liban, Lebanon, desired to be nearer to the bulk of his shopper base, most of whom dwell in the Decatur spot and the east facet neighborhoods of Atlanta. His cafe turned regarded for its homey Lebanese dishes dependent on relatives recipes.
Relatives food traditions will keep on at the West School Avenue place when Alan Raines and his partner in the enterprise, Sam Eaves, open up a but-named restaurant centered about mezcal beverages and coastal dishes from the household of El Tesoro kitchen area manager chef Hugo Suastegui and his hometown of Acapulco, Mexico.
“We enjoy the everyday and outdoor vibes that occur with our homestyle, Guerrero Mexican food conceptualized by the Soto relatives at El Tesoro,” Raines tells Eater of dishes Cristina Lugo Soto churns out everyday at the preferred Edgewood community restaurant. “But we have also arrive to love the neighborhood that has created close to our quasi-monthly mezcal tasting dinners, which aspect coastal foods from chef Hugo Suastegui’s family members and hometown of Acapulco, paired with handcrafted mezcal drinks from the region.”
Foods and drinks from these dinners now provide as inspiration for the new Oakhurst cafe, which Raines suggests should be a considerably additional intimate experience than that of El Tesoro.
Although an opening ETA or the identify have nevertheless to be settled, Raines hopes to open by the close of the yr and will also make use of the kitchen area in Oakhurst to dietary supplement El Tesoro and for exterior catering needs.
“This will be a complete-service, evening-only restaurant, led by Hugo and a beverage expert,” he claims. “We hope to get matters solidified pretty quickly.”
Raines to start with opened El Tesoro at the corner of Arkwright Place and Whitefoord Avenue in 2019. What commenced as a little, counter-provider cantina with confined indoor seating has considering the fact that expanded into a common community accumulating spot that now features an expansive open-air patio, entire with fireplace pits. Listed here, Soto serves up tacos, tamales, mulitas, and burritos primarily based on flavors and substances found in her home state of Guerrero, Mexico. Commonly run as a Thursday unique, the birria tacos right here are not to be missed.
Update, September 10, 12:30 p.m.: A previous model of this story outlined Darryl Howard as a single of the existing proprietors of El Tesoro. Howard is no for a longer period affiliated with the restaurant and Alan Raines is now sole owner.