Quick Bites: Dos Madres Cantina opens, La Tagliatella closes, and more

• Photo by James Camp
• Bantam + Biddy's Lenox Square location is now open.

After multiple delays, Bantam + Biddy has finally debuted its fourth Atlanta location at Lenox Square (3393 Peachtree Road). The high-end shopping mall has made a move toward more healthful dining options in the last couple years, and Shaun Doty’s fast-casual chicken concept is just the latest option in its smorgasbord of sustainable and diet-conscious offerings. Look for rotisserie chickens, meatloaf, fried chicken with cheddar waffles, big salads, and sandwiches galore.

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Dos Madres Cantina opened at 330 W. Ponce de Leon Ave in Decatur last week. It opened first for lunch only Dec. 1 and now, since Dec. 9, is open for dinner, too. Menu items at the Mexican restaurant include the usual fajitas, taco duos, soups, and salads, with flan, churros, and tres leches for dessert. The creative cocktails were developed in collaboration with Miles Macquarrie, who built his mixology reputation at Leon’s Full Service and Kimball House.

Bezoria, the Mediterranean eatery assuming the former home of Bakeshop in Midtown, should open Mon., Dec. 15 at 903 Peachtree St. An open-format restaurant in the tradition of Subway or Chipotle, Bezoria will offer items like gluten-free chicken shawarma, chicken kefta, steak shawarma, and gluten-free falafel, which can be paired with cabbage slaw, tomato-and-cucumber salad, sumac onions, pickles, and more on pita or laffa bread, rice, hummus, or salad.

In case you missed it, Varuna Napoli’s owner and maestro pizzaiolo, Luca Varuni, has opened his long-awaited Luca’s Market on the premises at 1540 Monroe Drive, offering a retail space for patrons to purchase the artisanal items used in his authentic Italian dishes—think meats, cheeses, San Marzano tomatoes, olive oils, pickled foods, gelato, and other desserts, as well as ready-to-cook, ever-changing take-home meals like eggplant parmesan, stuffed peppers, and meatballs. Purchased items can even be retrieved via a take-out window on Monroe Drive, if desired. Meanwhile, a new cocktail program has made its mark delivering drinks like a Prosecco-hibiscus spritz, “Varuni beer,” and a “limoncello lemonade” made with Varuni’s brother, Benedetto’s, very own elixir.

American Food & Beverage has pushed its opening date to Tues., Jan. 13. The extra time should allow the owners to get the place in ship-shape at the Buckhead Atlanta development. The restaurant’s modern American cuisine, prepared at the hands of Miller’s Artisan Sodas founder chef Jeremy Miller (formerly of Bluepointe, STK, and French Laundry), will include “house-made chorizo with Scotch egg, Brunswick stew, and a turkey pastrami sandwich."

Veda Juice is officially a go in Buckhead; owners Jackie Greene and Lisa Martinez plan to open the doors by late December at 365 Peachtree Hills Ave. The healthful eatery will serve salads, smoothies, acai bowls, smoothies, organic tea, five standard juices, and one seasonal juice made from 100 percent natural fruits and veggies. Plus, additional locations are on the horizon.

Plans have been filed for the Boxcar Cafe at Ponce City Market. A building permit was submitted Dec. 2 for the rustic new watering hole, which will occupy a space on the tracks adjacent to the Beltline, but for which details still remain scarce.
Draft Filling Station, the craft beer growler store at 2162 Briarcliff Road, recently closed, with owner Hans V. Bendeck citing family obligations as the reason for the shift in his focus.