Key Points
- Chefs Todd Ginsberg (The General Muir, Wood’s Chapel BBQ, Fred’s Meat & Bread, Yalla) and Josh Kim (Bloom Roadside) plan to open a counter-service restaurant in early 2026 at 185 Mitchell St.
- The menu will include deli-style sandwiches, salads, coffee, bagels, and sourdough doughnuts.
- The restaurant will open every day except Sunday, starting at 8 a.m., serving breakfast and lunch until 3 p.m.
South Downtown adds another restaurant to its roster next year.
Chefs Todd Ginsberg (The General Muir, Wood’s Chapel BBQ, Fred’s Meat & Bread, Yalla, Ginsberg’s Refresher) and Josh Kim (Bloom Roadside) plan to open a counter-service restaurant at 185 Mitchell St.
The yet-named restaurant should open in early 2026 and combine a nostalgic atmosphere with modern takes on deli-style sandwiches, salads, coffee, bagels, and sourdough doughnuts. It will open every day except Sunday, starting at 8 a.m., serving breakfast and lunch until 3 p.m.
Ginsberg and Kim said they were attracted to South Downtown’s energy, which reminded them of neighborhoods in Boston and New York City.
“The people doing South Downtown are passionate about redeveloping [the area] to become a vibrant and bustling downtown . . . that will pull people in and let them see an Atlanta that hasn’t really been there for 100 years,” Ginsberg told Rough Draft. “There’s been a lot of homework and research done into keeping the [South Downtown] buildings and the integrity of that area.”
The chefs envision a casual place with a massive counter where nearby residents and office and construction workers can grab breakfast and lunch. They want it to be a spot people can eat at a few times a week, or, as Ginsberg puts it, the kind of restaurant he’d want to frequent if he worked in South Downtown.
Ginsberg said the goal is to capture the spirit of the everyday vibe of restaurants like Palace Diner in Biddleford, ME, focusing on affordability and a health-conscious menu.
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Ginsberg and Kim have been friends for nearly a decade. They first met over dinner at Hayakawa back when the now Michelin-starred omakase restaurant was still located on Buford Highway.
“I had known General Muir and been there and thought [Ginsberg] did a great job with recreating that kind of experience and bringing a slice of New York down to Atlanta, and I told him I appreciated what he did with pastrami,” Kim said. “We kind of bonded over that.”
Their relationship grew to include a business partnership, with Ginsberg consulting Kim on what eventually became Bloom Roadside in Alpharetta. Ever since, the chefs have wanted to open another restaurant together.
Their friendship, in particular, is manifested in the menu. The bibimbap salad, for example, blends Kim’s Korean heritage with Ginsberg’s technique and emphasis on fresh, whole ingredients, like farro and marinated spinach. Entree salads, which Ginsberg said won’t require a knife, include a Thai chopped salad with twice-cooked fish, a “chopped and Caesar,” and a take on Houston’s house salad.
In total, the menu will feature four salads and six sandwiches served on The General Muir bread or even bagels. (Think a tuna melt, roasted turkey with artichoke cream cheese, avocados, sprouts, and red onions, and a harissa chicken salad club.)
Meanwhile, Kim will maintain his passion for simple yeast doughnuts. He and Ginsberg are currently developing a sour cream cake doughnut base and sour cream biscuit. While Kim is avoiding gimmicky pastries on the menu, he conceptualized seasonal glazes such as a white peach and miso, something that hints to his wife’s upbringing in Japan’s Okayama Prefecture, a region famous for white peaches.
South Downtown is quickly ushering in new businesses in advance of the 2026 World Cup games taking place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The revitalization of the area in and around South Downtown includes new restaurants like Tyde Take Kitchen, Pepper’s Hotdogs, and a location of Spiller Park Coffee, along with Wild Leap brewery and distillery over at Centennial Yards.
Ginsberg and Kim’s new restaurant will join upcoming locations of Bottle Rocket, El Tesoro, Broad Street BBQ, from the owners of Sammy’s, and Delilah’s Everyday Soul. All are expected to open early next year.
A weekly food festival and market, Smorgasburg Atlanta, will open in October at the intersection of Forsyth and Trinity.
185 Mitchell St., South Downtown. Opening early 2026.