Comings and goings
Dec. 3 — It’s Cathy from Rough Draft with my weekly newsletter on Dunwoody. Just when you thought you had survived last week’s sad, cold, and windy weather, December comes dragging in, so you can stew at home and enjoy that extra five pounds you gained.
🗳 I was up late monitoring last night’s Sandy Springs’ mayoral elections (Rusty Paul won, ICYMI), so we’ll get to this week’s news about the canes that won’t be raised, a chilly start to Brook Run’s Holiday Lights, and the closure of Jett Ferry’s CVS.
🧥 Layer up,
Cathy
✨ Don’t miss this weekend’s Miracle on Peachtree festivities in and around Buckhead Village District! Enjoy wreath decorating, a hot chocolate crawl and a tree lighting ceremony accompanied by holiday music and photo ops with llamas! Learn more here. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Birds of a feather won’t flock together (for now)
🐣 The Dunwoody City Council, at its Dec. 1 meeting, refused to grant a Special Land Use Permit (SLUP) that would allow drive-through service at a proposed fast-food restaurant on Ashford Dunwoody Road.
Raising Cane’s is petitioning for the SLUP to construct a 2,900 square-foot restaurant with double-drive-through service lanes on a 1.56-acre site at 4570 Ashford Dunwoody Rd. The site formerly housed a bank, and has been vacant for about two years.
The council had already approved a zoning change from O-I (Office-Industrial) to PC-1 to allow for a restaurant as an accepted use. Chicken lovers, don’t despair, there may be a Zaxby’s joining the fray near Ashford Lane soon.
🍗 Here is a wrap-up of the meeting.
Celebrate the Holidays in Buckhead this weekend
SPONSORED BY LIVABLE BUCKHEAD
🎄 This Sat., Dec. 6, Livable Buckhead hosts a day of free, festive fun around Buckhead Village District.
· Decorate wreaths that will add holiday cheer to all 43 Atlanta fire stations and police precincts. (Noon to 2 p.m.)
· Join the hot chocolate crawl in Buckhead Village District (4 to 7 p.m.). Sip hot chocolate or a cocktail and enjoy live music.
· Listen to holiday classics during the lighting of Buckhead’s tree in Charlie Loudermilk Park at 7:30 p.m.
Yaba’s Bagels makes our best new restaurant lists
🥯 Our dining team announced today its choices for best new restaurants of 2025, and Yaba’s Bagels, tucked into a rather nondescript shopping center on Ashford Dunwoody, made the list.
Lena Abdallah and Ahmed Nashif bet on Atlantans’ affinity for bagels when they opened Yaba’s Bagels this summer. Yaba means “father” in Arabic. For Abdallah, the Dunwoody bagel shop is more than just a business, it also serves as an homage to her father, who used to own bakeries in New York.
Abdallah grew up understanding that a good “water” bagel depends on a precisely timed kettle boiling process to bring about the signature textures: crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. Yaba’s respect for the bagel-making process, which includes boiling the dough twice before baking, comes through in the first bite.
🏆 Read about Yaba’s and our other picks around the city.
✨ Don’t miss this weekend’s Miracle on Peachtree festivities in and around Buckhead Village District! Enjoy wreath decorating, a hot chocolate crawl and a tree lighting ceremony accompanied by holiday music and photo ops with llamas! Learn more here. SPONSOR MESSAGE
ET went home
👽 Last night was supposed to be the big debut of Brook Run’s Holiday Lights, but nasty weather prevailed. According to the city, the Mean One is to blame.
“The Grinch has tangled with the delivery of some of our biggest light displays, but just like in Whoville, our spirits won’t be dampened,” an announcement from Dunwoody said. “Tonight’s Holiday Lights festivities will go on! Join us at Brook Run Park from 4- 7 pm for Opening Night, featuring a limited light display including the Mega Tree, plus hot chocolate, popcorn, and churros.”
I stopped by around 7 p.m. There was a group of Northerners in shorts and flip flops, kids who seemed oblivious to the blustery weather, and one space chimp who, despite the shiny suit, said he was pretty cold.
The city is urging everyone to visit again when it’s warmer, which, according to my app, will be around early March.
🥶 Read more about the display and what to expect when it’s firing on all cylinders.
CVS closing at Jett Ferry
💊 While the youngsters wait with bated breath for the opening of Big Play on Jett Ferry Road, another soldier in the center has fallen. The CVS, which persevered through a myriad of grocery store openings and closings in the center over the last 10 years, is shutting its doors in January. It’s not official news, but every customer is getting the low-down from cashiers during check-out.
Some people really loved this store during its decades at this location, but I always got the impression that the employees were mildly annoyed when people showed up (and wanted to buy things).
CVS had announced it was closing 270 stores in 2025 as part of an ongoing effort to “optimize” its retail footprint and align with changing consumer needs. This move follows the closure of approximately 900 stores between 2022 and 2024. They are also opening 30 stores in Target locations, which, last time I checked, already had a pharmacy department.
I’ll have a story with official quotes, but in the meantime, the real news is that everything not nailed down will be on sale.
🔒 Here’s a story about the closures nationwide.
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