Burrito joint owner vents on Facebook about failed venture and future plans.
In February we reported that Bell Street Burritos would open its newest location in a former Wachovia Bank building at the East Atlanta Village.
Instead, the shuttered bank reopened as Tomatillos, a burrito joint that is not affiliated with Bell Street.
Today, What Now Atlanta uncovered the drama behind why Bell Street never opened as originally planned when Matt Hinton, Bell Street owner, updated its Facebook group Friday morning.
For Atlantans who are fans of the Sweet Auburn Curb Market burrito joint, he also notes a new location is in the works:
Howdy folks! I will be making an announcement about a new location very soon, but in the meantime, I suppose I should address this:
Back in February, it was announced by a particular Atlanta blog that Bell Street Burritos would be opening a new location in East Atlanta. Ever since then, hardly a week goes by that someone doesn’t ask about the new East Atlanta location.
Here’s the very short version: On New Year’s Eve, I was approached by the owner of a certain restaurant in East Atlanta, asking if I wanted to partner on a second location of Bell Street Burritos. He had acquired a suitable building and thought it would be a good fit. I agreed, and in January we began work. We worked on design, build out, and equipment acquisition for about 4 months. It was during this time that he informed the above blog of our plans (somewhat prematurely, perhaps, since we had not yet finalized our partnership agreement– we were working in good faith, as it were, so we could get the place generating income to pay his mortgage). In April, though, he decided, for reasons that are still somewhat unclear to me, that he would prefer to go it alone.
So, he has now opened the shop with a different name, and I’ve already had people come back to Bell Street Burritos, saying that they went there thinking it was associated with us, and were disappointed that it wasn’t. I have resisted the urge to comment upon any of this in a “public” forum like this, but, between the confusion of our very faithful customers and now a short review about that new spot which raises the question of its connection with us, I felt it would be best to address it here.
Any new location of Bell Street Burritos will be called “Bell Street Burritos.”
Developing…
