On a Crowded Marietta Square, 2026's New Restaurants Arrived With a Head Start

Glover Park Kitchen has been open at 72 Atlanta Street since its October 9 grand opening. From its front door you can see Glover Park Brewery across the street, and the same group owns both. The restaurant told followers on Instagram that it would soft-open October 7 and hold its grand opening October 9, 2026. It is the newest table on the Square, and nearly every other 2026 newcomer shares one trait with it.

Most of this year's new restaurants come from operators who already ran something. Some own a bar a few doors away. Others run a restaurant in Kennesaw, a market in Norcross, or a wine shop that started in Roswell. With this many places already competing for the same Friday night crowd, the openings that actually reached full service mostly came from people with an existing kitchen, an existing following, or both.

How Crowded the Square Has Become

Chef Greg Lipman offered a baseline. When his Italian restaurant Piastra opened at 45 W Park Square in 2015, he counted roughly 28 food and beverage businesses around the Square. By 2026 he put the number at about 43, an increase of about half. Marietta.com uses a wider radius and counts more than 60 restaurants within walking distance of the Square, not including fast food chains.

The address where Lipman made that count is a good place to see what happened next. Piastra spent ten years there and served its last dinner on December 31, 2025. In late January 2026 the space reopened as Asher & Rose Modern Grocers, which combined a specialty market, a butcher counter, a café and a bar. The grocery's run was short. On August 27, a court approved a sale of the business assets and an assignment of the lease. The building itself was not part of the sale.

The next tenant fits the 2026 pattern. What Now Atlanta reported that the buyer, Salem Makhlouf, appears to be part of the team that owns nearby L on North. The plan is a French restaurant called Brasserie Genevieve. What Now pointed to December or January for the opening. Marietta.com said late 2026 to early 2027. The new operator gets a large production kitchen, a bar, a sidewalk patio and plenty of indoor seating.

What Opened in 2026, and Who Already Ran Something

Here is how this year's arrivals line up when you sort them by the operator's track record:

Most rows share the same right-hand column, and the details explain why that helps.

Glover Park Kitchen borrows its neighbor's taps

The beverage program pours rotating beers from Glover Park Brewery across the street. Executive Chef Lance Hagan brings more than 20 years of fine dining experience across the Southeast, including Pano's and Paul's and Table 1280. The menu draws on Southern Sunday suppers. Highlights include Charleston shrimp and grits, Springer Mountain fried chicken, and the Hagan Pot Roast made with beer-braised short rib. Sides are portioned for two or three people, including Buford Highway collards with gochujang and turkey burnt ends. A covered, climate-controlled veranda keeps the outdoor seating usable through winter. There is also a lawn, an indoor-outdoor bar and a chef's table with limited seats.

If you're planning a weeknight visit, note that Glover Park Kitchen's own site lists it as closed Mondays. It opens at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday and closes at 9 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 10 p.m. Thursday, and 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Sunday hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

West Park Sports Club moved into a familiar room

The upscale sports bar took over the former Red Hare Brewing & Distilling space at 29 West Park Square, which housed Hemingway's Bar & Grill before that. Marietta.com describes lots of TVs, a darker interior and leather seating. Menu items include crispy rice with tuna, crab rangoon flatbread and bulgogi cheesesteak sliders.

Willie Rae's x Pisano's combined two menus in one room

The combined restaurant at 25 North Park Square reopened July 31 after several weeks of construction. It serves condensed menus from Willie Rae's Social House and Pisano's Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen under one roof. Pisano's owner Michael Judvytis described the arrangement to What Now Atlanta as a collaboration between the two concepts. Pisano's started in Downtown Kennesaw and is known for New York-style pizza.

Deep Roots and Ike's came in from elsewhere in metro Atlanta

Deep Roots opened its first market in Roswell in 2018, then Downtown Woodstock in 2023 and a franchise in Historic Chamblee in December 2024. The Marietta Square location in the former UpDog Smoothies & Juices space kept the brand's wine club, tasting events and private event options. Ike's Cafe & Grill grew out of Ike's Tropical Food Market in Norcross. It serves Ghanaian, Nigerian, Liberian and Ivorian dishes, and its Sunday "Chop Life Buffet" runs from noon to 4 p.m. with live music at 3.

Fin & Feathers took the address with the most history

Fin & Feathers opened at 16 Atlanta Street SE without a sister location on the Square. City business license paperwork lists Marietta Soul Inc. as the owner. East Cobb Beacon traced the space's recent tenants. Carmen's Kitchen & Cocktails held its grand opening there in September 2024. Before that, the address housed BlaqHaus ATL, Blue Mist Cafe & Lounge, Hidden Treasures and Marietta Cigar Company. Across Atlanta Street is Johnnie MacCracken's Celtic Firehouse Pub, which has anchored that block since 2004 in the building that opened in late 1885 as Marietta Fire Station No. 1.

Fin & Feathers serves Southern comfort food and seafood, including catfish and grits, chicken and waffles, honey bourbon salmon and jerk chicken egg rolls. Its house rules limit entry to guests 21 and older after 8 p.m., require a valid photo ID, and add a 20% gratuity to every bill automatically. Marietta.com listed its grand opening as Thursday, September 3, at 5 p.m.

The Spaces Still Listed as Coming

Several more projects were still listed as coming in Marietta.com's October 9 update. Most of them are going into rooms that previous restaurants already built out:

• Brasserie Genevieve, 45 W Park Square. A French brasserie in the former Piastra and Asher & Rose space, expected around the turn of the year.
• Two Bells Burgers & Cheesesteaks, 154 Roswell Street. Replacing Boru Ramen Noodle & Poke Bar. It joins a block that already has Woody's Cheesesteaks at 95 Church Street, a Philly at Two Birds Taphouse, Stockyard Burgers & Bones on Mill Street, and Roxy's Burger and Philly & Wrap inside Marietta Square Market.
• Antika, 34 Powder Springs Street. The former home of The Frozen Goose, which closed at the end of November 2025. Antika is registered to BEJ Management LLC and scored a 100 on an initial food-service inspection dated April 14, 2026. Business Debut described it as a Mediterranean tapas and cocktail concept. In May it reported a mid-June target that depended on final liquor license approval.
• Pisano's Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen, 35 North Park Square. A planned standalone location in the former Ahoy! There Be Dragons gallery space next to Willie Rae's. It is separate from the combined restaurant two doors down.
• El Jalisco, Marietta Square Market. A Mexican counter in the food hall. Its listing in that update still gave Monday, August 17, as the opening date.

The one large room changing hands this winter is 45 W Park Square. It held a ten-year Italian restaurant and then a grocery that lasted just over half a year. Next it gets a French dining room from an operator What Now ties to a restaurant already on the Square.

Opening dates on the Square can change. Before you plan a group dinner at any of the places above, call ahead or check the restaurant's own site.

Changes to which restaurant is in which building affect what a home a few blocks from the Square is like to live in, and what it is worth to the next buyer. If you live near Glover Park and want to know how your home compares, Property Guys of Atlanta can walk you through it. Request your free home valuation, and we'll show you what recent nearby sales say about your street.