Another Burger Joint Entering ATL Restaurant Fray
It's meaty, just 2.8 ounces and it's coming to Midtown first.
An international chain of miniburger restaurants called Burgerim (pronounced Burger*Rim) has inked a deal to open its debut eatery at the Shops at Metropolis off Peachtree Street. Keller Williams' Charlie Gonzalez, who is representing the franchisee in the Metro Atlanta rollout, says further locations are being eyed in Decatur, Alpharetta and Sandy Springs.
"For now, he's focusing on this first opening," Charlie says. Its part of a larger Southeast rollout of eateries that include Memphis, Miami, Dallas and Houston, as well as Southern California, Charlie says.
A gourmet mini-burger restaurant that also serves beer and wine (sort of like an adult Krystals), this California-based chain now has 170 locations across the globe, including in Romania, Germany, Russia, UK, Indonesia, Australia and Singapore.
Burgers are only 2.8 ounces, but come in 15 different flavors, company officials say. Charlie says typical locations range from 800 SF to 2,500 SF, "with a sweet spot of 1,500 SF."
The Midtown location, though, will be nearly twice that size to allow for live music, Charlie says. Skyline Seven's Ryan Holzer (above) and Josh Wulz brokered the Shops at Metropolis deal for the landlord.
Burgerim is the latest in fast casual chains entering the Atlanta market, and part of a general explosion of restaurant growth that has some experts worried. In a recent Bisnow report, some key Metro Atlanta restaurant metrics were falling into concerning territory, including NetFinancial's customer survey reporting nearly half of restaurateurs interviewed saw sales drop from 2015, the worst result ever seen in that company's survey.
A recent National Restaurant Association Restaurant Performance Index report notes same-store sales trended down in August.
"Only 30% of restaurant operators reported a same-store sales increase between August 2015 and...2016," officials state in the report, "while 53% reported a sales decline."
Despite this, restaurants continue to infuse capital into expansion, the 23rd consecutive month of such activity, according to NRA's report. And sales projections should rise 6.5% in Georgia this year, a full 150 basis points better than the projected national average, according to NRA.
We recently chatted with The Shumacher Group's Howard Shumacher (on right, with The Trillist Cos' Scott Leventhal) for a lineup of restaurants his firm is helping expand.
Most recently, the group helped ink a deal for Babalu Tapas & Tacos at 33 Peachtree Place in Midtown, and Papi's Cuban and Caribbean Grill backfilled a former Bonefish Grill at Emory Point shopping center off Clifton Road.
And Harold is helping another burger joint enter the Atlanta restaurant fray. As we previously reported here, Denver-based Good Time Restaurants is eyeing bringing Bad Daddy's Burgers to the metro area with a handful of locations.
