A year after it topped out, so to speak, one of Atlanta’s more creative adaptive-reuse projects in recent memory is weeks away from finally opening, officials tell Urbanize Atlanta.
Outdoor-oriented bar and restaurant Breaker Breaker, the lone retail component of Empire Communities' under-construction Stein Steel development, could open its patios, rooftop hangout, and doors as soon as mid-July, according to owner Alex Brounstein of Grindhouse Killer Burgers.
“We still don’t have our certificate of occupancy, but hopefully that comes in the next week or two,” Brounstein wrote via email Monday. “Then we still need to get a fire inspection and health inspection, and then wait for the liquor license to be approved by the mayor.”
The current state of Breaker Breaker's frontage along Wylie Street in Reynoldstown, with the BeltLine's Eastside Trail located at right. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta
Earlier timelines pegged Breaker Breaker’s estimated opening as late summer 2022 (Labor Day was one target), but “construction was unfortunately delayed by the usual things,” says Brounstein. “Material and labor shortages.”
Facets of the unique, al fresco dining and bar space were built from pieces of old industrial buildings on the 6.5-acre Reynoldstown site, which includes 900 feet of Eastside Trail frontage overall.
As designed by Square Feet Studio, the two-level pitstop is surrounded and topped by outdoor patios and covered seating, with an indoor-outdoor bar serving walk-up guests from the BeltLine. The 9,000-square-foot space stands where Wylie Street meets the BeltLine—a section of the Eastside Trail currently lacking retail or food-and-beverage draws. [CLARIFICATION, 10:48 a.m., June 7: Elizabeth Ingram Studios designed Breaker Breaker; Square Feet Studio designed the architecture.]
Brounstein and business partner Johnny Farrow have previously said the restaurant will specialize in hand-held food (think: tacos and fish sandwiches) along with rotisserie chicken dinners. Expect no shortage of beer, frozen drinks, and wine.
Asked about the logic behind a towering new palm installed onsite, Brounstein said, “We will be a Gulf Coast-style bar and grill—maybe imagine a sort of truck stop meets beachside seafood shack. So we felt the palm tree worked.”
Evening sun illuminates partially transparent sections of the restaurant and bar's roof. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta
Brand-specific bike racks installed off the BeltLine. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta
Breaker Breaker isn’t quite ready for interior photos to go public. But head to the gallery for a breakdown of how the coolest new BeltLine-adjacent hang in town is turning out from exterior perspectives—and a look back at where it came from.
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