Quick Bites: Jamal’s Buffalo Wings returns, Rize shutters, Black Sheep Tavern plans debut and more

Food news roundup

Wings Of Desire
Photo credit: Joeff Davis/CL File
WINGS OF DESIRE: Beloved take-out joint Jamal's Buffalo Wings will return as a full-service restaurant.

Huzzah! One of our favorite wing joints, Jamal’s Buffalo Wings, is slated to reopen as a full-service restaurant by the end of this month. The former location on Northside Drive closed in February, and the new spot will be at 2001 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

Rize Artisan Pizza (975 N. Highland Ave.), the tech-enabled pizza and salad concept which opened this past November in Poncey-Highland, has closed permanently after just nine months. The restaurant’s Sandy Springs location remains open.

There’s a new spot for spicy black tonkotsu in town. A second outpost of L.A.-based Jinya Ramen Bar has opened in Buckhead (3714 Roswell Rd.). This one has a full alcohol bar and covered patio to boot.

Anticipation alert! Construction is ongoing for forthcoming Black Sheep Tavern + Oyster Room (330 Edgewood Ave.) in Sweet Auburn. The concept, which got its start from a Kickstarter campaign, is expected to open this fall and will serve up “bomb sandwiches” and “approachable oysters” with “never mixologists, always bartenders.” According to owner Andy Kober, “Black Sheep isn’t going to be ‘just another bar’ but a think tank of how to better the industry.

Pour one out for Corso Coffee in The Shops of Buckhead Atlanta. The swanky European coffee shop opened in 2014 and closes today (Tues., Aug. 15). Revelator Coffee Company has taken over the space and will replace the shop this fall with a new concept called The Mourning Dove, serving coffee, alcohol and food.

More news from recently shuttered Illegal Food in Virginia Highland: Chef Steven Lingenfelter and GM Laurie Dominguez filed a lawsuit on Fri., Aug. 11 for wage theft. The husband and wife team allege that restaurant owners Illegal Food, Ltd. and Kevin Cronin failed to pay minimum and overtime wages.

Buckhead’s rolled ice cream shop Sweet Charlie’s (3872 Roswell Rd.) wants to help celebrate the start of the school year in a few ways. Students get $2 off purchases from Aug. 14-18. There is also a new “kid-approved” ice cream flavor PB&J, served straight up in a cup or on a Bon Glaze doughnut and a friendly competition where students who buy a treat can add a star next to their school’s name on the spirit board. Whichever school gets the most stars wins a share the profits from fundraising day.

Cheers to Table & Main executive chef Woody Back who recently received Georgia-based Springer Mountain Farms’ Celebrate the Chef Award. The distinction places him among a select few who “demonstrate culinary excellence, consistency in the dining experience and a commitment to the use of fresh and local ingredients.” Back is also co-owner/executive chef of upcoming restaurant Coalition Food & Beverage, located in downtown Alpharetta’s Teasley Place development.

There are some chef shuffles going on at Fifth Group Restaurants (Ecco, South City Kitchen, Alma Cucina, El Taco, La Tavola, Lure). Paired-up chefs from every spot are creating menu items for other restaurants, available on menus now through Aug. 27. Alma Cucina’s Ched Clevinger has an arctic char crudo with heirloom tomatoes, caperberries, Calabrian chiles and cucumber gazpacho water at Ecco. In turn, chef Brent Banda put a grilled veal skirt steak with roasted heirloom squash, poblano peppers, charred scallions, espelette oil and pipian on Alma’s menu.

Poke watch: There are no new poke restaurants opening this week (that we know of).