Live For Buzz

Some Buzzers love it, other Buzzers are scared to death of it, but the fat shack known as Burger Win (actual name should be something like “Burgers / Wings” except for some signage errors) has closed up shop for “renovations”.

Big question is - what will it be called when it reopens?

On EAVBuzz: Burger(s) Win(gs) - Closing for renovations!

It’s been a long, hard road to turn the old Tucker Auto Electric building into yet another EAV restaurant/bar, but soon the doors will swing wide for the opening of The Midway Pub in East Atlanta. Apparently held back by the city permitting problems and other roadblocks that are all too familiar trying to do business in Atlanta, the outward signs of the pending opening have emerged over the past couple of weeks.

A giant patio, new trees planted (a “streetscape” requirement) and a new sidewalk poured, the Midway is quite a transformation from the old Tucker Auto Electric building that sat vacant for years.

Buzzer Hollywood stopped by to chat with the owners this week, and he came away impressed. Other Buzzers, reacting to the word “sandwiches” rumored to have been spoken by the Midway chef, cast typical Buzzer doubt over The Midway’s prospects.

And I’ll give a little advanced link love to the Midway, though their site is nothing more than a parked page as I’m writing this.

On EAV Buzz: The Midway … 10-9-8 …

TV viewers probably don’t realize what happens in a neighborhood when a house-flipping show like Flip This House sets up shop. East Atlanta has become the setting for a series of Flip This House episodes following the adventures of Peter Pasternack and Brian Trow of Foundations Investment Group. So far, the group has “flipped” four houses in East Atlanta and are working on their fifth.

In each case, there are Buzzers living nearby. And we get an unfiltered, up-close look at what you don’t see on TV. One Buzzer is shown briefly on Foundation’s first episode - they accidentally ripped up her fence. Two Foundations houses are on the same block of Van Vleck Avenue close by several Buzzers, and I was among several Buzzers who took the opportunity to tour the long-on-the-market Van Epps house during and open house last summer.

That was an amazing experience. I’ve never been in an open house for an unfinished house … especially one that they pretended to finish for a TV show. Here’s the guest bath as it existed during the open house:

So, anyway, Pasternack and Trow have started on their fifth East Atlanta house, no doubt for another episode of Flip This House (at the time of this writing, only one of their previous four “flips” here has sold). It’s on Monument Avenue, which is a bit of a narrow street, and Foundations decided to drop their construction dumpster right there in the street. Atlanta city ordinances would appear to show this to be illegal, but the Buzzer next door is just hoping to both get the dumpster off the street and not have contractors tearing up his yard to get to the Foundations house.

On EAV Buzz: Permits for dumpsters on the street?

Buzzer reaction to the tornado that came through Atlanta on March 14 was impassioned to say the least. From swinging into action with chainsaws and muscle Sunday morning to drumming up support for EAV businesses and residents affected by the storm, the Buzz community showed how it can come together and make things happen.

But almost lost in our efforts to help out in East Atlanta was the fact that a lot of people (with a lot of power) didn’t seem to realize we got hit by the tornado, too.

For those of you who don’t know, East Atlanta is part of the City of Atlanta, but we lie in DeKalb County. Almost all of the city is in Fulton County, so when the governor reached out for FEMA help, all of the requests were specific to Fulton. To make matters worse, DeKalb County officials did not seem to know that part of their county was hit by the tornado and that officially we were not being included in the disaster declaration.

Buzzer SteveD led a charge to make sure nobody forgot about East Atlanta. He and other Buzzers hounded county and state officials to get DeKalb added to the tornado damage map and to get FEMA recognition for East Atlanta.

Now, in the end DeKalb County was made eligible for FEMA assistance, and the official NWS storm path map shows the F1 and F0 touchdowns here. And I think it’s likely those things would have happened without Buzzer involvement. But it damned sure happened with Buzzer involvement.

On EAV Buzz: Tornado Cleanup Board

Cruising the neighborhood today, I came across Ratpack out walking his dogs. He pointed me toward an Atlanta Police Department patrol car that was sporting a graffiti tag on its back bumper.

I guess that’s what we’ve come to in Atlanta. Don’t turn your back, even if you’re a cop.

On EAV Buzz: Tagged APD Cruiser (Registration required)

Spotted - a “LEASED” sign at this small building on Flat Shoals Avenue that was built several years ago by Inman Park Properties but has never been occupied.

Buzzers have heard that some sort of bakery is going into the space, and information being dug up now says it’s primarily a commercial bakery with some level of retail presence as well.

On EAV Buzz: Inman Park Properties leases building next to dog park

The owner of 13 Roses Tattoo in EAV is a very active Buzzer, so his shop tends to get a lot of attention on the Buzz. But Buzzer Ratfink stepped up this week to remind folks that his shop just outside the heart of the Village has opened a gallery next door.

The Buzz encourages business owners to speak up and pimp themselves, so it was good to see Ratfink jumping into the conversation.

On EAVBuzz: The Gallery at East Atlanta Tattoo