Alma Cocina to close in Buckhead this month after 6 years
Hospitality group Fifth Group Restaurants has announced it will close Alma Cocina’s Buckhead location Dec. 20 after six years in business.
The Alma Cocina in downtown Atlanta will remain open, according to a news release.
Fifth Group opened the contemporary Mexican restaurant in the Terminus 100 complex at the corner of Peachtree and Piedmont roads just before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Though it survived those initial challenges, business activity in Buckhead “never returned to the same levels due to the remote/hybrid work environment and reduced business travel,” CEO Steve Simon said in a prepared statement. “We just had an unfortunate start out of the gates.”
Alma Cocina in downtown Atlanta will remain an important piece to Fifth Group’s portfolio and “part of the company’s future development plans,” according to a news release.
“We have evolved more this year than any in our 32-year history. It was extremely hard to decide to close this restaurant. Yet, we felt it was necessary to free up the human and financial resources needed to realize our next phase of growth,” Simon said in the statement.
Fifth Group will work to reassign staff members among its other restaurants. In the news release, Simon said the team is in discussions with several groups about Alma Cocina’s location and that “we may even combine forces to create something new.”
Alma Cocina first opened in downtown in 2011, followed by the Buckhead outpost at 3280 Peachtree Road NE in February 2020. Both restaurants serve a menu of tacos, small plates guacamole, salsa and a variety of mains like carne asada, fish and chicken mole.
Fifth Group has operated restaurants around Atlanta for over 30 years. Its portfolio currently includes Ecco in Midtown and Buckhead; Alma Cocina in downtown; South City Kitchen in Midtown, Buckhead, Vinings and Avalon; and La Tavola and Ela, both in the Virginia-Highland neighborhood.
The group also owned Lure Saltwater Kitchen & Bar in Midtown, which closed this year, and the Original El Taco which closed in 2023 and was replaced with the Mediterranean concept Ela.
About the Author
Olivia Wakim is a digital content producer on the food and dining team. She joined the AJC as an intern in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia with a journalism degree. While in school, she reported for The Red & Black, Grady Newsource and the Marietta Daily Journal.
