One of Atlanta’s first breweries has announced plans for a major relocation, less than a week after its original location closed.
Atlanta Brewing Company will open later this year in the Underground Atlanta development on Upper Alabama Street in downtown Atlanta.
The brewery opened in 1993 in Midtown and moved to its most recent location on Defoor Hills Road in the Upper Westside area in 2007. The Defoor Hills taproom closed on July 3, about a month after Atlanta Brewing Company announced its plans to relocate.
Atlanta Brewing Company will transform the old Atlanta Visitors Center on Upper Alabama Street into an indoor/outdoor taproom, brewery and restaurant. The 8,600-square-foot space will feature ping pong tables, community events like trivia nights and glass roll-up garage doors.
One part of the building will be dedicated to experimental brewing and canning, while the other part of the building will be a taproom and “phantom restaurant” with chefs rotating every two to four weeks. The taproom will feature 20 beers and have pour-it-yourself taps throughout the space.
“We are disruptors in our industry and we’re all about that life in Atlanta,” said Alton Shields, president, CEO and general manager of Atlanta Brewing Company in a prepared statement. “We wanted to operate in a place that’s creative and embraces Atlanta culture. What better way to represent the City of Atlanta than to move to Underground Atlanta and help bring it back to life.”
The relocation is the second recent piece of news for Atlanta Brewing Company. The brewery also recently announced a partnership with Atlanta’s Second Self Beer Co., which will see Second Self serve as a contract brewer for Atlanta Brewing Co.’s entire lineup of beers, including Hoplanta and Atlanta Amber, and will include production and distribution.
The two breweries will also collaborate on new releases and co-host launch events.
Second Self was launched by Jason Santamaria and Chris Doyle in 2010, with a brewery opening on Logan Circle in northwest Atlanta in 2014. Their lineup of beers includes Thai Wheat and Game Night IPA.
Atlanta Brewing Company will join several other operating and soon-to-open food and beverage concepts at Underground Atlanta, which was purchased in 2020 by Lalani Ventures. The development, which spans Pryor, Central, Wall, and Alabama streets, is readying for a $150 million renovation that will also include housing.
Credit: Miguel Martinez for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Miguel Martinez for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“We have been meeting with downtown neighborhood groups and local institutions like Georgia State to incorporate their feedback into our master plan for the redevelopment,” said Shaneel Lalani, CEO of Lalani Ventures, in a prepared statement. “Our goal is to transform Underground Atlanta ahead of the 2026 World Cup.”
In addition to Atlanta Brewing Company, forthcoming concepts at Underground include Dancing Crepes from Yandy Smith-Harris, who also owns YELLE Beauty in Underground; a brick-and-mortar location of Dolo’s Pizza; and Daiquiriville, a 2,200-square-foot indoor/outdoor restaurant and bar with karaoke and other entertainment. A 21-stall food hall curated by Edie Weintraub, who also worked on the Chattahoochee Food Works food hall, is also slated to open.
Already open at Underground Atlanta are the Masquerade live music venue; Future Showbar and Restaurant, a 14,000-square-foot, two-story LGBTQ restaurant and bar; iScream Ice Cream ice cream parlor; and CheeseCaked dessert shop.
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