For a decade, 45 W Park Square meant Piastra and its Italian cooking. In late January 2026 the same owners turned the dining room into Asher & Rose Modern Grocers, a market with produce, regional cheeses, a butcher counter and a café that kept some Piastra pizzas and pastas. Asher & Rose closed less than a year after its grand opening. On August 27, a court approved the sale of the business assets and the assignment of the lease, though the sale did not include the building. A French restaurant called Brasserie Genevieve is now expected there.
That's three concepts at one address in about a year. It also describes the whole Square in 2026. Nearly every restaurant that arrived this year moved into a room another business had just left. The Square is adding new names without adding much new space.
The Square was already full before this year started
The clearest measure of how crowded downtown Marietta has become came from Piastra's owner. He told reporters the Square had about 28 food and beverage locations when Piastra arrived in 2015 and about 43 by 2026. Marietta.com puts the number higher. It counts more than 60 restaurants within walking distance of the Square, not including fast food chains.
Either way, the count rose by half or more in about ten years. A Square with that many restaurants has very few empty storefronts left. A new restaurant usually opens where another one just closed.
The one project that would have used open ground fell through. Ted's Montana Grill had won historic review approval in 2025 for a Marietta Square location. On January 8, 2026, the company confirmed the project was canceled, and the long-vacant North Park Square property is still undeveloped. So the year's openings came from turnover. You can follow most of them on a short walk around the Square.
The addresses that changed hands
| Address | Previous tenant | New tenant | Status as of early October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 45 W Park Square | Piastra, then Asher & Rose | Brasserie Genevieve | Expected late 2026 to early 2027 |
| 29 West Park Square | Red Hare Brewing & Distilling | West Park Sports Club | Open since April 20, 2026 |
| 16 Atlanta St SE | Carmen's Kitchen & Cocktails | Fin & Feathers | Soft-opened Aug. 6, grand opening Sept. 3 |
| 34 Powder Springs St SW | The Frozen Goose | Antika | Taking reservations |
| Gallery space next to Willie Rae's Social House | Ahoy! There Be Dragons | Pisano's, now Willie Rae's x Pisano's | Reopened July 31, 2026 |
| 137 Church St | Lush Cakery | Tuesday Coffee + Shoppe expansion | In preparation |
| 154 Roswell St | Boru Ramen Noodle & Poke Bar | Two Bells Burgers & Cheesesteaks | No opening date announced |
Seven addresses changed hands, and the table doesn't count the new places whose earlier tenants weren't reported. Here is what's behind the ones that are open.
On West Park Square, a sports bar and a merged dining room
West Park Sports Club opened April 20, 2026, at 29 West Park Square, the former Red Hare Brewing & Distilling space. It's described as an upscale sports bar with plenty of TVs, a darker room and leather seating. The menu mixes bar food with small plates such as crispy rice with tuna, crab rangoon flatbread and bulgogi cheesesteak sliders. It comes from Fork U Concepts, the group behind Taqueria Tsunami and Stockyard Burgers & Bones. That means one restaurant group now runs places on and just off the Square, with Stockyard on Mill Street.
A few doors down, Pisano's Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen came to the Square in the former Ahoy! There Be Dragons gallery space next to Willie Rae's Social House. The two have since combined. Willie Rae's x Pisano's reopened July 31, 2026, after several weeks of construction and interior work. It serves a shorter menu from each, with Southern dishes alongside pizza and Italian plates under one roof. On a Square with this many restaurants, two neighboring places chose to run one combined dining room.
Atlanta Street and Powder Springs Street
Just south of the Square, Fin & Feathers soft-opened August 6 at 16 Atlanta Street SE, across from Johnnie MacCracken's. It held its grand opening on September 3. Founder Damon A. Johnson Sr. calls the food "Nu American Soul." The "Fin" side of the menu runs from shrimp and grits to honey bourbon salmon. The "Feathers" side includes chicken and waffles, wings and jerk chicken egg rolls. Brunch includes steak and eggs and lamb chops and eggs. Two house rules matter if you're planning dinner there. After 8 p.m. every day, only guests 21 and older with valid photo ID are admitted. A 20 percent service charge is added to every check.
Few addresses near the Square have turned over as often as this one. Carmen's Kitchen & Cocktails held its grand opening there in September 2024. Before that, the address was home to BlaqHaus ATL, Blue Mist Cafe & Lounge, Hidden Treasures and Marietta Cigar Company.
On Powder Springs Street, Antika took over 34 Powder Springs St SW. The Frozen Goose operated there from late 2022 until the end of November 2025. Antika is a Mediterranean restaurant, and as of October 7 it was taking reservations through OpenTable. Its listing shows a $31 to $50 price range and late-evening tables. The Marietta Daily Journal described it as a tapas restaurant with cocktails, wine and live music on weekends.
Smaller openings around the edges
Two more openings round out the year so far. Deep Roots Wine Market & Tasting Room opened March 17, 2026, at 107 Church Street. Tacos La Villa Cantina opened near the Square on February 3, 2026. Its sister restaurant, Tacos La Villa, opened on Canton Road two weeks earlier.
A bit farther out, Satellite Restaurant and Arcade Bar at Blackwell Square comes from Shane Starr, owner of Starrcade in Kennesaw. It pairs retro and modern arcade games and pinball with a menu from Chef Adam Smawley that includes Korean fried chicken, smash burgers and cheesesteaks.
Still on the way
Several projects were announced but hadn't been confirmed open in the most recent reporting, a Marietta.com update from September 17, 2026.
- Brasserie Genevieve, 45 W Park Square. Marietta.com expects an opening in late 2026 to early 2027. It reports no details yet on the menu, chef, hours or design. What Now Atlanta named the new owner as Salem Makhlouf and gave an expected opening of December or January. The new operator gets a large production kitchen, a bar, a sidewalk patio and plenty of indoor seating.
- Glover Park Kitchen, 72 Atlanta Street. This Southern-influenced restaurant from the Glover Park group sits across the street from Glover Park Brewery. Executive Chef Lance Hagan brings more than two decades of fine dining experience across the Southeast. The early plans include seasonal cooking, Gulf Coast seafood and a garden patio. It scored 100 on its first health inspection on July 28, 2026, but no opening date has been announced.
- Tuesday Coffee + Shoppe, 137 Church Street. The coffee shop is expanding into the neighboring space, which Lush Cakery left at the end of December after eight years. The plans add indoor seating, a food program and more retail.
- Two Bells Burgers & Cheesesteaks, 154 Roswell Street. It's taking the former Boru Ramen Noodle & Poke Bar space. Marietta.com notes that the Square already has plenty of burgers and cheesesteaks, with Woody's Cheesesteaks on Church Street, Philly & Wrap and Roxy's Burger inside Marietta Square Market, Two Birds Taphouse, West Park Sports Club and Stockyard Burgers & Bones.
- El Jalisco, Marietta Square Market. This Mexican stall in the food hall was announced to open Monday, August 17, 2026. Its opening hasn't been confirmed in the reporting.
Every project on this list is moving into an existing room, whether a former restaurant, a former bakery or a stall inside the food hall. The vacant North Park Square property is the one site that would have added new space, and it has no project after Ted's canceled.
What each new tenant inherits
When a restaurant takes over an existing room, it inherits more than square footage. Brasserie Genevieve will cook in the kitchen Piastra used for ten years and serve from the patio its predecessors set up on West Park Square. Tuesday Coffee's expansion is adding seating and food by moving into the bakery space next door. Even the Willie Rae's x Pisano's merger came from two neighbors combining their rooms.
With few empty storefronts left, the Square's dining options change through these handoffs. One room closes, and a different concept moves in.
If you follow the Square address by address the way this post does, I'd be glad to hear which storefront you're watching next. I'm Melanie Smith, a Smyrna-based REALTOR® with Keller Williams Realty Cityside, and I keep track of how Marietta's downtown is changing. Let's Connect.
