Most of Medley Already Has an Address Somewhere Else in North Atlanta

Medley's opening was set for Oct. 29, which makes it the newest name in Johns Creek. Count the restaurants and shops in its opening lineup and most of them already operate in downtown Alpharetta, downtown Milton, Avalon, Doraville's stretch of Buford Highway or Buckhead. Only a short list is actually new to metro Atlanta.

In most cases, the district at Johns Creek Parkway and McGinnis Ferry Road brings a familiar business closer to Johns Creek.

The lineup reads like a North Atlanta address book

The North Atlanta Star's opening guide, checked Oct. 24, puts 35 businesses in Medley's lineup, a mix of local favorites expanding into Johns Creek and brands making their Georgia debut. Matching those names against each business's own location list produces this map:

Downtown Alpharetta shows up in that table more than anywhere else, and that tells you more about Medley than the opening-day photos do.

Downtown Alpharetta is the biggest contributor

Moop's Boutique is the clearest example. After nearly two decades in downtown Alpharetta, owner Carolyn Gordon is opening a second store at Medley, a shop of roughly 990 square feet carrying European-inspired clothing and accessories. The original stays where it is. The second store gives the boutique a foothold on the Johns Creek side of North Fulton.

The restaurants follow the same pattern. Rena's Italian Fishery & Grill brings the handmade pasta, seafood and wood-fired grilling from its South Main Street dining room. The Nest Cafe, already in downtown Alpharetta and downtown Milton, is bringing its croissant sandwiches. The California Croissant stacks eggs, turkey, bacon, chipotle Gouda and avocado. Lily Sushi Bar adds a third North Fulton location to Susan Vuong's Alpharetta and Milton restaurants, and it's a sit-down sushi bar with cocktails rather than a grab-and-go counter.

Chef Julio Delgado is sending two restaurants. Fogón and Lions, his wood-fired Spanish-Latin restaurant serving steaks, seafood and ceviche, is expanding from Alpharetta. Minnie Olivia, his Neo-Neapolitan pizzeria now at 10 Roswell St. in historic Alpharetta, is also on Medley's list. CT Cantina & Taqueria, with Georgia restaurants in Alpharetta, Dunwoody and Fayetteville, plans an expanded cocktail menu and a walk-up window, so you can order tacos without sitting down for a full meal.

Avalon is the second-biggest contributor. CRÚ Wine Bar & Bistro already pours its three-glass flights, grouped by grape, region or style, at Avalon and The Battery. High Country Outfitters, a locally owned outdoor retailer with Atlanta roots going back to 1975, also has a store at Avalon.

The intown names have the farthest to come

The second group comes from inside the Perimeter. It includes businesses that had never opened in North Fulton.

Northern China Eatery is a familiar name on Buford Highway, with a Doraville location and a second one on the BeltLine at Auburn Avenue. Its Medley menu centers on handmade dumplings and soup dumplings, with noodles and stir-fries alongside. Fadó Irish Pub will make Medley its third Atlanta-area pub after Buckhead and Midtown, with a scratch kitchen and its usual heavy soccer schedule. Fadó's Johns Creek hours and menu were still to come.

Tabla is opening its first suburban location after its Atlanta restaurants, with an indoor-outdoor bar and weekend street food planned beside The Plaza. 26 Thai Kitchen & Bar belongs to founder Niki Pattharakositkul's Atlanta restaurant group. The name comes from her age when she opened her first restaurant, in Buckhead. The Commodore, the Atlanta barbershop with shops at Ponce City Market, Buckhead, Chamblee, Westside Provisions District and Roswell, adds Medley to that list.

The services side follows the same pattern from other directions. Kontour Medical Spa is expanding from 1290 Old Peachtree Road in Duluth. 13 Hub Lane, which sells furniture, lighting, clothing and gifts and offers interior-design help, comes from Roswell Marketplace and The Avenue East Cobb.

The short list that is actually new here

With the second locations set aside, the businesses with no existing metro Atlanta location are easier to see.

• STIR is opening its first Georgia location facing The Plaza, with an oyster and cold bar, lunch, dinner and weekend brunch. Its cocktail ice is cut from 300-pound blocks, and its tonic syrups are made in-house. Tonic House, the separate cocktail lounge next door, has its own bar and patio.
• Hollow Oak is the first store from Johns Creek native Katie Bossie, selling books, stationery, art and home goods, with classes and community events in the same space.
• Five Daughters Bakery, a family bakery from Tennessee, is known for its 100-layer doughnuts made with laminated pastry.
• Cookie Fix started in Homewood, Alabama, in 2016 and sells frozen dough to bake at home as well as fresh cookies.
• Summit Coffee, a North Carolina roaster, pours wine and beer alongside its specialty coffee.
• Burdlife, a Texas-based brand, welds bracelets, necklaces and anklets closed by appointment instead of using a clasp.

Hollow Oak is the only business on that list with Johns Creek roots, and it's the one where the founder is coming home. Everything else in Medley's first wave either crossed a state line or moved over from another part of North Atlanta.

The order Medley planned to open in

Medley set its public opening for Oct. 29 at 10 a.m. in The Plaza. Restaurants and shops were planned to open in stages, with more arriving in the following weeks. The rollout was set in this order:

1. Already open since June 11: Trader Joe's, which opened months before the district's celebration.
2. Set for Oct. 29: STIR and Tonic House, Rena's, Lily Sushi Bar, The Nest Cafe and Knuckies Eatery among the restaurants, plus Summit Coffee, BODYROK's 45-minute reformer classes and Moop's.
3. Set for Oct. 30: Shake Shack at 2100 Medley Boulevard, the company's 11th Georgia location, opening at 10 a.m.
4. Coming in the weeks after: Northern China Eatery, CRÚ, 26 Thai, Fogón and Lions, Minnie Olivia, CT Cantina & Taqueria, Tabla, Fadó, Warby Parker at 4100 Medley Boulevard and 13 Hub Lane.

Most of the intown names and Delgado's two restaurants fall in that last group. Going by the announced schedule, the first weeks at Medley lean toward cafes, sweets and the first round of sit-down restaurants. Dumplings, Thai, Indian and the Irish pub were slated to come later. The district's own guidance says opening dates and hours will keep changing as it fills in, so check a restaurant's own channels before you plan dinner around it.

The official opening program was planned as three days, Oct. 28 through 30. It was set to start with Medley Unveiled, a $175 ticketed benefit preview for guests 21 and over that had sold out, and finish with Party on the Plaza on the evening of Oct. 30, with live music and family Halloween activities.

A free Saturday across the road

The second weekend after Medley's opening comes with a free city event next door. Johns Creek's Diwali Celebration runs Saturday, Nov. 7, from 4 to 8 p.m. at The Boardwalk at Town Center, with vendors, food, performances and a drone-and-light show at 7 p.m. The Boardwalk sits behind City Hall at 11362 Lakefield Drive. It has about a mile of elevated trail, 15 feet wide, plus an amphitheater and pond overlooks.

The city opened the Medlock Bridge Road pedestrian tunnel on Aug. 20, linking neighborhoods, shops and restaurants to The Boardwalk and Town Center. That connection puts coffee or doughnuts before the drone show within walking distance. Earlier the same day, the city's Honoring Our Veterans ceremony runs from 9 to 10 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial Walk in Newtown Park, 3150 Old Alabama Road.

If Medley has you rethinking your weekend routes, or wondering what a walkable district does to the streets around it, Casey Rutherford follows these openings closely across North Fulton and is glad to talk through what they mean for your part of Johns Creek. Schedule a Market Consultation whenever you're ready.