Fairlie Poplar Loses its Icon
Atlanta and Fairlie Poplar has suffered a big loss. Icon Bar and Bistro has gone out of business. Losing Icon is sad on at least three fronts.
First, Icon was the first new long running upscale restaurant the neighborhood had seen in a long time. The food was good, the service was friendly, and it was a step up from Ted’s, Sidebar or Landmark. It was key to keeping the professional set downtown for dinner. It was nouvelle cuisine with a soul food sensibility, but was a much better value than Justin’s. The neighborhood will be less friendly without it.
Second, the restaurant was locally owned and operated. It was a strong upscale African American owned restaurant in a city where African Americans often look ‘upscale places of our own’. The Morehouse Alumni Association used it as a happy hour location for their members.
Third, it was a venue for live Jazz downtown. There are not enough. With the Jazz Loft twice gone (that space is becoming Agatha’s ) live jazz opportunities are hard to come by. Icon gave the sophisticated music fan a chance and several groups a place to play.
Hopefully, some smart restaurantuer will grab the space quickly and put something new and fresh in there. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see if BED-Atlanta
can pick up some of Icon’s traffic and make a go of it on Marietta street.
March 28th, 2006 at 7:03 pm
Oh no! I haven’t been there in a few months (I’m a member of the Morehouse Alumni Association), but I had no idea it had closed. Damn….
March 30th, 2006 at 11:12 am
I thought Icon went out of business last year? Whenever I walked by it was empty - unless they were still open for dinner, as my knowledge is based on lunch time.
April 20th, 2006 at 10:25 pm
Thanks for the info, I wasn’t sure what was up with Jazz Loft.
April 23rd, 2006 at 10:19 pm
I used to work in the Haas Howell building on that block and it seemed to me that the place was closed for the last 2 years. I’m glad that the place is finally out of its misery. Personally, I liked it better when it was the Fairlie Poplar Grill.
There are a few other hidden places in Fairlie Poplar. There is a French Restraunt in the Healey Building (sorry can’t remember the name) that doesn’t keep normal Broad Street hours and then there is Murrell’s right across the street from the Muse’s building that has live music on the weekends as well.