A second location of acclaimed Atlanta soul food restaurant The Busy Bee Cafe will open next spring at Atlantic Station. Owner Tracy Gates made the announcement via social media this week, stating that this location will feature indoor and outdoor seating, an expanded menu, and a full bar.
Some Atlanta restaurant institutions are woven into the very fabric of the city’s history and society. Such is the case with Busy Bee Cafe, opened in 1947 by Lucy Jackson.
Founded during segregation in the South, and famous for its fried chicken, the Busy Bee has been a cultural touchstone in Atlanta for nearly 80 years, patronized by everyone from Civil Rights leaders Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lewis, and Hosea Williams to modern politicians and popular figures like former president Barack Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders, hip-hop duo Big Boi and André 3000 of Outkast, and Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey raved about the restaurant’s catfish.
In 1983, Tracy Gates’ father, Milton, purchased the restaurant bordering Vine City and Atlanta University Center. Gates began her tenure leading Busy Bee and its kitchen five years later. When she took over the restaurant from her father, Hosea Williams gave her one piece of advice: “If you keep this food consistent, people will come.”
It’s not just the style of food, but Gates’ commitment as caretaker of the culinary legacy left behind by Jackson and her father, and truly knowing the ingredients and recipes that continue to keep Busy Bee Cafe in business.
Then, of course, there are the accolades. In 2022, Busy Bee Cafe won an American Classics award from the James Beard Foundation. In 2023 and 2024, Michelin named the soul food restaurant a Bib Gourmand. And Gates was inducted into the Georgia Hospitality Hall of Fame two years ago.
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Gates said the Atlantic Station location is a “win-win,” as its current location resides in a well-established neighborhood near downtown Atlanta, and the second location will become part of another well-established area, sandwiched between neighborhoods to the west along Howell Mill Road and Midtown to the east.
Opening at Atlantic Station, Gates said, provides an opportunity for Busy Bee Cafe’s business to grow and have a broader reach.
“Atlanta has become this tourist town because every weekend there’s something going on and visitors are here,” Gates said. “So the opportunity to be in that particular space with that same dynamic … allows me to continue the growth of Busy Bee beyond just a sit-down restaurant because the demand is there.”
In return, Atlantic Station gets to bulk up its dining scene with an award-winning restaurant. Busy Bee Cafe marks the sprawling, 20-year-old retail and residential development’s first James Beard and Michelin-recognized restaurant.
“The way that it fits into the patchwork quilt of Atlantic Station is really, really ideal,” said Nick Garzia, senior director of Southeast retail for Hines, the company that owns Atlantic Station. “It’s a menu type and a cuisine type that we don’t have in the center, so it’s not stepping on anybody else’s toes.”
Garzia added that Busy Bee Cafe’s food and accolades speak for themselves, while its history brings a tremendous draw.
“[Hines has been] involved in Atlantic Station for a decade now,” Garzia said. “The success that we’ve had … makes it an easier argument to court operators of the caliber of Tracy and be able to make the case that James Beard, Michelin award-winning restaurants can do business here and that there’s an appeal here.”
The new location, unlike the restaurant on M.L.K. Jr. Drive to the west, will feature dine-in service, a patio, and a full bar. (While the original Busy Bee adopted a takeout-only model in 2020, Gates added picnic tables outside the restaurant for seating during warmer months.) Service style has yet to be determined for Atlantic Station, but Gates said this location will serve an expanded food menu to include lighter dishes and more seafood.
For those wondering about the planned location on Trinity Avenue in South Downtown, announced in 2018, something felt off, and Gates ultimately decided against opening there.
But Gates likes the potential she’s seeing for the future of Busy Bee Cafe at Atlantic Station.
“Everybody’s excited about it [and we’re] able to spread [our] wings,” she said. “Being in a location like that, our customers will enjoy it because they’ve expressed great interest in the fact that we’re moving there.”
The Busy Bee Cafe, 230 18th St., Atlantic Station.
