Wynonna at Chastain + a Kroger for Dunwoody

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What's up, neighbors!

School is back in the Perimeter. The carpool line is a thing again, the house goes quiet at 8 AM, and honestly, everybody needs this weekend.

Friday night is already circled on our calendar. Wynonna Judd and Melissa Etheridge are sharing one stage at Chastain, and that amphitheater under the trees is still our favorite spot in Atlanta to hear songs we know every word to. Cooler packed and a full night planned.

Need a dinner plan too? We finally have to tell you about Osteria Mattone, the restored brick house at the top of Canton Street doing fresh pasta and a cacio e pepe reviewers will not shut up about. Book ahead, because it fills up.

We also lost a full hour this week inside the Buford Highway Farmers Market in Doraville. Do not let the name fool you. It is a giant grocery store organized by country, and we walked out with snacks from three continents.

Keep scrolling for a very good cat named Anna Jarvis, a Roswell showcase home worth a guess, and the latest on the old Dunwoody Walmart.

- Andrew

When was the last time you actually looked at your homeowners policy?

For most folks in Atlanta and the Perimeter area, the honest answer is "when we bought the house." Which would be fine, except home values around here are up $150K to $200K+ since 2020. If your policy hasn't kept up, your dwelling limit is probably short of what it would actually cost to rebuild today. That gap won't show up on your bill. It only shows up when you file a claim, which is the worst time to find out.

Peachy Insurance is Atlanta-based and built to make this kind of check painless. No call center, no upselling, no runaround. Just a licensed local agent who looks at your full picture and gives you a straight answer on where you stand.

Three things worth a quick look while it's on your mind:

Takes about 5 minutes. Free, no pressure.

Get a free coverage review OR text/call 770-520-7095 (Mon-Fri, closed weekends)

Synovus Bank Amphitheater at Chastain Park
4469 Stella Dr NW, Atlanta, GA
Friday, August 7
7:00 PM
Ticketed (from about $68)
Get Tickets

Wynonna and Melissa Etheridge own two of the biggest voices of the 90s, and the Raised On Radio tour drops them on one stage, with the songs you grew up on turned all the way up. "No One Else on Earth" into "Come to My Window," a whole amphitheater singing every word. That alone is worth the ticket.

And honestly, Chastain is half the fun. It is the rare big show you can get to without fighting downtown, and the picnic tradition is alive and well. Pack a cooler, grab a table or lawn seats depending on how fancy you feel like getting, and settle in as the sun drops behind the trees.

Tickets start around $68, and this tour has been packing amphitheaters all summer. Grab yours, text your concert friend, and go sing yourself hoarse.

We save this one for the nights that deserve a little celebration. It lives in a restored brick house at the top of Canton Street in Roswell's historic district: open kitchen, garden patio, fire pit out back. The name means "brick tavern" in Italian, and that fits.

Warm, a little loud in the good way, and the wine list has pulled a Wine Spectator award every year since they opened in 2013. Book ahead, especially on weekends, and stash a few bucks of cash for the valet.

But the fresh pasta is the whole reason to go. Reviewers keep calling the cacio e pepe the best they have ever had, and the short rib pasta and the burrata come up over and over. The Neapolitan pizzas hold their own too, if somebody at the table wants to keep it simple.

Two insider tips worth knowing: Tuesday runs a $35 three-course menu with the pastas and pizzas on it, and Wednesday is red sauce night with off-menu garlic knots, lasagna, and chicken parm. Dinner only most of the week, plus a Sunday brunch from 11 AM to 2:30 PM.

Price: $$$
Hours:
Mon 5-8:30 PM
Tue-Thu 5-9 PM
Fri 5-10 PM
Sat 4-10 PM
Sun 11 AM-2:30 PM & 5-8:30 PM
Website

If your grocery run has gone dull, here is the fix. Despite the name, this is not a weekend farmers market. It is a giant international grocery store on Buford Highway in Doraville that has been feeding Atlanta for more than 30 years, and the aisles are organized by country. Korea to Mexico to India to Russia in about two minutes flat.

We go for the produce first. Reviewers say the same thing over and over: just about every fruit, vegetable, and herb you can name, fresher and cheaper than the big chains. The seafood and meat counters run way past what a regular store carries, and local restaurant cooks come here for the stuff they cannot find anywhere else.

Give yourself a full hour the first time. Half the fun is grabbing a snack you have never heard of and eating it in the car on the way home. Open every day from 8 AM to 9 PM, so a random Tuesday night run works just fine.

Price: $$
Hours: Daily 8 AM-9 PM
Instagram

6 beds
7 baths
9,076 sq ft
1.43 acre lot

A) $1,150,000

B) $1,325,000

C) $1,499,000

D) $1,675,000

That empty Walmart at Perimeter Village on Ashford Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody, GA is officially becoming a big new Kroger. The city council signed off on July 27 in a split vote, approving the special land use permit and variances Kroger needed.

The store takes over about 166,000 square feet of the old building and adds a drive-thru pharmacy and a gas station. The landlord, Kimco, says it's still shopping a lease for the remaining 60,000 square feet.

For anyone who watched that big box sit dark for years, it finally has a next chapter. Neighbors in Ashford Chase said they were on board but pushed for shorter delivery hours, and they got them: Kroger agreed to keep deliveries to 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week, instead of the early-morning-to-late-night window first floated.

The redo also trims the parking lot by about 100 spaces, though that lot always had room to spare.

Source: Rough Draft Atlanta

The Sandy Springs City Council signed off on a $223,750 contract on July 21 to study safety on Roswell Road between Cliftwood Drive and Hammond Drive in Sandy Springs, GA, just north of I-285. City data ranks Cliftwood Drive at Roswell Road as the second highest injury intersection in town.

The study will map out wider paths, safer crossings, better lighting, and fewer curb cuts, and it sets the city up to ask for federal road money.

If you walk or drive that stretch, this is the first real step toward making it less white-knuckle. The council also put $150,000 toward a missing piece of sidewalk on Glenridge Drive under I-285, with the Perimeter CID splitting the cost, plus $597,900 for 12 new police SUVs.

Source: Rough Draft Atlanta

There's a cat over at the PetSmart on Perimeter Center West whose entire hobby is watching squirrels. Her name is Anna Jarvis, a two-year-old grey and white fluffball with big green eyes and a cute little nub of a tail. Bird lands outside her window? She considers herself on duty.

She's a people cat through and through. The Furkids volunteers say she loves attention, and she gets along fine with other cats too, so she'd settle in whether she's your first cat or your third. Mostly she wants a sunny window, a lap, and somebody around to keep her company.

Her adoption fee is $85, and that covers her spay, vaccines, testing, and a microchip. Better yet, Furkids adult cats are always adopt one, get a buddy free. So if Anna Jarvis talks you into a friend for her, the second cat costs you nothing.

She's living at the Furkids adoption center inside the PetSmart at 128 Perimeter Center W, Atlanta, GA. Visits are by appointment, so start with the short adoption survey on the Furkids site and a volunteer will reach out. See her photos and get started at furkids.org.

Furkids Adoption Center at PetSmart Perimeter
128 Perimeter Center W, Atlanta, GA
770-613-0880
Visits by appointment only (apply online first)

🦋 Butterfly Encounter - Chattahoochee Nature Center | 9135 Willeo Rd, Roswell, GA | 10 AM-4:30 PM | Included with admission ($14-$20) | More: chattnaturecenter.org
The walk-through tent has hundreds of native butterflies, and it closes for the year August 30, so the clock is ticking.

🏡 Guided House Tours - Bulloch Hall | 180 Bulloch Ave, Roswell, GA | Tours on the hour, 10 AM-3 PM | $8 adults, $6 kids | More: bullochhall.org
Teddy Roosevelt's mother grew up in this 1839 house, and the 40-minute tour is an easy history stop before lunch in downtown Roswell.

🦖 T. rex: The Ultimate Predator - Fernbank Museum | 767 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA | 10 AM-5 PM | $25.95 adults, $23.95 kids online (weekday rate) | More: fernbankmuseum.org
Life-sized tyrannosaur models plus daily Dino Talks and live animal meetups, and Friday tickets run two bucks cheaper than the weekend.

🧱 LEGO Discovery Center - Phipps Plaza | 3500 Peachtree Rd NE, Atlanta, GA | 10 AM-5 PM, last entry 3:30 PM | Tickets from $27.99 online | More: legodiscoverycenter.com
Rides, build zones, and the new NINJAGO trials, all indoors where the August heat cannot find you.

🎭 Frame by Frame: The Art of Stop-Motion Animation - Center for Puppetry Arts | 1404 Spring St NW, Atlanta, GA | 9 AM-5 PM, last entry 4:30 PM | $18 adults, $14 kids 3-12 | More: puppet.org
The special exhibit on stop-motion movie magic runs alongside the Jim Henson galleries, so you get Kermit and clay monsters in one ticket.

🌸 Niki in the Garden - Atlanta Botanical Garden | 1345 Piedmont Ave NE, Atlanta, GA | 9 AM-9 PM | $26.95 adults, $23.95 kids 3-12 (weekday online) | More: atlantabg.org
The giant, mirror-covered Niki de Saint Phalle sculptures leave September 6, and Friday summer hours run to 9 PM so you can catch them lit up after dinner.

⚾ Truist Park Guided Tour - Truist Park | 755 Battery Ave SE, Atlanta, GA | Multiple tour times, book ahead | $35 adults | More: mlb.com
The Braves are in New York this weekend, which makes it a great time to walk the dugout and press box, then stay for dinner at The Battery.

🥕 Sandy Springs Farmers Market - City Springs | 1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs, GA | 8:30 AM-12 PM | Free | More: citysprings.com
Forty-plus vendors, live music, and enough samples to count as breakfast.

🍓 DHA Farmers Market - Brook Run Park | 4770 N Peachtree Rd, Dunwoody, GA | 9 AM-12 PM | Free | More: dunwoodyga.org
Dunwoody's year-round market sets up right across from the playground, so the kids have somewhere to burn energy while you shop.

🍞 Brookhaven Farmers Market - Blackburn Park | 1375 Fernwood Cir NE, Brookhaven, GA | 9 AM-12 PM | Free | More: brookhavenfarmersmarket.com
The neighborhood standby is in its 16th season with produce, breads, and dog-friendly aisles.

🍑 Peachtree Road Farmers Market - Cathedral of St. Philip | 2744 Peachtree Rd NW, Atlanta, GA | 8:30 AM-12 PM | Free | More: peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com
Over 70 vendors plus a children's area, a chef pop-up, and two playgrounds on site, which makes it the easiest market to bring kids to.

🌿 Roswell Farmers & Artisans Market - Roswell City Hall | 38 Hill St, Roswell, GA | 8:30 AM-12 PM | Free | More: roswellfam.com
Roswell's Saturday market fills the City Hall lawn, a short walk from Canton Street breakfast spots.

🐐 Beyond the Barnyard - Atlanta History Center | 130 W Paces Ferry Rd NW, Atlanta, GA | 2-2:30 PM | Included with admission: $27 adults, $24 kids 4-12 | More: atlantahistorycenter.com
Every Saturday a heritage-breed sheep or goat takes a walk from Smith Farm to the Entrance Gardens, and yes, you can say hi.

🦉 Guided Trail Walk and Creature Feature - Chattahoochee Nature Center | 9135 Willeo Rd, Roswell, GA | Walks at 11 AM and 1 PM, animal meet at 2 PM | Included with admission ($14-$20) | More: chattnaturecenter.org
A docent leads you down the river trails, then you meet one of the resident ambassador animals up close at 2.

🎨 UPS Second Sunday - High Museum of Art | 1280 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA | 12-5 PM | Free (timed ticket required for the Amy Sherald exhibition) | More: high.org
The whole museum is free with drop-in art making until 4:30 and a live DJ from 1 to 4, and if you want the Amy Sherald show grab a timed ticket early.

🐦 Birds Georgia Forest Walk - Fernbank Museum | 767 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA | 9-10:30 AM | Included with museum admission | More: fernbankmuseum.org
A Birds Georgia volunteer walks you through the old-growth forest to spot whoever is singing that morning, so bring binoculars if you have them.

🏡 Sunday Tours - Bulloch Hall | 180 Bulloch Ave, Roswell, GA | 1-3 PM | $8 adults, $6 kids | More: bullochhall.org
The historic house runs a short Sunday afternoon window, which pairs well with ice cream on Canton Street after.

🎡 Skyline Park - The Roof at Ponce City Market | 675 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA | 11 AM-9 PM | Tickets from $10 adults, $6 kids | More: poncecityroof.com
Sunday is the family day up top, with skee-ball, the three-story slide, and skyline views without the Friday night crowd.

🎸 FTE Stage: Sugar Lime Blue - From the Earth Brewing Company | 1570 Holcomb Bridge Rd, Roswell, GA | 8-11 PM | Free | More: ftebrewing.com
Free live band on the back porch stage with a full brewpub kitchen behind you. Show up early enough to grab a table and a pint before the first set.

🥃 DoMA Date Night - Distillery of Modern Art | 2197 Irvindale Dr, Chamblee, GA | 7:00 PM or 8:00 PM | $60 per couple | More: distilleryofmodernart.com
A private stroll through the stills, then a tasting for two in the art-filled Kandinsky Room. The Deluxe version adds a take-home bottle, and Chamblee is an open container district.

👻 Roswell Ghost Tour - Roswell Town Square bandstand | 617 Atlanta St, Roswell, GA | 8:00 PM | $20 adults, cash or Zelle | More: roswellghosttour.com
A two and a half hour walk through historic Roswell's darker stories, now in its 26th year. Reserve ahead, tours need six people to run.

🎧 HiFi Night at Block & Drum - Block & Drum | 5105 Peachtree Blvd Building B, Chamblee, GA | Doors 6:30 PM | Free with RSVP or $15 at the door, 21+ | More: blockanddrum.com
Chamblee's distillery and listening room runs curated DJ sets on a serious vinyl-grade sound system.

😂 Friday Night Stand-Up - The Punchline | 3652 Roswell Rd NE, Atlanta, GA | 7:30 & 9:30 PM | Ticketed, 21+ | More: punchline.com
Atlanta's oldest comedy club, running two shows every Friday since 1982. Check the site for this week's headliner and grab reservations, the room is small.

🍺 Friday Night at Pontoon - Pontoon Brewing | 8601 Dunwoody Pl, Building 500, Sandy Springs, GA | Open until 10 PM | Free entry | More: pontoonbrewing.com
Sandy Springs' first brewery does rotating food trucks, cornhole, and live music most weekends on the patio. Cashless and dog friendly.

🥁 Groovin' on the Green: Back to School Celebration - Brook Run Park Amphitheater | 4770 N Peachtree Rd, Dunwoody, GA | 6:00 PM | Free | More: dunwoodyga.gov
Herd Behavior and the Emerald Empire Band on the Great Lawn, and the city tells you outright to bring a lawn chair and pack a cooler. Free, no ticket, and you're home in ten minutes.

🎹 Summer Concert Series: The Stranger - Peachtree Corners Town Green | 5140 Town Center Blvd, Peachtree Corners, GA | 7:00-9:00 PM | Free | More: peachtreecornersga.gov
A Billy Joel tribute on the Vox Stage, with opening music at 7 and the headliner around 8:15. Walk out of a Town Center restaurant with dinner and eat it on the lawn. No pets, no large coolers on this one.

🤠 Billy Currington & Kip Moore - Coca-Cola Roxy | 800 Battery Ave SE #500, Atlanta, GA | 7:00 PM | Tickets from $63 | More: cocacolaroxy.com
Two country hitmakers on one bill at The Battery, with Alex Lambert opening. The Braves are out of town, so parking and pre-show dinner reservations are actually gettable.

🎛️ Dillstradamus (Dillon Francis B2B Flosstradamus) - Buckhead Theatre | 3110 Roswell Rd, Atlanta, GA | Doors 7 PM, show 8 PM | Tickets from $47 | More: thebuckheadtheatre.com
A back-to-back DJ set from two EDM veterans in the old Spanish-baroque theater. Main floor is standing room, so claim the balcony early if you want a seat.

🎙️ Dylan Carlino - City Winery Atlanta | 650 North Ave NE, Atlanta, GA | 6:30 PM and 10:00 PM | Tickets from $36 | More: tickets.citywinery.com
The viral stand-up behind "If I Was A Girl" plays two shows inside Ponce City Market. Dinner and wine come right to your table during the set.

🎶 FTE Stage: The HORDE Festival Revival - From the Earth Brewing Company | 1570 Holcomb Bridge Rd, Roswell, GA | 9:00 PM | Ticketed | More: ftebrewing.com
An all-star crew of Georgia musicians recreates the 90s H.O.R.D.E. tour, think Widespread Panic, Dave Matthews, Phish, and Blues Traveler. If your CD binder had a jam section, this is your night.

🥃 Saturday Tours at ASW Distillery - ASW Distillery at The Battery | 900 Battery Ave SE, Suite 1035, Atlanta, GA | 3-10 PM, tours on request | Tastings priced per pour | More: aswdistillery.com
Saturday is the only day the vodka and gin still gets shown off on request. Walk-ups welcome in the tasting room, and the patio looks straight into The Battery action.

🎤 Saturday Stand-Up - The Punchline | 3652 Roswell Rd NE, Atlanta, GA | 6, 8 & 10 PM | Ticketed, 21+ | More: punchline.com
Three Saturday shows at Atlanta's longest-running comedy club, so check the site for the current headliner.

🌇 21+ Night at Skyline Park - The Roof at Ponce City Market | 675 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA | Evening, 21+ after 7 PM | Admission varies | More: poncecityroof.com
After 7 PM on Saturdays the rooftop boardwalk games, mini golf, and skyline bars go adults only. Last admission is 30 minutes before close.

🚣 Chattahoochee Kayak Rentals - Nantahala Outdoor Center, Azalea Park | 203 Azalea Dr, Roswell, GA | Daytime rental slots, arrive 30 minutes early | From $45 | More: noc.com
Singles and tandems on the flat, shady stretch of the Hooch, out and back or an eight mile float from Garrard's Landing. A solid low-effort date for a hot August Sunday.

🍳 Sunday Brunch at City Winery - City Winery Atlanta | 650 North Ave NE, Atlanta, GA | 10 AM-3 PM | Brunch menu a la carte | More: citywinery.com
Weekend brunch service inside Ponce City Market, with rotating live brunch shows on the calendar. Park in the North Avenue deck.

School is back, and this is the easiest FREE reward on the board Friday. Dunwoody's Pics in the Park series rolls a big screen into Pernoshal Park, hands out free popcorn and candy, and plays Zootopia 2 once the sun goes down. No tickets, no cost, no planning beyond grabbing the blankets on the way out the door.

Here is our play: get there while it is still light out. The playground is right there, so the kids burn off the last of their school-week energy while you stake out a good patch of grass and unpack the cooler. Camp chairs, bug spray, maybe a pizza grabbed on the way. By the time the movie starts, everybody is fed, settled, and happy.

New movie, a park that is easy to get in and out of, and the whole night runs you nothing. Summer has maybe three of these easy wins left. Take this one.

School is back around the Perimeter, which means the school zone cameras are flashing again and a fresh crop of teen drivers are merging onto Ashford Dunwoody. Two things are worth a quick look. One, if there is a new driver in your house, make sure they are actually listed on your auto policy, because an unlisted teen can turn a fender bender into a real headache. Two, ask about good student and driver training discounts. Most carriers will knock a real chunk off a teen's rate for a B average or a certified driving course, and plenty of families just never ask.

Not sure when a learner's permit turns into "add them to the policy"? That is a five minute call with your Peachy agent. Ask us.

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