Brookhaven’s dessert scene is getting a serious upgrade as Larita Cafe, a gelato-and-pastry concept, heads to the retail village at AMLI Brookhaven. The shop plans to pair housemade gelato with European-style pastries, sandwiches and coffee. Owner Mohammed Saleh told reporters that construction is underway and the team is aiming for a late-June or early-July opening. The cafe is set to offer about 1,450 square feet of indoor seating plus a similar outdoor footprint, with hours crafted to appeal to both families and late-night customers.
The online menu teases danishes, crepes, focaccia sandwiches, pistachio lattes and a lineup of Middle Eastern-inspired sweets, according to the Larita Cafe website. Earlier industry coverage noted plans to make gelato in-house daily and initially projected a roughly 90-day buildout once permits were filed, per Business Debut.
Where the cafe will sit
Larita Cafe will take space in the new AMLI Brookhaven retail run along Lake Hearn Drive, part of a mixed-use development that offers restaurant-ready spaces and about 20,000 square feet of commercial retail, according to OakRep. Local reporting says the retail strip is filling out quickly, with Larita joining other incoming tenants including Dish's Bagels and Elan Nails, both reported as under construction in the same project by ToneToATL.
Buildout and opening timetable
Coverage from February indicated the Larita team had secured approvals and planned a late-winter construction start with a roughly 90-day buildout, per Business Debut. Updated reporting on April 27 notes that construction has only just started, with the opening now targeted for late June or early July and detailing the interior and outdoor footprints planned for the space, according to What Now Atlanta.
“We are trying to be open late and also be a place for families,” Saleh told What Now Atlanta. His partner Angie added that they want to “make sure we’re able to include everybody, young and old,” and Saleh said he eventually hopes to expand to additional locations, according to the same outlet.
If that timeline holds, Larita will serve as a dessert-and-coffee anchor in AMLI’s growing retail mix and give nearby residents another neighborhood option. The development has been leasing aggressively as it adds dining and service tenants, a trend that local coverage says is reshaping the Lake Hearn corridor into a denser retail strip, per Rough Draft Atlanta.
