A restaurant building that has sat empty on Peachtree Road since 2023 could soon get new life from one of Atlanta's most decorated chefs. James Beard Award-winning chef Linton Hopkins is proposing a makeover of the roughly 9,000-square-foot standalone structure at 2964 Peachtree Road NW, just south of Buckhead Village, with plans for a concept branded as Linton's and the Buttery.
Hopkins and Company is scheduled to present its plans to the Buckhead SPI-12 Development Review Committee, according to Urbanize Atlanta. The committee reviews commercial exterior renovations, parking configurations, and pedestrian connectivity within the district before applicants can submit formal Special Administrative Permit applications to the City of Atlanta, per Urbanize Atlanta's earlier reporting on the process.
A Building That Has Struggled to Keep a Tenant
The site has a long, bumpy commercial history. Italian chain Brio Tuscan Grille operated in the space for nearly two decades before closing in August 2017 amid broader closures by its parent company, according to Tomorrow's News Today - Atlanta. Franchisee TOP H Enterprises then opened a flagship Original Pancake House in the same footprint in May 2021, but that concept lasted only about two years, shutting down around May 2023 and leaving the building dark ever since, per Tomorrow's News Today - Atlanta's reporting on the closure.
Per Urbanize Atlanta's seed reporting, the proposal would refresh and modify the vacant restaurant space rather than replace the structure entirely. The current design from architecture firm ASD/SKY reportedly calls for painted stucco, numerous fabric awnings, and a wooden pergola out front. The existing building already includes two fireplaces and a large patio fronting Peachtree Road, features the new concept is expected to retain.
Hopkins Returns to a Corridor He Knows Well
Linton Hopkins has deep roots along Peachtree Road. He won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southeast in 2012, and he and his wife, Gina Hopkins, have run Atlanta hospitality group Hopkins and Company together since 2004, according to the James Beard Foundation. Their portfolio has included Restaurant Eugene, Holeman & Finch Public House, Holeman & Finch Bottle Shop, H&F Burger, Hop's Chicken, and C. Ellet's Steakhouse.
The group's flagship fine-dining restaurant, Restaurant Eugene, operated at 2277 Peachtree Road for 15 years before closing in August 2019, and the Hopkinses later relocated their acclaimed Holeman & Finch Public House from Buckhead to Midtown's Colony Square in 2023, according to Atlanta Magazine. That earlier retreat from Buckhead makes the new Peachtree Road proposal a notable return to the neighborhood for the couple. The Hopkinses also built civic ties in the area well beyond their restaurants, co-founding the producer-only Peachtree Road Farmers Market in 2007 at The Cathedral of St. Philip, an event that grew into Georgia's largest producer-only farmers market, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Reviving the Buttery Name
The Buttery half of the new concept's name echoes a bakery and café the Hopkins team previously ran on Manchester Street in Morningside-Lenox Park. That original Buttery ATL opened in October 2020 as a pandemic-era bakery and specialty market before closing on August 30, 2024, according to Atlanta Magazine's earlier coverage of the concept. Combining that market-style format with a new restaurant called Linton's suggests the Buckhead project will blend dining and grab-and-go retail under one roof, though further operational details have not been outlined in the filings.
The Hopkinses' adaptability during industry downturns extends beyond restaurant concepts. During the initial COVID-19 pandemic response in 2020, Linton and Gina Hopkins launched the Good Food Works Foundation, which produced and distributed more than 11,000 meals weekly to healthcare workers, unemployed hospitality staff, and local families, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported at the time.
Parking and Site Access Along a Busy Corridor
The property and its surrounding garages span 2.3 acres and offer 350 available parking spaces, and filings indicate the planned makeover will not change that parking arrangement. The site sits within the broader Buckhead Center complex, where separate improvement proposals floated in September 2025 called for consolidating three driveway curb cuts into a single perpendicular drive and creating a dedicated rideshare pickup area with new seating and shade trees, according to Livable Buckhead. That infrastructure plan was projected to reduce impervious surface at the complex by 1,600 square feet.
The proposal lands amid steady turnover along Buckhead's Peachtree Road dining corridor this year, including the temporary closure and planned relocation of Afro-Caribbean restaurant Apt 4B a few blocks away, alongside new steakhouse openings, as Hoodline has reported. Hopkins & Company's connections also ripple elsewhere in the city's dining scene: Hoodline recently reported that a new BeltLine brasserie is led by executive chef Jason Paolini, who previously served as chef de cuisine at Linton Hopkins' Restaurant Eugene.
