Restaurant roundup: Hawg & Ale closes, ramen replacing Fox Dogs, daiquiri bar planned
Oct. 31—Downtown Marietta's restaurant scene is saying goodbye to some businesses and welcoming others.
After celebrating its fifth anniversary in early October, barbecue joint Hawg & Ale Smokehouse has closed its doors for good. The restaurant, operating a block south of Marietta Square on Powder Springs Street, announced its closure on its website.
"Owners Buddy Finethy, Pamela Harroff and John Broughton want to thank everybody in the area who made The Hawg the social house we envisioned," the restaraunt said in a message to the MDJ. "It was a pleasure to meet all our neighbors, break bread and bring some of the finest music curated on the square!"
Across the street from Hawg & Ale, the proprietors of Neighborhood Cuisines & Provisions are trying something new, with plans to convert the space to a daiquiri bar.
Marietta brothers-in-law Dominic Belli and Jonathan Disser founded Neighborhood Quarantine Catering during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic after being laid off from their hospitality industry jobs. After a year of selling ready-to-bake, family-sized meals, they opened a Powder Springs Street storefront and renamed the business in the spring of 2021.
The duo has announced plans to convert the space into a daiquiri bar, to be called The Frozen Goose, serving frozen daiquiris, beer, wine, mixed drinks and food.
Scheduled to open in December, the business has applied for a liquor license from the city.
A Roswell Street storefront just east of the Square will soon house Boru Ramen & Poke, following the closure of Fox Dogs, a specialty hot dog restaurant.
The Marietta location will be Boru's second, complementing its first on Barrett Parkway in the Town Center area.
Boru offers "authentic southern Japanese style ramen in a fast paced and casual environment," as described by the restaurant. Its menu includes ramen noodles, bento boxes and poke bowls in the $10 to $14 range, as well as bubble tea, dumplings, edamame and other sides.
Boru has already rebranded the Roswell Street storefront and says the Marietta location is "coming soon."
Fox Dogs, founded in fall 2019 by Marietta native Zach Fox, announced it was closing in September.
Fox wrote on his restaurant's Facebook page that the business had struggled with rising food and labor costs.
"While we've decided up until this point to weather that storm and continue onward, sometimes the timing is just right and opportunity arises. An offer was made on our space on Roswell Street that was simply too foolish to ignore.
"It's been an incredible journey to be able to serve the City of Marietta and all those from elsewhere who visit our great town. Relationships and memories that I personally hold dear. I will always be forever grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of your daily lives, and for all you've given back to me through the extremely difficult times we were ALL handed over the last 3 years," Fox wrote.
