Behold: Bon Fresco

There's a new sandwich shop in Snowden called Bon Fresco. As I walked past the brick box building, I peeked inside and snapped a picture. One of the contractors told me they'd finish in a week or so.

Immediately, I thought of Atlanta Bread Company. Both as a journalist and a former sandwich shop slave wage I feel that I have a valid perspective on the fiscal future of this venture. When Atlanta Bread Company hired me, they were still building the place, so I got to walk around with a nail gun and electric screwdriver! Competition they said, what competition? Panera Bread, Three Brothers and several Subways later, they caved after one year.

I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist. We don't need another sandwich shop concept. I can't believe I'm saying this but we don't need another Indian restaurant either. The building of Bon Fresco in Snowden seems almost as pointless as installing a Vocelli's pizza in the Owen Brown village center across from Jerry's pizza.

I predict that Bon Fresco will flare up like the flame on a candle and flutter out. Hopefully the place will employ competent management and a staff comprised of more than hispanics and high schoolers but realistically, they'd be fighting entrenched concepts that have done well without them.

Last Call For Z-Pizza

When I worked for Atlanta Bread Company, I remember our manager boasting that we would outlive Z-Pizza and Orinoco Coffee. He said our pizza and coffee were better, I said he was an idiot. As it turned out, both shops outlasted ABC. Soon after it closed, Orinoco followed, along with California Tortilla. Now all that's left is the Asian cafe.

The fare at Z-Pizza is fair but I'd rather go to Jerry's for a pizza. Ultimately, I think that Z-Pizza had the same problem that ABC had. They entered an already competitive market with Ledo's, Jerry's, Pizza Hut, Vocelli's and Domino's. Part of the reason ABC failed was because Panera Bread was already operating and lets face it, ABC was a knock off that got knocked off.

Ryan, one of the managers at Z-Pizza told me the shop had closed at 8:00 p.m. He said they had run out of dough and toppings so they closed early, on their last day of business.

"From what I hear, its an issue between the landlord and the owner but I'm not really sure what really went on with them," says Ryan. "So I just found out Thursday that they were shutting down, Thursday morning."