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Mary Cooper was on a mission to reopen Friend’s Table. She bought the business from the previous owners right after they closed at The Avenue, ready to reopen quickly at that spot. But the Friend’s Table lease at The Avenue had a clause in it that they could terminate the lease if the business attempted to transfer it to a new owner. And that’s exactly what The Avenue did, contrary to rumors that were abounding that Hobknob’s entry into the marketplace or a lease increase ended Friend’s Table.
So Mary had a business, and a lot of great equipment in storage, but no home for it. That’s where Frank and Wendy Maguire came in. As the owners of two restaurants in the area, Maguire’s Irish Pub in Senoia and Crosstown Grille in Peachtree City, they were looking to downsize. They had offered to their landlord at Crosstown Grille that they would be willing to terminate their lease with its remaining four years, if they found another taker.
“We never thought in a million years that they would actually find somebody to take a 7,400 square foot space in today’s business climate,” said Frank Maguire. While Crosstown Grille is closing on Feb 15, Maguire’s Irish Pub in Senoia will remain open, under the seasoned management of Frank and Wendy’s two sons, Rob and Colin, who have been managing both restaurants. Frank says he’ll probably still get back in the kitchen and do some training for the team now and then at Maguire’s. Frank and Wendy Maguire plan on spending more time at their lake house in the Poconos and with their grandchildren.
What about Friend’s Table? Mary Cooper, who has lived in Newnan for the last three years and owned and operated several businesses, says this is a dream for her and her family. “My family absolutely fell in love with Newnan and Peachtree City, the Coweta and the Fayette areas, and planned to spend the rest of our lives here. So my background though is in business and Friend’s Table is a dream that we’ve always talked about in our family. We had often spoken of owning a family restaurant and owning a restaurant that we all could work in, like a family business. Everything that we talked about that we wanted to do is what Friends Table is. We’d always talked about having breakfast and focus on some pastry items So this really is like a dream come true for our family,” said Mary.
And the Crosstown Grille is perfect for her dream. She said, “I’m not actually planning to make a lot of changes, honestly. I mean, we’re going to try and bring in the Friend’s Table atmosphere again with the colors and the more vibrant feel. I’m going to convert the second bar to a coffee bar, like a coffee station. And that room will be more like a coffee house atmosphere where you can go in and sit and just work on your computer or just enjoy time with a friend.”
That fills a gap for the Braelinn area. There aren’t coffee shops close by. And Mary is bringing back the big bakery cases, too. Not just the cases, but the people who used to fill them. She has much of the former Friend’s Table kitchen team and management returning to work for her. “The original cooks and kitchen manager are coming back.” That fits Mary’s plan to have the menu continue to be the Friend’s Table that Peachtree City is used to.
How quickly will Friend’s Table be open? Mary says that optimistically she is looking at the latter part of March for an opening. That’s the time it will take her to get fresh paint on the walls, decorate, converting the second bar to a coffee bar, and her one big project, sanding and sealing the kitchen floor.
Mary is finding that the public is already excited about this. “That’s the biggest response that I’m getting right now is people are just so stoked. They said there’s nowhere to eat breakfast in that area. There’s nowhere to just sit down with your friends and chat, like a coffee shop.”
Once they open in or around March, the Friend’s Table hours will be the same as before, which is 8:00 a.m. to 9 p.m.