By Saturday morning, October 10, Milton Avenue will have been closed to cars for more than a day. The Main on Milton Stage will be waiting for Sister Hazel, the Music Makers Market will fill North Broad Street, and the Live Art Lounge will take over Commerce Street. On that same Saturday, Alpharetta Restaurant Week begins. More than 40 restaurant locations will serve specially priced multi-course menus through October 17.
Both events are in their usual places on the calendar. The overlap matters because of geography. Close to 20 Restaurant Week participants are downtown, and on opening day most of them sit inside or right beside the festival footprint. The other three clusters, around Avalon, Windward Parkway and North Point, have an ordinary Saturday. That means Restaurant Week has two different starting days depending on where you book.
Where the Festival Closes Streets, Hour by Hour
The 13th annual Wire & Wood Songwriters Festival is free. It runs Friday, October 9, from 6 to 11 p.m. with Corey Smith headlining, and Saturday, October 10, from noon to 11 p.m. with Sister Hazel. The road closures start earlier and end later than the music. Here is the schedule posted by the festival:
- Thursday, Oct. 8, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The curb lane of North Broad Street closest to the Town Green.
- Friday, Oct. 9, 6 a.m., through Sunday, Oct. 11, 4 a.m. Milton Avenue from Roswell/Canton Street to Hwy. 9, Old Roswell Street from the parking lot entrance to Milton Avenue, Commerce Street, North and South Broad Street, Market Street, and Park Plaza from Academy Street to the parking deck entrance.
- Friday, Oct. 9, 10 a.m., through Sunday, Oct. 11, 1 a.m. Hwy. 9 from Milton Avenue to Old Milton Parkway. This stretch reopens overnight from midnight Friday until 10 a.m. Saturday, then closes again.
The 10 a.m. reopening window on Saturday is the key detail for a Restaurant Week plan. After 10 a.m., getting to a downtown table means parking at a deck and walking in through a festival with seven stages.
The Downtown Roster, Mapped Against the Closures
The Restaurant Week release groups participants by area. Its downtown group reads like a list of the streets the festival closes. The table below shows downtown participants with confirmed menu prices.
| Restaurant | Address | Restaurant Week menu |
|---|---|---|
| One Day in Paris | 35 Milton Ave., Ste. A | Lunch $30, dinner $50 |
| Carrie's Conservatory at The Hamilton Alpharetta | 35 Milton Ave. | Dinner $60 |
| Ceviche Taqueria | 42 Milton Ave. | All-day $30 |
| JINYA Ramen Bar | 401 S. Broad St. | Lunch $18, dinner $40 |
| Amasa Mexican Kitchen | 15 Academy St., Ste. 1E | All-day $40 |
| The Butcher and Bottle | 45 Roswell St. | Dinner $75 |
| Saj | 58 Canton St., Suite 104 | Lunch $25, dinner $40 |
| Monkey 68 Sushi and Bar | 160 North Main St. | Dinner $60 |
| Citizen Soul | 60 South Main St. | Dinner $50 |
| Chiringa | 34 South Main St., Unit 2B | All-day $25 |
| Smokejack BBQ | 29 South Main St. | Lunch $25, dinner $40 |
| Jack's Feed Store | 241 South Main St. | Lunch $20, dinner $35 |
The downtown roster also includes Never Enough Thyme at 8 South Main St., Pure Taqueria at 103 Roswell St., Siena Restaurant & Bar at 124 Devore Rd., Sunset at 10 North Broad St., Surcheros at 91 South Main St., and Taffer's Tavern and UP on the Roof, which share 33 South Main St. Surcheros lists a $15 lunch.
Five of these addresses are on streets the festival closes. One Day in Paris, Carrie's Conservatory and Ceviche Taqueria are on Milton Avenue. JINYA is on South Broad. Sunset is at 10 North Broad, the street where the Music Makers Market sets up. One address does double duty. The Butcher and Bottle is at 45 Roswell St., and the festival lists the lot at 45 Roswell Street as attendee parking.
Several of these restaurants are new to downtown. Amasa started its soft opening at 15 Academy St. on August 27 and held its grand opening on September 18. Monkey 68's second location at 160 N. Main St. was already serving guests by late July. For both, the first Saturday of Restaurant Week is also the biggest festival day of their first fall downtown.
Avalon, Windward and North Point Get an Ordinary Saturday
None of the festival closures reach the other three clusters. If October 10 is the night you want a long, planned dinner, these restaurants open the week the way Restaurant Week usually opens.
| Area | Restaurant | Address | Restaurant Week menu |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avalon | South City Kitchen Avalon | 9000 Avalon Blvd. | Dinner $75 |
| Avalon | Oak Steakhouse | 950 Third St. | $60 |
| Avalon | Colletta | 900 3rd St. | Dinner $55 |
| Avalon | Barleygarden Kitchen & Craft Bar | 900 Avalon Blvd. | Lunch $30, dinner $40 |
| Avalon | Kona Grill | 5100 Avalon Blvd. | Lunch $24, dinner $35 |
| Avalon | NFA Burger | 3180 Avalon Blvd. | All-day $20 |
| Windward | Cabernet Steakhouse | 5575 Windward Pkwy. | Lunch $35, dinner $75 |
| Windward | Fiorenza | 11500 Webb Bridge Way | $60 |
| Windward | Secreto Southern Kitchen & Bar | 6195 Windward Pkwy., Ste. 102 | Lunch $35, dinner $55 |
| Windward | Connors Steak & Seafood | 5045 Windward Pkwy. | Lunch $30, dinner $50 |
| Windward | 19 North at Atlanta Marriott Alpharetta | 5750 Windward Pkwy. | Dinner $45 |
| Windward | Ippolito's of Alpharetta | 12850 Hwy. 9 | Lunch $24.95, dinner $35.95 |
| North Point | Ruth's Chris Steakhouse | 11655 Haynes Bridge Rd. | $60 |
| North Point | Benihana | 2365 Mansell Rd. | Dinner $55 |
| North Point | Ray's at Killer Creek | 1700 Mansell Rd. | Dinner $55 |
| North Point | Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant | 7750 North Point Pkwy. | Lunch $25, dinner $40 |
The prices at the top of the range are spread out. Downtown, The Butcher and Bottle's $75 dinner is the highest. South City Kitchen Avalon and Cabernet also charge $75 for dinner. A splurge dinner on the 10th doesn't require going downtown. A $25 lunch doesn't either: Cooper's Hawk and Chiringa both offer menus at that price, in different parts of the city.
The official Restaurant Week page also lists Coalition Steak & Seafood at 50 Canton St. and Firebirds Wood Fire Grill at 2665 Old Milton Pkwy. Neither appears on the release's area roster, and Firebirds lists a $14.95 lunch. The organizers note that participation and menus can change, so check a restaurant's current listing before you book around a specific price.
Doing Both on October 10
A downtown dinner on festival Saturday works, but it takes the same planning as the festival. The festival site lists parking at the City Hall deck at 2 Park Plaza, the Roswell Street lot at 45 Roswell Street, and the deck at 90 Milton Avenue, which you reach through the Roswell Street lot. From GA 400 northbound, the festival's directions use Exit 9, Haynes Bridge Road. Rideshare drop-off and pick-up go to Innovation Academy at 125 Milton Avenue. The festival release adds a free lot at 21 Old Roswell Street and the Alpharetta Community Center at 175 Roswell St.
One Saturday event needs a ticket. The Listening Room at Roaring Social starts at 3 p.m. with David Lowery, Angie Aparo and David Ryan Harris. Tickets are $30, and net proceeds go to Alpharetta's Music Match program. A 3 p.m. set leaves time for an early dinner downtown before the evening headliners. The festival's own pages list different set times for some Saturday acts, so check the festival schedule the day of rather than planning a reservation around a printed start time.
October 17 Belongs to the Rest of the City
By Sunday, October 11, at 4 a.m., the downtown streets reopen. The downtown participants then have most of Restaurant Week with normal street access. The week ends Saturday, October 17, and three other city events fill that day:
- 8:30 a.m. to noon. The Rivers Alive cleanup, organized by the city and the Alpharetta Natural Resources Commission, at Rock Mill Park, 3100 Kimball Bridge Road. The Alpharetta-Milton Chronicle reported that the city is recruiting volunteers.
- 3 to 7 p.m. The free Boo Bash at The Grove, behind the Alpharetta Community Center.
- All day. Scarecrow Harvest, with more than 150 scarecrows across downtown through November 1.
The order of those events suits the closing Saturday. You can do the cleanup in the morning, walk the scarecrows after Boo Bash, and use a final Restaurant Week dinner downtown for the reservation that would have been hard to get on the 10th.
Restaurant Week also connects to the CVB's "Taste Your Way Thru Alpharetta" giveaway, which the Alpharetta-Milton Chronicle covered in August. The prize is a two-night weekend stay at Aloft Alpharetta plus gift cards: $100 to The Butcher and Bottle, $75 to Siena Restaurant, $50 to Williams Sonoma and $25 to Alpharetta Outfitters. Entries are open to U.S. residents 18 and older, one per person, through October 31. The winner will be drawn the week of November 2.
At The Suits Team, we track how downtown Alpharetta's new tenants, festival calendar and street grid shape daily life here, because the same details come up when neighbors start thinking about their next move. If you're curious how this busy fall affects your own home's value, start with our instant home valuation and we'll walk you through the local picture.
