There’s a new concept being cooked up at the Campbellton Plaza Shopping Center. Restauranteur Michael Perryman and chef Ashford Sanders already operate That’s Good Restaurant at Stonecrest Mall in Lithonia, but will soon join Ellery’s Bar and Lounge, G-Town Wings & Fish, Sweet Thang’s Carnival Eats on Campbellton Road.
The 5,380 square-foot space That’s Good Restaurant will occupy was most recently home to the last S&S Cafeteria, which closed after 50 years of serving Southern cooking on Campbellton Road. “We hope to have the same kind of success,” laughs Perryman in a telephone conversation with What Now Atlanta.
The space, which has been vacant since 2018, is being completely remodeled and built out. “We’re going to have a stage, a sound system, and international gospel artists performing for Sunday brunch,” says Sanders. “We plan to host Atlanta’s Al Smith Jam Session on Friday nights. Comedy on Saturdays. It’s going to be a new entertainment destination for Atlanta.”
“But it’s not a club,” Perryman stresses. “Although we will have a liquor license, as well as jazz bands and other live music playing while people eat.”
“Music is my first love,” says Sanders, known for his performance of “Millions” as a finalist on BET’s Sunday Best gospel music competition. He also loves to cook. As a child in Canton, Mississippi, he watched his aunt and grandmother make biscuits, cornbread, fried chicken, and collards from scratch. “That’s how I became interested in baking and cooking. God elevated me and gave me the opportunity to cook here in Atlanta.”
“The new restaurant will be more upscale than the Lithonia location,” adds Perry. “With plenty of parking. We’ll still be serving soul food, but also steaks, seafood and cocktails.”
“Whether you want macaroni and cheese or a rib eye steak and crab legs, we’ll serve it fresh,” says Sanders. “We may also have a full salad bar. I do love a good salad bar.”
Perryman and Sanders plan to open in June 2023.
Minimize the soul part of the food and cook some healthy meals. We have enough slave food in the community and it’s killing our people. All the fast food restaurants that fry everything, tons of sodium and carbs has got to stop! If we want great healthcare, it starts with the food we put in our mouth.