After this morning's 10 a.m. ribbon cutting in The Plaza, which Medley will be waiting for you? The full announced lineup includes soup dumplings, wood-fired Spanish-Latin cooking, an Irish pub and a wine bar. The district opening today is the first part of that. It is ready for a morning coffee, a blowout or an afternoon of browsing, and its dinner lineup keeps growing over the next several weeks.
Medley is a $560 million, 43-acre development at Johns Creek Parkway and McGinnis Ferry Road, built by Toro Development Company. In its Oct. 7 announcement, Toro called the grand opening "the first chapter of Medley's debut." That phrase describes the calendar better than "grand opening" does. North Atlanta Star's Oct. 24 opening lineup counts 35 businesses in total and says they will open in stages.
Thursday's district runs on coffee and appointments
The businesses expected to open today make it clear what kind of place Medley will be this week. About half are built around a morning, a quick stop or a booked time slot.
Coffee and something sweet
- Summit Coffee, a North Carolina roaster, announced an Oct. 29 opening. It serves pastries, wine and beer alongside specialty coffee.
- The Nest Cafe, which started in Alpharetta, serves breakfast and lunch. The California Croissant comes with eggs, turkey, bacon, chipotle Gouda and avocado.
- Five Daughters Bakery brings its Tennessee-born 100-layer doughnuts, made with laminated pastry.
- Cookie Fix bakes fresh cookies and also sells frozen dough to take home.
- Amorino Gelato serves gelato shaped into a flower on the cone, and Playa Bowls makes açaí, pitaya and coconut bowls.
Booked by the hour
- BODYROK runs 45-minute, Pilates-inspired classes on custom reformers.
- Drybar specializes in blowouts and does not focus on cuts or color. Sugarcoat, a locally owned business since 2010, offers manicures, pedicures, lashes and facials.
- Kontour Medical Spa is expanding from Duluth. Clean Your Dirty Face offers 30-minute facials, and The Commodore brings an Atlanta barbershop to the Boulevard.
- Burdlife books permanent-jewelry appointments, welding a bracelet or necklace closed with no clasp. Petfolk sees dogs and cats at 4195 Medley Boulevard.
The shops lean local. Johns Creek native Katie Bossie is opening Hollow Oak, her first retail store, with books, stationery, art, home goods and classes. Moop's Boutique is adding a second store after nearly two decades in downtown Alpharetta. High Country Outfitters dates to 1975 in Atlanta. Sephora rounds out the group. And Trader Joe's is not new at all. It opened June 11, months before the ribbon cutting.
Dinner tonight comes down to a short list
For a sit-down dinner on opening night, three restaurants on today's list fit the bill.
STIR faces The Plaza in its first Georgia location. It has an oyster and cold bar, and its cocktails are made with ice cut down from 300-pound blocks. Next door, its separate lounge, Tonic House, has its own bar and a patio over The Plaza, so you can have a drink without booking a table. Rena's Italian Fishery & Grill comes over from Alpharetta with handmade pasta and a wood-burning grill. Lily Sushi Bar adds a third North Fulton location to its Alpharetta and Milton restaurants. Knuckies Eatery is a more casual option. It serves hoagies and cheesesteaks along with "dirty sodas," fountain drinks mixed with flavored syrups and cream.
From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Medley's grand opening schedule lists an acoustic-music gathering at the Tree Bar. That gives the first evening a gathering point while more restaurants prepare to open.
Wednesday night's Medley Unveiled preview, a ticketed benefit for the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra, sold out ahead of time. Medley's grand opening page lists complimentary valet for that event only. For regular visits, Medley's FAQ describes parking as surface lots and structured garages.
Friday adds a burger and a costume party
Shake Shack was in Toro's early list of Oct. 29 openings. The restaurant has since announced a public opening of Friday, Oct. 30, at 10 a.m. at 2100 Medley Boulevard. It will be the company's 11th Georgia location. North Atlanta Star reports that Shake Shack will donate $1 to Camp Twin Lakes for every sandwich sold that day.
That evening, from 6 to 10 p.m., Party on The Plaza closes the opening celebration with a free, family-friendly Halloween night with live music. Costumes are encouraged.
The second wave is where the dinner district lives
The businesses that will make Medley a dinner destination are mostly still to come. North Atlanta Star's Oct. 24 update lists the following as expected "in the weeks after Medley's Oct. 29 debut." Medley's spokeswoman did not give individual dates.
| Business | What it brings | Where you may know it from |
|---|---|---|
| Northern China Eatery | Handmade dumplings and soup dumplings | Buford Highway |
| CRÚ Wine Bar & Bistro | Three-pour wine flights with a full food menu | Avalon and The Battery |
| 26 Thai Kitchen & Bar | Thai cooking and cocktails | Founder Niki Pattharakositkul's first restaurant in Buckhead |
| Fogón and Lions | Wood-fired Spanish-Latin cooking, steaks, ceviche | Chef Julio Delgado's Alpharetta restaurant |
| Minnie Olivia Pizzeria | Wood-fired Neo-Neapolitan pizza | Also from Chef Delgado |
| CT Cantina & Taqueria | Expanded cocktails and a walk-up window | Family-owned Mexican restaurant |
| Tabla | Indoor-outdoor bar, weekend street food | First suburban location after its Atlanta restaurants |
| Fadó Irish Pub | Scratch kitchen and soccer on the screens | Buckhead and Midtown |
That is eight food and drink concepts still to open, compared with the three full-service dinner restaurants on today's list. Three of the eight, CRÚ, 26 Thai and Minnie Olivia, were on Toro's Oct. 7 list of Oct. 29 openings, and the Oct. 24 update moved them later. Shake Shack was on that list too and is the only moved opening with a firm date. Tabla is planned beside The Plaza. Once it opens, the space in front of STIR and Tonic House will have restaurants on more than one side.
Two shops are also in the later group. Warby Parker is coming to 4100 Medley Boulevard with eye exams as well as frames. 13 Hub Lane, which already has stores in Roswell and East Cobb, will sell furniture, lighting, clothing and gifts and offer interior-design help.
Nov. 27 is the next date for the calendar
The holiday program is the next fixed point on Medley's calendar. Toro's October announcement said the ice rink on The Plaza would open Nov. 23. Medley's current Skate the Plaza page now lists the rink's grand opening as Nov. 27, with the season running through Feb. 7, 2027.
Posted rink hours:
- Monday through Thursday: 3 to 10 p.m.
- Friday: 3 to 11 p.m.
- Saturday: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
- Sunday: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- School holidays, Nov. 27 and Dec. 21 through Jan. 4: daily, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
- Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Christmas Day runs 3 to 10 p.m., and New Year's Day 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The rink page does not yet list admission or skate-rental prices. The same day, Merry Medley takes over Medley Boulevard with a holiday concert, performances, the rink opening and a fireworks finale. The event listing shows 4 p.m. and does not give a fireworks time or admission cost. Toro says the opening weekend starts a calendar of about 100 events a year, with weekly and monthly programming planned for 2027.
More phases are already scheduled
Thanksgiving weekend is not the last stage either. Encore, Medley's second phase, is set to open in 2027, according to the Johns Creek Herald. Toro says it adds 408 apartments and 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. A 150-key Marriott Tribute Portfolio hotel, anchored by Chops Lobster Bar, is planned for 2028, according to Rough Draft Atlanta and Toro's announcement.
For this week, the district is ready for coffee at Summit, a doughnut at Five Daughters, an hour at Hollow Oak and an early drink on the Tonic House patio. The dumplings, wood-fired plates, pints and wine flights are expected in the weeks that follow, and the rink opens on The Plaza Nov. 27.
Doug Harden lives in Milton, a short drive from Medley. Encore and the hotel will keep changing the Johns Creek town center over the next two years. If you are weighing what those phases mean for a home in or near Johns Creek, Harden Group would welcome the conversation. Schedule a Private Consultation.