When owners of The 405 Mid-East Bistro announced they would close after less than a year due to an inability to “build enough interest,” a collective sigh could be felt throughout the city.
The 405 was the latest restaurant to struggle at this specific location along what is one of Nooga’s main thoroughfares. 405 Market St. was also the former site of Noodles & Company, which occupied the space for three years and closed in late 2015. After that, Henpecked Chicken opened for a few months in that space before closing.
So, we asked readers on Instagram what would work in this location. The responses were varied and interesting.
“Anything but a burger, pizza or bbq. It’s a crying shame places like this can’t stay open.” — @bofunky3000
“Preferably no more chains.” — @Sarael14
“.... it would be nice if there was another hangout type of bar on Market Street. The only place currently is Hair of the Dog and I’m not always interested in sitting in a smoky bar.” — @syrupandeggs
“Honestly so many places have closed down in that area over the last few years that I don’t even have a clue as to what would be viable.” — @ashley_closson
...And some very specific suggestions:
“Chick-fil-A” — @adammcelhaney
“I would love to see Jack in the Box come to TN” — @groundxero313
“@sluttyveganATL would have lines down the block here 💁🏻♀️🍔🍟” — @chelseaisanerd
“Waffle House” — @mr_morris79
It feels like a broken record at this point — we had a similar discussion back in 2015 and another this year about what to do with vacant properties— but we’d love to hear your thoughts. Back then, we envisioned 405 Market St. as a great home for downtown locations of Mojo Burrito, New York Pizza Department and, yes, Waffle House. But our guess is as good as yours.
Poll
