Downtown Alpharetta Has a Pantry Now

At 4 a.m. on South Main Street the lights are already on at Giulia Italian Bakery. The ovens are going for the day's croissants, bomboloni, baguettes and sourdough, all of it made by hand from scratch, Appen Media reported when the bakery opened. Doors open four hours later.

A few blocks away there's a shop full of olive oils, vinegars, rice and pasta, and around the corner on Academy Street a kitchen grinds organic blue corn every morning for its tortillas. Each of these opened in Alpharetta City Center this year. All three put the making and sourcing of food where customers can see it, and two of them want you to take some home. City Center has always had places to eat. It now also has places to shop for what you cook.

Flour on South Main Street

Giulia Italian Bakery sits at 24 S. Main St. and is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. Brothers Ben and Seth Gjuka founded the bakery in 2020, and it also has storefronts in Peachtree Corners and Marietta. Along with pastries and loaves, the menu has sandwiches, cakes and focaccia made with Italian cheeses, cured meats and other imported ingredients.

What fits the pantry idea is the layout. Giulia's Alpharetta page describes an open-concept kitchen where you can watch pistachio croissants, Nutella pastries and sourdough come out of the oven. The bakery suggests three reasons to stop in: a morning espresso, a loaf to take home, or a sandwich before a walk around town. A sourdough loaf for Sunday dinner is the kind of errand that used to mean a separate trip somewhere else.

Seth Gjuka put the bakery's aim plainly in the Appen story: "We can't wait for Giulia to become a fixture in downtown Alpharetta's daily routine." A bakery that opens at 8 a.m. seven days a week is set up to make that happen.

Olive oil and rice on Market Street

Bread needs something to go with it, and Grove and Barrel Provisions at 211 Market St. sells exactly that. Owner Josep Juncosa brought the southern European food traditions he grew up with in Barcelona to City Center. Appen Media's opening story lists the stock as olive oils, rice, pastas, canned and brined goods, coffees, and some of Juncosa's favorite wine labels.

Juncosa explained to Appen why he chose this spot:

"Alpharetta City Center has always been a place where I could immediately feel at home. Growing up, sharing the table with my friends and family was a cherished experience, and I learned how powerful simple but quality ingredients could truly be."

The shop's own site invites customers to taste the olive oils and vinegars and come up with their own combinations. It also carries herbs, spices, kitchen tools and host gifts. Wine is part of the program too. This fall the market ran a complimentary, RSVP-only guided tasting in its Crafted to Share series, featuring two wines and the women behind them: Katie Potter of Great Point Vineyards with her Pocomo Rosé, and Camilla Scavino of Bricco Carlina with a Langhe Nebbiolo from Piedmont.

One line in the Appen story ties this to the rest of downtown. Grove and Barrel plans to supply high-quality ingredients to local restaurants and to host private group experiences. If that happens, the market supplies downtown kitchens as well as home kitchens.

Blue corn on Academy Street

The third opening runs on one ingredient. Amasa Mexican Kitchen opened Sept. 18, 2026, at 15 Academy St., Space 1E. It is the newest restaurant from the TQM Hospitality team, the group behind Buena Vida Tapas, Chichería Mexican Kitchen and The Silver Dollar. Owner Juan Calle described the restaurant's foundation to What Now Atlanta this spring: "our masa program, which is made out of organic, non-GMO blue corn. We grind the blue corn every day and press our tortillas fresh daily."

That masa supports a Baja-inspired, seafood-forward menu, and the whole kitchen is gluten-free. On the dinner menu under Chef Joey Vazquez, you'll find ceviche with snapper and shrimp, a tuna tostada, baked oysters with horseradish aioli, and sweet corn esquites with chipotle crema and queso fresco. For a first visit, the "Backpacking Through Baja" tasting menu costs $40 per person or $75 for two and covers chips and dip, an appetizer, two tacos with rice and black beans, and dessert. You can add a margarita flight for $20 or upgrade to steak and lobster tacos for $8 each.

The building also has a rooftop bar. Hours run later than anywhere else in this post: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Lunch is served weekdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and a Sunday brunch buffet runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Before opening, Calle told What Now the brunch would be a Mexico City-style cazuela buffet. He also said the restaurant planned a tequila room, live jazz in the evenings, and events like tequila classes and multi-course tastings.

When each one is open

The hours overlap better than you might expect for a bakery, a shop and a dinner spot.

Sunday afternoon is the tightest window, since Grove and Barrel closes at 5 p.m. Saturday has the most room.

Putting the three into one Saturday

City Center covers 26 acres where Main, Academy, Broad, Market and Commerce streets meet, so all three stops are within a short walk. Amasa's site points drivers to the free parking garage across from the library on Park Plaza and to free street and ground-level spaces near Market St. Park. Park once and walk.

1. Giulia when it opens at 8. Have an espresso and a pistachio croissant, and pick up a sourdough loaf or focaccia for later in the weekend.
2. Grove and Barrel after 11. Taste olive oils and vinegars until you find a pair you like, then grab a bag of rice or pasta and a bottle of wine for the dinner you'll cook at home.
3. A walk. Drop the bags in the car, which is easy if you parked in the Park Plaza garage.
4. Amasa for a late lunch or dinner. Order the tasting menu if you want a sampler, or go straight for the ceviche and tacos. The rooftop bar is open until 11 on Saturdays.

Academy and Haynes Bridge comes next

More food space is planned. According to Awesome Alpharetta, Alpharetta developer Mayfair Street Partners is preparing to begin construction on a mixed-use retail and dining project at the corner of Academy and Haynes Bridge roads. Plans include restaurant space, outdoor patios, and a pedestrian-friendly design meant to connect with the downtown district. No tenants have been named, and no one knows yet whether the new space will lean toward ingredients the way this year's arrivals do. If it does, and if Grove and Barrel's plan to supply local restaurants comes through, downtown's kitchens will be buying from the same shelves as their customers.

If you have a favorite downtown stop that should be on our list, or you want to know which streets put you closest to City Center, Stephanie Patterson and the Cole Team are glad to talk it through. Schedule a Call, and bring your Giulia order recommendations. We're collecting them.