Chef Shaun Doty has closed The Best Sandwich Shop just over a year after it opened in Poncey-Highland. The closure of the popular sandwich spot on Ponce de Leon Avenue comes five months after the closure of The Wurst Beer Hall next door.
Doty and his business partners closed the tiny sandwich shop on Sunday, May 26, announcing the decision on Memorial Day via social media.
“This decision was incredibly difficult,” Doty said in the Instagram post. “We have poured our hearts into this restaurant, and it has been very rewarding to be the go-to spot for so many in the neighborhood. We’ll be handing off the location to a prominent local operator to fill the building with something that better suits the space.”
When reached for further comment on the closure, a representative speaking on behalf of Doty and his partners added that “ultimately the decision [to close] was a personal one.” They have not decided whether to open The Best Sandwich Shop elsewhere in Atlanta and declined to provide details on the “prominent local operator” taking over both restaurant spaces.
Doty opened The Best Sandwich Shop and The Wurst Beer Hall last spring in a former Moe’s Southwest Grill on Ponce de Leon Avenue. The small sandwich shop quickly became known and praised for its sandwiches like the Enzo with ham, soppressata, and mortadella, chicken parmesan made with mozzarella from Atlanta shop Capella Cheese, and The Philly with marinated roast pork topped with broccoli rabe, provolone, and oregano mayo.
The Wurst Beer Hall closed nine months later due to “underperformance.” Doty had considered opening another restaurant there. That never came to fruition.
Doty owns Federal Burger at Politan Row food hall in Midtown. He also owns locations of Bantam and Biddy, including at Ansley Mall in Atlanta, at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport on Concourse C, and in Chattanooga.
As for what Doty has planned next, the chef said he will focus on his family and his remaining restaurants.