Always looking to the next move in his sandwich empire master plan, gay actor-turned-restaurateur Mitchell Anderson pounces on the chance to double the size of his Midtown Promenade flagship.
“The opportunity came up and we jumped,” Anderson (top photo, left) tells Midtown Patch about using the former Jersey Mike’s Subs space adjacent to MetroFresh. “We’re very excited.”
Plans are to knock out the wall adjoining the two spaces, which will result in the restaurant’s size doubling to about 2,500 square feet. The size of the kitchen will also increase two-fold to help MetroFresh, which last year opened a second location in Midtown’s Atlanta Botanical Garden, meet the growing demands of its customer base.The prospective plans also include a whole new design to hopefully attract more dinnertime diners. Look for a bigger patio, as well as direly needed interior seating, too. Construction could begin as soon as late November. Also expanding are the menu and schedule options, according to Anderson.
A change will occur in the mornings, too. Currently, MetroFresh serves breakfast on weekdays beginning at 7 a.m. Mitchell says that will soon extend to Saturdays with a Sunday brunch, too.Yum. But tasty, health-conscious soups, over-stacked sandwiches and daily specials aren’t the only reasons we can’t stop watching Anderson. Besides serving local celebs as far back as former Mayor Shirley Franklin, he also supports LGBT causes and plays rounds of PALS Bingo at Jungle with lesbian gal-pal Amanda “Marcy Darcy” Bearse. Of course, we also keep an eye out when he is shoulder-to-shoulder as half of a gay Atlanta power couple. His partner is hair-burner to the stars and hunk photographer Richie Arpino (photo, right). Anderson made an impression on all of us as the violin teacher on “Party of Five” and the mad-as-hell gay guy in "Relax, It's Just Sex..." but that was so a million years ago. Now that he’s part of the fabric of gay Atlanta, we say “Bon Appetit” to Anderson’s latest effort to bring the fat, fresh sandwiches to the people.
