Che Butter Jonez owners talks move from South Atlanta to Brookhaven

Che Butter Jonez, the Atlanta restaurant run by husband-and-wife team Chef Malik Rhasaan and Detric Fox-Quinlan, is planning on moving from Cleveland Avenue in southwest Atlanta to Brookhaven.

But the decision to leave the restaurant’s flagship location did not come easy, said Fox-Quinlan.

“I know it seems a little abrupt because of the announcement that chef made,” said Fox-Quinlan, referring to the Instagram post Rhasaan posted about the move last week . “But we have been dealing with this for quite some time – if I’m being honest, since the onset of signing the lease.”

Che Butter Jonez operates out of the plaza of a gas station located on Cleveland Avenue just off I-85. The area surrounding Cleveland Avenue has gained some notoriety for its connection to deep poverty, as well as violence . Fox-Quinlan said she and Rhasaan have tried to make the area safer and uplift the community – which is also the community they call home – but feel they haven’t been supported by the city or the management company for the location in their efforts.

“It has the potential to be clean and inviting at that corner, if we all got together and really did what was necessary,” Fox-Quinlan said. “Our issue is we don’t. And it looks like, for the most part, it’s always us out there putting ourselves in harm’s way and asking people not to do things that they shouldn’t do at the location.”

Rhasaan has a history in social justice work (he co-founded the organization Occupy the Hood, which aimed to represent the interests of communities of color in the Occupy Wall Street movement), and Fox-Quinlan said she feels the couple has achieved the goals they had with Che Butter Jonez, namely incorporating themselves into their community.

“All the things that my husband said that he wanted to set out and do when he was in social justice work, is what we’ve done with our restaurant,” she said. “We would just have appreciated it if we had a little insight and assistance from the people who could help us make a difference.”

Fox-Quinlan said she has been in contact with management of the Cleveland Avenue location and that she and her husband would like to keep that location open if they can come to an agreement. They hope that the Brookhaven restaurant, which is located at 1602 Lavista Road, will open by September, which is also when they currently plan on closing the Cleveland Avenue location.

In other news for the couple, Butter and Scotch – their new restaurant originally expected to open at the Origin Hotel this summer – is still in the works. Fox-Quinlan said they’re at the mercy of construction, but are hoping to have an opening by the last quarter of this year.

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