Taco Mac to Reopen Oct. 15 After Renovation

After 11 years, the Taco Mac in downtown Decatur has undergone a metamorphosis.

The Alpharetta-based sports bar chain, known for its wings and plethora of beers, closed the restaurant for 10 weeks this summer while it underwent a ceiling-to-floor renovation.

It opened Oct. 14 for a sneak preview with a grand reopening scheduled at 4 p.m. on Oct. 15.

One of the chain’s most successful outlets, the company said a sprucing up of the space was overdue.

“It was beginning to show a lot of wear and tear,” Taco Mac chief executive Bob Campbell told Decatur-Avondale Estates Patch.

 “We felt it was time to spend some money and get the place looking right.”

Taco Mac hired ai3, the architectural and design firm behind several Atlanta restaurant spaces, including Gunshow in Ormewood Park and 4th & Swift in Old Fourth Ward, to bring the transformation to life.

The ai3 consultants, Amy K. Price and McLean Jenkins, took the 7,000-square-foot space with the aim of opening it up and making better use of natural light.

Among the biggest changes:

• The bar, which had been tucked in the back, now runs the right wall with 100 beer taps from the prior 90
• The bar’s slick, new countertop has bits of beer bottle glass embedded within it
• The back area has been converted into a family dining area adjacent to the game room
• The patio, which had been on the side, overlooking the parking lot, has been moved to the front on West Ponce de Leon Avenue
• The old patio area is now the sunroom and enclosed in glass to allow plenty of natural light to come through
• The family room is offset from the main dining area by a divider embedded with 2,000 bottles of the Sweetwater 420
• The floor is redone with reclaimed gym floors
• Gone are the old imposing booths which have been replaced with a more more open design with seating increased to 210 seats from 196