What does a chef whose sandwich shop has earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand every year since 2023 do with 500 square feet just off South Park Square? For Todd Ginsberg, it's Two Bells Meats, a burger and cheesesteak counter at 154 Roswell Street, near The Marietta Local, in the space Boru Ramen and Poke Bar used to fill.
Ginsberg's résumé runs through some of Atlanta's best-known dining rooms. He's behind The General Muir, Fred's Meat & Bread, Yalla!, TGM Bread and, most recently, Ida's Kitchen Counter. His Marietta project is the opposite of a big dining room. Everything about it, from the menu to the seating to the hours, is set up for a room where most meals will leave through the front door.
Atlanta magazine describes the plan as an intimate counter-service spot with up to eight barstools along a rail and a few outdoor tables on the Square.
That's the whole room. The Marietta Daily Journal reported that because seating is so limited, Ginsberg expects heavy to-go traffic plus a steady third-party delivery business.
Here's what that means for anyone planning a meal there. Eight stools fill up after a couple of groups. A family of four walking over after a Saturday morning on the Square is more likely to end up with a paper bag than a table. Then it's up to them where they eat. The format is honest about that from the start.
Ginsberg won't be cooking on Roswell Street day to day. Martin Avila, who came up at Fred's, and Noah Richards, from The General Muir, will run Two Bells while Ginsberg works the kitchen at Ida's downtown. His business partner on the project is Josh Kim.
Atlanta magazine's line on the menu is that it's "as concise as its 500-square-foot space is small." Here's what's on it, per that report:
"The menu is super simple," Ginsberg told the Marietta Daily Journal. "We're definitely a meat-centric restaurant."
A short list like that matters for a small kitchen. A few items made over and over move faster across a counter than a long menu does, and a sandwich wrapped in paper travels better than a plated dinner. In the same interview, Ginsberg described his approach: "I try to just keep everything super simple and I try to do things that people have had their whole lives, and I just try to do the best iteration of that specific dish."
His record gives that promise some weight. The Marietta Daily Journal reports that The General Muir was recognized by the Michelin Guide in 2023 and 2024, that Fred's Meat & Bread has held a Bib Gourmand every year since 2023, and that Ginsberg was a James Beard Foundation Best Chef finalist in 2023 and 2024. The Bib Gourmand goes to restaurants that serve high-quality food at reasonable prices, and it's the honor that lines up best with a burger counter.
Two Bells isn't the first business at this address to treat its size as part of the appeal. Here's who has used the space over the past four years:
Tenant | What it served | When |
|---|---|---|
Fox Dogs | Hot dogs | Closed September 2022 |
Boru Ramen and Poke Bar | Ramen, poke, bento boxes | Announced for the space in October 2022, left about August 2026 |
Two Bells Meats | Burgers, cheesesteak, fries | Targeting mid-November 2026 |
When Chirag Patel brought Boru here in 2022 as the second location after his Kennesaw original, he told What Now Atlanta that the Marietta space would be a little smaller than the first, with a cozy feel. "If you think Ramen restaurants in Tokyo or Japan, they're very small, they're very neighborhood driven," Patel said.
Two chefs four years apart looked at the same few hundred square feet and pitched the same thing, a small room with a tight focus that belongs to the neighborhood. Patel pointed to Tokyo noodle shops. Ginsberg's reference is Philadelphia. Either way, the building sets the format, and the menu adjusts to fit it.
Ginsberg didn't land here by accident. The Marietta Daily Journal reported that he had waited two and a half years for a spot on the Square to open up, and that Two Bells was designed specifically for the Gem City. In Atlanta magazine's account, the Square's family-friendly appeal and foot traffic were what drew him, and when the Boru space came open about three months before that Nov. 6 article, he and Kim moved quickly.
Foot traffic is what makes a 500-square-foot carryout counter work. A tiny shop can't count on people driving in for a long dinner. It counts on people already walking past. A corner just off South Park Square puts the order window right on that path.
The name is Marietta's too. Ginsberg wanted a nod to Philadelphia without overdoing it, so Two Bells points to both the Liberty Bell and the church bells near the Square. "When you think of Philly, I think of the Liberty Bell, and then there's a couple churches on the Square, and I thought it'd be great to call it Two Bells," he told the Marietta Daily Journal.
This is also his first project in Marietta. He told the paper he had never done anything here before and is "looking forward to being part of that area."
Even with stools and tables in short supply, Ginsberg wants service to start at the door, with a greeting as soon as you walk in. "When people eat these sandwiches, I want them to feel like they got their money's worth and the experience exceeded expectations," he told Atlanta magazine.
Atlanta magazine reported a mid-November target opening. Ginsberg told the Marietta Daily Journal the plan was to open before Thanksgiving. Once it's running, Two Bells will be open every day from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The restaurant posts opening news and updates on its Instagram, @twobellsmeats.
Starting at 11 a.m. and opening seven days a week gives the counter both lunch and dinner on every day of the week. That includes the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Nov. 28, when the Visit Marietta calendar lists the Marietta Square Farmers Market from 9 a.m. to noon and the Marietta Square Artisan Market from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. If you're at the markets that morning, a 9-ounce ribeye cheesesteak to go is a few steps from the Square, and the counter opens at 11, while both markets are still running.
We love when someone talented picks Marietta Square on purpose and builds something that fits the space they find. If you love being close to the Square, where you can walk to your Saturday market, pick up lunch and get home before the fries cool, the Carlson Orange Team would love to help you find a home that puts you in that kind of distance. Talk to Your Real Estate Family.
