FIVE YEARS OF FUNWOODY
Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 9/15/26
How DASH Hospitality Founder, David Abes, Turned an Aging Courtyard into Dunwoody’s Community Hub
Five years ago, DASH Hospitality Founder David Abes looked at an underutilized courtyard due to long-time vacancy, in the heart of Dunwoody Village. He noticed something that was missing from the rapidly growing Atlanta suburb: a place where the community could gather. His answer wasn’t another retail store or a new mixed-use development. It was to create a collection of welcoming, locally owned restaurants where families, friends, and neighbors could come together, stay awhile, and enjoy not only a meal, but live entertainment, community events, and the simple experience of being together. This October, Funwoody Restaurants will celebrate five years of bringing that vision to life.
When Abes first walked through Dunwoody Village in 2019, he saw a community with plenty of neighborhoods, businesses, and restaurants but no true central gathering place.
He envisioned something different — restaurants that weren’t simply individual destinations, but part of a larger experience. Abes’ model centered five distinct dining concepts around the courtyard, allowing guests to move between restaurants, outdoor seating, live music, sporting events, and community programming. The result is a destination where people routinely stay longer, return frequently, and use the space for purposes far beyond dining.
“In many ways, the restaurants have become the infrastructure for a community that didn’t previously have a central gathering place,” said Abes, founder of DASH Hospitality and Funwoody Restaurants. “We were trying to create a place where people could come together in an approachable way with their kids and enjoy socializing again. But what has happened since my original thought has been bigger than myself and my team could have ever imagined. The restaurants are notable, but the real success is seeing the community make this place its own.”
The Courtyard was renovated including: ample outdoor seating, decorative tree lighting to create a warm atmosphere, patios were extended to create space that is more easily navigated, and it was all with the intention of providing a view of an impressive custom creative 12’x6’ LED screen, and live performance stage. Bar{n} booze {n} bites opened in 2021 and continually serves as the neighborhood watering hole for cocktails, charcuterie, flatbreads, and events. Morty’s Meat & Supply, named after Abes’s grandfather, blends Southern barbecue and New York deli traditions in a casual setting with garage doors that open onto a patio overlooking the courtyard. Message in a Bottle offers a coastal-inspired dining experience inspired by 30A, where Abes had success with inventing The Hub, while most recently {S}table: Comfort Food {n} Cocktails has put a contemporary spin on familiar Southern comfort food complete with a large outdoor covered patio and horseshoes. Good Vibes adds a sweet touch, serving traditional ice cream and ever-popular fizzy sodas that those of age can carry over to Bar{n} to make “fuzzy” at the bar.
Together, these five concepts create something that none of the individual restaurants could create on their own.
The success of Funwoody also illustrates a larger shift in the role restaurants can play in suburban real estate. For Regency Centers, Funwoody has become an example of what is possible when an underutilized property is reimagined around restaurants, experiences, and communities that encourage people to stay longer and visit more than one time a week, unlike traditional retail.
Five Years of Funwoody
Funwoody Turns Five: The Bar{n}iversary
Friday, October 30 | 7 p.m.
The Halloween-themed fifth anniversary celebration will feature live music, costumes, drinks, and a courtyard-wide party:
- Atlanta cover band Jowie will kick off the evening from 7–8 p.m., followed by Family Truckster, Funwoody’s house band, at 8 p.m.
- Guests are encouraged to come in costume.
- The night’s best costume will be chosen by a round of applause at 9 p.m.
- The winner will take home a New Belgium bike valued at $900; Runners-up will receive Funwoody merchandise and gift cards.
- Drink specials will be available throughout the evening from beverage partners Crown Royal, New Belgium’s newly launched Voodoo Ranger, ATL Hard Cider, and Canabzy.
“It’s fitting that we’re celebrating five years with a party,” said Abes. “That’s really what Funwoody has become for the neighborhood: a place where people come together, have fun, and enjoy each other’s company. We’re incredibly proud of the restaurants, but we’re even more proud that this courtyard has become part of the fabric of Dunwoody, which the suburb had never experienced before.”
