It’s noon on a Wednesday in Atlanta. The dining room at Minhwa Spirits, a soju distillery in Doraville, feels like a living room. People are slumped in padded chairs, typing on laptops and leaving rings of purple ube coffee on the table. The same room becomes dimly lit in the evening, with cocktails flying from the green-tiled bar, with a palpable uhn-tiss uhn-tiss energy.

For Minhwa Spirits’ owners, staying open all day was a strategic decision. “We decided foot traffic would be minimal for a distillery/brewery during the day, so a coffee house would help activate the space and build community,” says co-owner Ming Han Chung. “It’s partly why we call it the Jumak, which is a historical rest stop/inn in Korea where people drank, ate, stayed, and shared stories.”

Recently, there’s been a boom in Atlanta’s dining scene, with more restaurants moving toward casual, all-day models that can shapeshift to meet customer demands at any hour. These restaurants follow in the footsteps of places like Staplehouse and Star Provisions — foundational restaurants that have long demonstrated that casual formats can prioritize ingredient sourcing, seasonality, and hospitality in an all-day atmosphere.

And it’s not just Atlanta. In Chicago, hybrid spots like Daisies, Buttercup, Cafe Yaya, and even Fulton Market newcomer Bar Tutto are crowd-pleasers, no matter what time of day. In Miami, the team behind Macchialina opened Bar Bucce with an all-day deli counter, pizzeria, bar, and market. The idea of a third space has long been romanticized — a place that isn’t home or work, but somewhere to linger, engage with neighbors, and eat really great food. Restaurants across Atlanta are now making that vision a reality, embracing breakfast, lunch, and dinner with highly edited menus, and most items hovering under $20.

The timing makes sense. Atlanta is the top city in the nation for remote workers, with a quarter of the workforce working from home, according to a ranking by Coworking Cafe. As daily routines loosen and workdays become more flexible, restaurants are stepping in to fill the gaps.

Kinship Butcher and Sundry in Virginia-Highland is a neighborhood staple that caters to all-day needs. Known for its locally sourced meats, the shop is a collection of experiences wrapped into one: an Academy Coffee bar, a compact market, and a destination for the city’s best breakfast sandwich that draws weekly lines of regulars.

“We have become a space for all interests at all times of day, some regulars visiting us three times a day for a coffee, then for lunch, and then a bottle of wine or some groceries for dinner,” says Myles Moody, co-owner of Kinship. “We can meet people at the exact moment in time and need they come to us for. I think it makes us a fixture in our guests’ lives, and people want a place that feels like an extension of their lives, their home.”

More restaurants are also adopting a less-is-more approach. Necessary Purveyor at Ponce City Market, open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. most days, and Sammy’s in Adair Park, open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. most days and until 7 p.m. on Fridays, are keeping the choices narrower even though the hours are longer. Standouts like the former’s Don Theo sandwich, stacked with pistachio-studded mortadella and burrata, prove that simplicity, when done right, is enough.

“The menu is small because we put time and care into every step. Sometimes it doesn’t feel small because of all the work we put into making everything taste good,” says Sam Pinner, who owns Sammy’s alongside Jason Furst. Their menu sports just eight sandwiches, and two of them are breakfast sandwiches, which signals fine-tuning, and it comes with pressure. With so few options, every item has to earn its place. If there’s a Cuban sandwich on the menu, it has to be the best one in the city.

“Thanks to the people from all the different countries who have brought us all the delicious food that we draw inspiration from at Sammy’s — bolillos, chutney, cappuccinos, Cuban sandwiches, and pastrami to name a few,” Pinner adds.

Casual sibling restaurants are proliferating

Several of the restaurants expanding into all-day dining in Atlanta are also Michelin-starred restaurants. Chef Anne Quatrano of Bacchanalia operates Star Provisions and is preparing to open Summerland, a fine-dining restaurant and bakery coming to Upper West Market. Chef Brian So of Spring in Marietta recently debuted Spring 2nd Branch, a striking departure from his fine-dining restaurant. Here, So serves homey Korean soups and stews in a relaxed dining room open all day.

“It seems like fine dining is still having its moment, but I can see some fatigue growing from consumers,” says So. “I think that value is the most important thing and what we strive for in both restaurants. What value looks like is completely different between the two, though.”

Furst sees the same bifurcation playing out across the city. The current economy, he says, has pushed dining out into two growing camps: luxury and value.

“The economy is squeezing the middle class. The wealthy can still afford luxury meals, so you see the success of omakase and fine dining restaurants with limited seating and high-dollar check averages,” says Furst. “On the other hand, most folks are feeling the strain caused by inflation and other economic and political factors. Life generally feels more isolated for most people. You can come to Sammy’s, get great food at a reasonable price, and interact with really kind people, both staff and customers alike.”

Are all-day restaurants profitable?

As appealing as the all-day model is, it comes with real challenges. Staffing a restaurant from morning through night adds up, especially when the lunch rush isn’t much of a rush at all.

“So far, our biggest hurdle is getting a consistent volume of guests in on weekdays, especially once January hit,” says So about Spring 2nd Branch. “For more casual spots, it’s all about volume; for fine dining, such as Spring, it’s about maintaining ticket averages. Food and labor costs are completely different between Spring and Spring 2nd Branch. It’s all about the balance that makes it work.”

The balancing act is also seen on the other side of the table, in diner appetites.

“On one end, diners are looking for unique experiences that they can’t get at home … Food becomes a status symbol to show off,” says Chung. “On the other end, I think diners are also looking for places that have a more natural personality and vibe, places they can go over and over again and be themselves.”

Minhwa toes the line between the two needs: offering a unique experience, but also one people can revisit. Frequent pop-ups keep the energy exciting and food rotating. And over time, Chung and Furst agree, it becomes profitable.

“The [all-day] model does work. For Sammy’s to work, we need a certain level of volume for the model to be sustainable. Volume doesn’t happen right away,” says Furst. “In the beginning, there were days when we’d see only one guest for the first couple of hours. It would have been easy to say, ‘Welp, let’s just open at 9 a.m. instead of 7 a.m.’ Instead, talk with that one guest. Make them feel welcome. Share your true self with them. Get the guest good food and coffee. They will come back.”