"Go down the local access road, go to the second U-turn, go through the U-turn and take the first right on Burbank Circle and then go through the neighborhood to get to Old South." That is how Joy Llewallyn explained the route to her family's restaurant in a FOX 5 Atlanta report. The trip used to be a single turn onto Burbank Circle off Windy Hill Road, with a traffic light right outside the restaurant. The Windy Hill rebuild removed that light, and the old turn went with it.
Smyrna's next eight weeks are crowded. Downtown has a city event almost every week from mid-October to early December. Off Windy Hill near South Cobb Drive, the city's oldest restaurant is still serving chopped pork and Brunswick stew four days a week, has been listed for sale since July, and sits behind a road that now gets you there differently. Only some of the downtown dates fall on days Old South is open.
The road is done, and the directions changed with it
The project is Windy Hill Road, listed as X2402 in Cobb County's SPLOST reports. It's a joint county and city project with the City of Smyrna in the lead. It rebuilds the old five-lane stretch from South Cobb Drive to Atlanta Road into four express lanes, frontage roads, bicycle lanes and pedestrian paths. Cobb's October 2026 SPLOST status report calls the roughly $23 million project "substantially complete" with all lanes of traffic open. The city's original Windy Hill Boulevard concept described widening, medians, intersection changes and pedestrian improvements.
With all lanes open, Old South is still publishing the frontage-road and U-turn directions. The restaurant's own website puts its location "one block east off S. Cobb Drive on Windy Hill Road." It repeats "Windy Hill Rd. traffic has changed" down the page above a "NEW Routes" guide for drivers coming from South Cobb Drive or from either direction on Windy Hill. The FOX 5 directions above match the eastbound trip: take the local access road, make the second U-turn, turn right onto Burbank Circle and finish through the neighborhood.
Still open, and listed since July
Helen and Jim Llewallyn opened Old South Bar-B-Q at 601 Burbank Circle SE in 1968. Their daughter Joy runs it now. FOX 5 described walls covered with photos of regulars, some of whom have been coming for decades. According to the restaurant's site, pork, chicken and ribs are smoked over hickory or oak and served with Brunswick stew, barbecue beans and slaw.
In July, Smyrna Local reported that the restaurant and its standalone building were listed for sale together as a turnkey business, with equipment and trained staff included. The outlet called it widely considered the oldest restaurant in Smyrna and pointed to the stew and to the sauce, which is also sold by itself. The same report found no closing notice and no announcement from the family. It also pointed out that a for-sale listing means an owner is open to offers, not that a deal is done or a closing date is set. As of this month the listing is still public, and nothing published since July reports a sale.
Old South's site lists these hours:
- Wednesday through Saturday: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Sunday through Tuesday: closed
- Holiday closings: Easter Sunday and Christmas
The phone number is still (770) 435-4215.
The downtown calendar, sorted by whether Old South is open
October 12 is a Monday. Every downtown date below falls on a known day of the week, so it's easy to see which ones overlap with Old South's hours. Downtown events are listed from the City of Smyrna's calendar.
- Friday, Oct. 16: Spooky Festival, 6 to 9 p.m., Market Village. There's trick-or-treating at Market Village, a pet parade at 6:30 and a 7 p.m. double feature at Village Green Park. Admission is free. The city's October calendar lists nothing on Halloween itself, so this is the city's main Halloween event. Old South: open until 8, so an early dinner fits before the 6 p.m. start.
- Saturday, Oct. 17: Blanket Concert Series, Blair Crimmins & The Hookers, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., the Reed House. This concert is also free. Old South: open. Pick-up from Burbank Circle can travel to a blanket on the lawn.
- Sunday, Oct. 18: Final Smyrna Market of the season, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Vendors set up on West Spring Street and King Street by City Hall. The Sunday season began May 3 and ends with this date. Old South: closed.
- Saturday, Oct. 24: Crafts & Drafts, Day 1, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The festival brings 150 arts-and-crafts booths, food booths, live music and children's activities around City Hall, Market Village and Village Green Park at 1250 Powder Springs Street SE. Admission is free. Old South: open. Of all the festival days this fall, this is the one where both run through the afternoon.
- Sunday, Oct. 25: Crafts & Drafts, Day 2, noon to 5 p.m. Old South: closed.
- Wednesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day ceremony, 10:45 a.m., Twentieth Century Veterans Memorial, 2800 King Street SE. The city lists conflicting end times. The event header says 11:50 a.m., while the description says 11:50 p.m. Old South: opens at 11, so lunch after the ceremony works.
- Thursday, Nov. 12: Girl's Night Out, 6 to 9 p.m., with participating businesses in Market Village. Old South: open until 8.
- Tuesday, Dec. 1: Home for the Holidays, 5 to 9 p.m., Market Village. Choirs perform, Santa lights the tree, and a Kris Kringle Market is planned. Old South: closed.
- Saturday, Dec. 5, and Sunday, Dec. 6: Smyrna Holiday Market, Brawner Hall, 3180 Atlanta Road. Saturday runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday opens at 11 a.m., and the city lists both 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. as the closing time. Old South: open Saturday, closed Sunday.
That's six of the 10 event days on days Old South is open. Every Sunday event and the tree lighting fall on its days off.
Two newer stops on the south side
Dumpling Crown opened July 8 at 4924 South Cobb Drive SE, Suites D & E, according to Smyrna Local. It serves soup dumplings, dim sum, noodles and tea drinks. Rough Draft Atlanta's July openings roundup also lists it as open. It sits on the same South Cobb Drive corridor that Old South's route guide starts from.
Toward the Cumberland side, Nick and Erica Zinkie opened Riverline Coffee at 2778 Cumberland Boulevard SE. It serves specialty coffee, pastries, tea and matcha, and held its grand opening and ribbon-cutting Aug. 8, What Now Atlanta reported. On Sundays, when Old South and the Smyrna Market are both closed for the season, Riverline is one of the newer morning options on the map.
Openings that haven't happened yet, and the next road change
Two announced openings were still unconfirmed when this was written:
- Kupcakerie, 2517 Spring Road, Suite 102. Co-owners Henry and Kascha Adeleye were aiming for late August. Smyrna Local's Aug. 31 preview said no firm date had been announced. The Cobb County Courier described the Smyrna site on Sept. 5 as planned for late September. No opening has been confirmed since then.
- New York Butcher Shoppe, 4600 West Village Place, Suite 3001. Franchise owners Robert and Kelly Smith announced the location in August. The company's Smyrna page still says "coming soon," with no date.
The next traffic change on the south side is further out. A separate City of Smyrna and GDOT proposal for South Cobb Drive from Concord Road to Windy Hill is still at the concept stage, and the city's project page lists an anticipated start in 2028. It isn't the reason the Old South route changed, and it won't affect this year's calendar.
If you own near Windy Hill, South Cobb Drive or Market Village and want to know how this year's changes show up in your home's price, Anet Granger can walk you through it street by street. Get your free home valuation.
