The building at 361 E. Main St. is more than 100 years old. For years it was home to C'est la Vie, a French restaurant. Since Monday, July 6, it has been Flatlands Bourbon & Bayou, a Louisiana kitchen with about 30 tables, room for roughly 110 people and seating outside. Owner Tyler Cook described the dining room to the Cherokee Tribune-Ledger as two rooms in one.
"The goal was to transform it with a French Quarter and Bayou feel. Half the restaurant is French Quarter and the other side, which I call the swamp side, is more like the Louisiana Bayou."
Flatlands is the only one of Canton's 2026 food openings on Main Street. The others are in three other parts of town: a drive-thru on Marietta Highway, a counter at The Mill on Etowah, and a shopping center going up on Hickory Flat Highway. They also keep very different hours. One opens at 7:30 in the morning, one closes Mondays, and one serves dinner only and hasn't opened yet. Taken together, their posted hours run from breakfast to a late dinner.
7:30 a.m. at The Mill on Etowah
The day starts at The BLEND Nutrition Bar, which the Cherokee Tribune covered on Oct. 8. It sits inside The Mill at 225 Reformation Parkway and serves protein shakes, loaded energy teas, other drinks and snacks. Rachelle Henley owns and runs it with her family.
On weekdays it opens at 7:30 a.m., earlier than any other spot here. It closes at 8 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and at 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Saturday hours run 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday hours 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. That means the same counter covers a pre-work stop on a Tuesday and a late Sunday evening at The Mill.
The Mill's evening addition is still on the way. Little Alley Steak, the steakhouse's fourth metro Atlanta location, is planned for the same 225 Reformation Parkway address. In July the Cherokee Tribune-Ledger reported a target of late 2026 or early 2027, with dinner seven nights a week. The menu centers on dry- and wet-aged Black Angus steaks, with seafood, bourbon and wine. The Mill's food page still lists it as "coming soon." For now, The Mill's newest tenant serves the morning and its steakhouse is still a sign.
10 a.m. on Marietta Highway
By midmorning the next stop is a drive-thru on SR 140. Soundtrack Soda Co. opened at 3350 Marietta Highway, the former Biskit Barn, at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12. It started as drive-thru only. Founder Whitley Hampton, a Cherokee County native, told the Cherokee Tribune-Ledger she hoped to add indoor seating later. She ran the concept at markets, festivals and community events for a little over a year before taking the building.
Everything on the menu is non-alcoholic: dirty sodas, fruit refreshers, lemonades, specialty energy drinks and seasonal drinks that rotate. The names come from music:
- Crowd Surf, made with Dr Pepper, peach, vanilla and cream
- Orange Nirvana, an orange-and-vanilla cream soda
- Strawberry Fields, a strawberry-and-vanilla cream soda
- Indie Glow, made with Sprite, lavender and blueberry
- Dotted Note, a cake-inspired dirty soda with cold foam and dot sprinkles
Soundtrack keeps afternoon hours. It's open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday. It's closed Monday. Hampton told the Tribune-Ledger she wants the shop to work for teenagers, parents stopping by with kids, and friends meeting up. Those hours line up with the after-school and errand stretch of the day, and they end before dinner downtown begins.
11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on East Main
Flatlands covers lunch and dinner. It's open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. On a Monday, when Soundtrack Soda is closed, Flatlands is the one new spot here serving both lunch and dinner.
The menu goes deep into Louisiana: po' boys, shrimp and grits, Catfish Pontchartrain, Louisiana Cajun fried chicken, crawfish étouffée, a gouda burger and a spicy chicken sandwich. There are also soups, salads, gumbo, oysters, jambalaya, crawfish mac and cheese and seafood baskets. Dessert is beignets or a chocolate cake. The restaurant also does takeout and catering, and Cook said delivery may come later.
The owners have ties to this side of the county. Courtney and Tyler Cook opened their first Flatlands in Alpharetta about 10 years ago and also own Southern Porch there. Tyler Cook told the Tribune-Ledger they used to live in Hickory Flat, both of their children were born here, and they had been watching the East Main building for over a year before it became available. He also said the family has roots in Baton Rouge and Lafayette, which explains the menu.
Wednesday, Nov. 4, in Hickory Flat
The fourth location is the newest. Cherokee County officials, D&G Development Group and other partners broke ground on Hickory Flat Marketplace, and the developer's renderings named Panda Express and Chicken Salad Chick among its businesses.
Chicken Salad Chick opens first, at 6391 Hickory Flat Highway, at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 4. That's later than first planned. In September, What Now Atlanta reported the company-owned restaurant was aiming for mid-October. General Manager Cindy Elliot will run the location. It will be open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with dine-in, drive-thru, takeout, third-party delivery and catering.
According to the grand-opening announcement published by ScoopOTP, the giveaways run over four days:
- Wednesday, Nov. 4: The first 100 guests get free chicken salad for a year. The first guest in line gets one free Large Quick Chick a week for 52 weeks, and guests 2 through 100 get one a month for 12 months.
- Thursday, Nov. 5: The first 100 guests who buy a meal with two sides get a tote.
- Friday, Nov. 6: The first 50 guests who buy a meal with two sides get a hat.
- Saturday, Nov. 7: The first 50 guests who buy a meal with two sides get a dish towel.
The opening-day prize comes with conditions. Guests need the Chicken Salad Chick app, must be 16 or older, and must buy a meal with one side or anything of greater value. The first free item arrives in the app the Monday after opening day and has to be used within 30 days. Before opening, the restaurant's friends-and-family events raise money for Make-A-Wish Georgia.
The ones still behind a "coming soon" sign
Chicken Salad Chick slipped by a few weeks. Its neighbors slipped further. In August, What Now Atlanta reported that Little Rosa's Pizza was coming to 6375 Hickory Flat Highway, with the center expected to open in fall 2026. The menu is New York-style pizza, specialty pies, heroes, salads and pastas. Little Rosa's own site now lists its Hickory Flat Marketplace store for spring 2027. Caribou Coffee has been reported for the same address but hasn't announced an opening date.
Across all four parts of town, here's the calendar as it stands this week:
- Open now: The BLEND Nutrition Bar at The Mill, Soundtrack Soda Co. on Marietta Highway, and Flatlands Bourbon & Bayou on East Main
- Nov. 4: Chicken Salad Chick, Hickory Flat Marketplace
- Late 2026 or early 2027: Little Alley Steak at The Mill, the most recent estimate reported
- Spring 2027: Little Rosa's Pizza, Hickory Flat Marketplace
- No date announced: Caribou Coffee, Hickory Flat Marketplace
Marietta Highway has a spring 2027 date of its own. The City of Canton is building a 5-acre park off Marietta Highway in South Canton. Its February update forecast a spring 2027 opening, with a playground, amphitheater, pavilion, tree skywalk and separate dog areas. Little Rosa's and the park share the same target season, and both dates are still forecasts.
Each of these openings changes what's a short drive from a given Canton street, and that comes up when a home's value is discussed. If you'd like to know how your part of town looks right now, The Martin Group is glad to talk it through with you. Get a Free Home Valuation, and we'll walk you through the number and what's behind it.
