What’s Up Dunwoody

Podcast 347 - Dunwoody Isn't Just Known for Perimeter Mall Anymore - Mark Galvin High Street, Ashford Lane, and Campus 244 are changing the way the rest of Atlanta sees Dunwoody. For years, people outside our city knew us for one thing, Perimeter Mall. Now they're coming for the restaurants and the green space, and they're starting to figure out there's a whole lot more here than a mall. Developer...

Podcast 346 - Karate Atlanta Builds Confidence and Leaders in Life - Bonnie Rhodes & James Devins Karate Atlanta has been teaching taekwondo in Dunwoody since 2005, right in the Publix shopping center in the Village. My son trained there years ago, and what stuck with me wasn't the kicks. It was how proud he was when he earned a new belt. They teach everyone from four-year-old Tigers to adults...

Podcast 345 - Sounds of Dunwoody Is Back at the Shops of Dunwoody - Nida Mudd & Miguel Romero Miguel Romero and Nida Mudd are back to talk about year two of Sounds of Dunwoody. We went through the lineup, from Miguel's band, Bad Habits, opening at 4, to a Dunwoody High School band called District 5, the Basement Band and Family Truckster. We also talked about the recent bar crawl that raised m...

Podcast 344 - Ashford Lane Has Become Dunwoody's Event Space - Autry Graham & Bari Holmes Ashford Lane wants Dunwoody to come hang out, and they're spending real money to make it happen. Free movies on the lawn, fall festivals, watch parties, a stage for local nonprofits, and great restaurants steps away. Autry Graham runs marketing for Ashford Lane, and Bari Holmes, a Dunwoody High grad, plan...

Podcast 343 - Wildcat5e Robotics Opens St. Luke's Pumpkin Patch This Week - Lars Dike & Izzy Grant If you've driven down Mount Vernon Road in October, you've seen the giant pumpkin patch in front of St. Luke's. Every one of those pumpkins helps pay for Dunwoody High's robotics team. My nephew Lars Dike and his friend Izzy Grant are both on Wildcat5e, and they walked me through what the team ac...

Podcast 342 - Aritzia at Perimeter Mall, Ashford Lane, and School of Rock Dunwoody - Mark Galvin I asked Mark Galvin, "If a family came to Dunwoody to visit, where's the number one place they should go?" His immediate answer was Ashford Lane, which I love, but I didn't expect it. His next answer was Perimeter Mall, where Aritzia just opened, and Mark swears malls are back. Then we dove deep into a...

Podcast 341 - Free PR and Marketing Tips Every Dunwoody Business Can Use - Dori Mendel - Totally PR I've been doing What's Up Dunwoody since 2018, and I had never once sat down with a PR pro and asked what I'm doing wrong. So I did it on the show. Dori Mendel has spent more than 20 years helping companies tell their story, and she launched Totally PR in Dunwoody seven years ago. A sign she bought...

Podcast 340 - You Don't Have to Be Jewish to Belong at the JCC - Janel Margaretta The JCC has been sitting on the land off Tilly Mill since 1961, back when it was farmland and Dunwoody was still decades away from being a city. It's still a huge part of Dunwoody's culture. Sixty thousand people walk through the doors every year now, and nine out of ten of them tell Janel Margaretta they made a frie...

Podcast 339 - 31 Years of McKendrick's Steak House, and What's New on the Menu - Chef Branden Holte McKendrick's is a Dunwoody institution. Claudia and Doug McKendrick opened it across from Perimeter Mall in 1995. It's been named one of the top five power bars in Atlanta and has won the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence every year since 2003. Servers who've been there more than a decade are still...

Podcast 338 - Varuni Napoli, Rosetta Bakery, and Discover Dunwoody at High Street - Mark Galvin There are not many people I get to talk Dunwoody with the way I talk Dunwoody with Mark Galvin. The man knows everything new. He is the Chief Marketing and Operating Officer at Discover Dunwoody, and once a month we catch up. High Street took up a good chunk of it this time. Varuni Napoli is open, Roset...

Podcast 337 - This Chamblee Gym Is the Next Step in My Son's Basketball Journey - Lee Miller A lot of Dunwoody kids are already playing basketball through the Dunwoody Metro League at Dunwoody United Methodist, Dunwoody Baptist, and Kingswood, or through All Saints' own league. But that's a few months of games and then nothing until next fall. That gap is exactly what got my attention at EHB Chamb...

Podcast 336 - Saints + Council Plans Second Location at Perimeter - William Pitts and Ian Winslade Saints + Council is coming to Perimeter Mall. If you've had brunch at the original in Midtown, you already know why that's a big deal. Saints + Council founder William Pitts and Culinary Director Ian Winslade just held their groundbreaking ceremony on the mall's parking lot outparcel next to Lazy Dog...

Podcast 335 - Building Community in Dunwoody at Crema Espresso Gourmet - Roey Shoshan Thirteen years ago, a small group of friends missing the coffee culture they grew up with back in Israel took over an old butcher shop on Mount Vernon Road and turned it into Crema. Roey Shoshan was one of them, and he joined me to talk about how that little shop became one of the most loved gathering spots in Du...

Podcast 334 - The Low-Key Walk That Became Dunwoody's Newest Community - Jess Zeewy & Delia O'Malley Jess Zeewy and Delia O'Malley were just doing their normal walk around Brook Run Park, until they decided to invite some friends along. 27 Dunwoody women showed up. We talked about their zero expectations philosophy, why admitting adult friendship is hard, and how the group spans every age. Tha...

Podcast 333 - How IHG Became One of Dunwoody's Biggest Community Partners - Colin Macdonald Dunwoody just had its 50th annual 4th of July Parade, and by every account it was the biggest and best one yet. IHG Hotels & Resorts was this year's platinum sponsor, and I sat down with Colin Macdonald, who runs IHG's franchise operations across the U.S. and Canada, to find out why a company headquarte...

Podcast 332 - A New Season, a New Stadium, and Players Who Make Dunwoody Proud - Coach Matt Schmitz Coach Schmitz is back on the podcast, and Dunwoody football is in an exciting spot. It had been almost a year since our last conversation, and the program is heading into year two with real momentum, a returning coaching staff, and nearly a hundred kids on the roster. We covered a lot. Coach talked...

Podcast 331 - Dunwoody's Insider Summer Guide, From the 50th Parade to the World Cup - Mark Galvin After watching the U.S. beat Paraguay in the 2026 FIFA World Cup — one of the most historic wins in U.S. soccer history — the energy around Dunwoody this summer is electric. Mark Galvin of Discover Dunwoody came on the podcast already pumped about the World Cup, and it's easy to see why: local restau...

Podcast 330 - Dunwoody Tavern is Bringing Back their Dunwoody Beer Fest as Tunes and Taps - Huw Thomas & Miguel Romero Huw Thomas has been running pubs in Dunwoody longer than most of us have lived here, and Miguel Romero of Taqueria Los Hermanos has become one of the most beloved anchors at the Shops of Dunwoody. Together, they're bringing back a Dunwoody tradition that drew thousands of peop...

Podcast 329 - Dine Around Dunwoody Brings Food and Music to New Spots Across the City - Tim Brown Food Truck Thursdays is getting a refresh, and DHA President Tim Brown joined me to break it all down. After 15 years as a Dunwoody staple, the Dunwoody Homeowners Association decided it was time to shake things up, and what they came up with is worth getting excited about. Dine Around Dunwoody is the...

Podcast 328 - How Discover Dunwoody Is Selling the City to the World - Mark Galvin Mark Galvin from Discover Dunwoody sat down with me this week, and we got into some fun conversation. With World Cup coming to Atlanta and Dunwoody sitting on its strongest lineup of restaurants, events, and hotels in years, Mark makes the case that his organization has never had a bigger opportunity in front of the...

Podcast 327 - How to Get Involved in Dunwoody’s Nonprofits - Catherine Lautenbacher & Beth Lehman Catherine Lautenbacher and Beth Lehman are back on the podcast with something new to Dunwoody. A volunteer fair. On Friday, May 1st, the First Annual Perimeter Community Volunteer Fair is happening at Dunwoody United Methodist Church from 10am to 1pm, and if you've been meaning to get more involve...

Podcast 326 - Why World-Class Chefs Keep Showing Up to Cook in Dunwoody - Billy Kramer The Burger Benefit is back for one final year, with chefs like George Motz, Vinnie Cimino, Kevin Rathbun, and Freddy Money cooking one-day-only burgers at NFA Dunwoody on May 3rd. Every ticket dollar goes directly to the Giving Kitchen, and tickets just went on sale today. We also got deep into the Dunwoody rest...

Podcast 325 – How to Spot and Stop the Scams Hitting Dunwoody Right Now – Dale Cardwell   People in our community are losing thousands to fake job offers, government grant schemes, and AI voices impersonating family members. Most don't see it coming until it's too late.   Dale Cardwell has spent his whole life protecting people across the Top End of Atlanta. He's lived in this community for 25 yea...

Podcast 324 – High Street Expansion, Perimeter Mall Updates, and Kroger Gas Dunwoody is having a moment, and you can feel it in the steady wave of new businesses, fresh concepts, and cranes in the sky. Mark Galvin from Discover Dunwoody connects the dots on what’s changing around the Perimeter area, and why it all matters for locals. The High Street project is bigger than most people realize, stre...

Podcast 323 – What Dunwoody Parents Need to Know Before the March 26 DHS Meeting – Andrew Ziffer Thursday, March 26th at Dunwoody High School is shaping up to be one of the most important nights for local parents in quite some time. A 6pm meeting gives Dunwoody residents a chance to weigh in on school redistricting plans that could reshape our community. DeKalb School Board member Andrew Ziffer br...