Atomic Cafe Plans Move, Expansion

Atomic Cafe, a cornerstone of downtown Beverly for nearly two decades, plans to move to a new location and expand.

The new location will be 268B Cabot St. - the single-story portion of the former Casa de Moda building, just across the street from its existing location at 265 Cabot St.

The move is planned for February 2015 and is expected to double the space and seating plus add new items to their menu and stay open later, according to an announcement from Beverly Main Streets. Atomic Cafe also said it plans “a few surprises.”

Owners John and Andrew Mahoney have brought a “cool vibe to our downtown” with Atomic Cafe, according to Main Streets every fall, adding that the annual survey of college students each fall finds they always name Atomic as the downtown business they visit most often.

The move has been made possible by a Retail Incentives Grant from Beverly Main Streets, which is designed to “attract specialty retailers to downtown Beverly” into first floor space on Cabot and Rantoul streets. The business can be new to Beverly or, as in the case of Atomic Cafe, it can be an existing business looking to expand. Atomic Cafe is the first business to receive a Retail Incentives Grant.

Main Streets said that not everyone would consider Atomic Cafe “a specialty retail business,” but Main Streets’ Board of Directors found that Atomic “is a magnet for those types of businesses and helping Atomic expand would make it easier to attract new retailers.”