Podcast 328 – How Discover Dunwoody Is Selling the City to the World – Mark Galvin

The Dunwoody World Cup push started long before the first match. In Podcast 328, recorded in spring 2026, Mark Galvin of Discover Dunwoody explained how his team marketed the city to fans around the world, why hotels were booking early, and what is new around town. He also set me straight on a restaurant stat.

For the 2026 World Cup, Discover Dunwoody ran Telemundo TV campaigns in Mexico, Argentina, and Spain to draw fans to Dunwoody hotels, with MARTA providing a direct ride to Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Hotels saw unusually early booking pace, and local venues hosted World Cup watch parties.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or watch the full episode above.

Episode Highlights

• Mark Galvin (Discover Dunwoody) corrects the restaurant stat I had been misquoting: 46 new restaurants in 3 years, 17 closures, net gain of 29, not 41 in one year
• Stäge Kitchen and Bar is now open at 110 Campus Way (Campus 244, Dunwoody GA 30346), chef-driven menu, full bar, dinner nightly, lunch starting May 7th
• Discover Dunwoody is running native-language TV campaigns on Telemundo in Mexico, Argentina, and Spain to drive World Cup visitors to Dunwoody hotels via MARTA
• Dunwoody is already showing early hotel booking pacing across World Cup group stages, months ahead of the typical two-week booking window
• Summer events include the Dunwoody Arts Festival (Mother’s Day weekend), the 4th of July Parade with World Cup soccer ball giveaways, and Create Dunwoody’s DoorWoody installation in the Village through May 11th

Setting the Restaurant Record Straight

I have to own something right out of the gate. During a recent episode with NFA Burger owner Billy Kramer, I said Dunwoody had opened 41 new restaurants in one year. Mark sat across from me and, very politely, corrected the record.

The real number: 46 new restaurants in three years. More than 50 in four. Mark has been tracking this since he joined Discover Dunwoody in the summer of 2022. He also tracked the closures, 17 restaurants have shut down in that same window. Net result: Dunwoody has gained more than 30 new restaurants since Mark took the job. Not a fluke. This is a city on the move.

Some closures are worth naming. Panera, Steak and Grace, Gilly’s, Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse, and Breaker’s Korean Barbecue at Perimeter Mall are all gone. Something new arrived each time. Chubby Cattle replaced Breaker’s at the mall. {S}table opened where Steak and Grace used to be. The dining scene is not losing ground, it is cycling through a growth phase most cities around Atlanta would be happy to have.

I have been hosting this podcast long enough to know that getting a stat wrong on air gets corrected. I am grateful Mark does it the way he does, with facts and zero drama.

What’s New in Dunwoody

This is the part of every conversation with Mark I always look forward to, because he tracks new openings the way I track podcast episodes. Carefully, consistently, and with genuine enthusiasm.

Biggest news: Stäge Kitchen and Bar is now open at 110 Campus Way in the Campus 244 development near the Marriott. When we recorded, Mark described it as coming soon. Since then, it has opened. Stäge is a chef-driven concept built around seafood, steaks, pasta, global tapas, and elevated sushi. Full bar, garden patio, and a menu that changes with the seasons. The location is a bit off the beaten path, which means you have to mean it to get there. Worth it. Park in the garage on the third floor for two free hours, call (678) 956-6009, or visit stageatl.com. Lunch service starts May 7th.

Over at Park Place, right next to Cafe Intermezzo, something genuinely new has arrived: Le Faucheur Tearoom. Mark and I both fumbled the name on air, and I will not pretend I have it down now. What I can tell you is the experience is worth going for. You sit down, you get endless tea, and they bring out the classic tiered trays, protein, savory, dessert stacked one on top of the other. The owner has said nobody leaves hungry. Mark visited with his team and called the space stunning. Park Place has been building toward a real comeback, and this kind of addition is exactly what it needs.

Also opening at Ashford Lane: The Daily Pilates. And if you have not been to Louisiana Bistreaux yet, it keeps coming up in conversations as one of the best in Dunwoody.

Summer Events

Dunwoody does events well, and the Dunwoody World Cup summer made the lineup something else.

The Dunwoody Arts Festival is happening Mother’s Day weekend. Discover Dunwoody will have a tent on site. Stop by, grab a free DUN sticker, the removable plastic kind, because other cities charge for these and Dunwoody just hands them out, then scan the QR code for the email list. Everyone who signs up is entered to win an overnight hotel stay, a $200 shopping spree, and a dinner on Discover Dunwoody. Real prize for a two-second signup.

The Dunwoody 4th of July Parade is coming up, and I am co-chairing it alongside Penny Forman. Discover Dunwoody will be on the route with their trolley, which also runs a guided city tour the first Thursday of every month, and yes, I have been a guest tour guide. This year the trolley is handing out mini red, white, and blue soccer balls. The World Cup tie-in is intentional and exactly right.

Over in Dunwoody Village, Create Dunwoody’s DoorWoody project is running through May 11th. Dunwoody High School students built miniature doors now displayed at Village businesses. Storefront art exhibits featuring student work are also up around the area. Both are easy to miss if you are not looking, worth a walk through the Village to find them.

The Soccer Art Wall and World Cup Watch Parties

Rosemary Watts and Create Dunwoody built something worth paying attention to. A soccer art wall, a portable display of hand-painted soccer balls, is traveling to World Cup watch parties across Dunwoody this summer. Rosemary has a way of connecting community art to whatever the city is paying attention to at the moment, and the World Cup timing is inspired.

If you have never been to the Dunwoody Village Comedy Festival, that is also a Rosemary Watts production. It sells out every year. The Village merchants love it. She started it, and she keeps doing it because it keeps working. That is the recipe.

For Dunwoody World Cup watch parties this summer, keep an eye on discoverdunwoody.com for the full calendar and listings. Venues with screens already set up under existing FIFA licensing can show every game. That includes Morty’s, Bar{n}, and Message in a Bottle, three separate restaurants under the Funwoody Restaurant Group, all run by David Abes, who also has a large outdoor screen in the Village. Buffalo Wild Wings and Taco Mac fall in the same category. Watch parties are planned at High Street, Dunwoody Village, Ashford Lane, and Campus 244. World Cup season in Dunwoody is going to be something.

The Dunwoody World Cup Hotel Boost

Here is something that surprised me in the best way. Dunwoody typically sees most hotel bookings come in within two weeks of a guest’s arrival. That is just how this market works, people here do not plan far ahead. So when Mark told me Dunwoody is already showing booking pacing across World Cup group stages, months out, completely out of pattern, I sat up straight.

That kind of early demand is not normal. It is Dunwoody World Cup demand.

Discover Dunwoody has been working to generate it, and the Dunwoody World Cup campaign went international. They partnered with Gray Digital Media, the team behind Assembly Atlanta and Atlanta News First, to run commercials on Telemundo stations in Mexico, Argentina, and Spain. Not English ads with subtitles. Native-language campaigns built for how people actually speak Spanish in each country, because the way it sounds in Mexico is not the same as in Argentina or Spain. The message is the same everywhere: if you are coming to Atlanta for the 2026 World Cup, base yourself in Dunwoody.

The geography backs up the Dunwoody World Cup pitch. Two MARTA stations put Dunwoody on a direct line downtown with no transfer. You can watch the match at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and be back for dinner without sitting in World Cup traffic. Mark’s tagline for group sales says it best: “Above Atlanta and Beyond Expectations.” It is not just a line. It is the pitch, and it is a good one.

What Discover Dunwoody Actually Does

Here is what most Dunwoody residents do not fully understand. Supporting tourism in your city directly reduces what you pay in taxes.

Mark shared a number I have been repeating to everyone since we recorded: visitors coming into Georgia generate tourism taxes that offset $1,200 per year for every single taxpayer in the state. That money comes from people who choose to stay here, eat here, and spend here instead of somewhere else. Discover Dunwoody exists to make sure more of that spending lands in our city.

On the business side, they run a full group sales operation. Their job is to find conferences, associations, and organizations looking for a home base near Atlanta, and pitch Dunwoody as the right place. Four hotels here can handle group business. The Crowne Plaza at Ravinia alone has more than 400 rooms. When a group fills 150 of those rooms, it becomes much easier to fill the rest at market rate. Good for the hotels. Good for every restaurant those visitors eat at during their stay.

Real example: LCJE International chose the Crowne Plaza at Ravinia for their program, selecting Dunwoody over competing cities. That is Discover Dunwoody’s sales team doing exactly what it is there to do.

The PCID

One more piece of the picture worth understanding: the Perimeter Community Improvement District, or PCID.

This is a state-authorized organization funded by commercial property owners in the Perimeter area. They voluntarily pay additional taxes to keep the corridor clean, connected, and maintained. The median work you see along Peachtree Dunwoody Road is PCID. The construction widening the lanes on Ashford Dunwoody near I-285 to improve traffic flow off the bridge is PCID. Their annual meeting, called Envision, is held at Perimeter Summit in Brookhaven. If you run a business in the Perimeter area, Mark says you should be in the room.

I have been showing up for Dunwoody every single week for years now. Conversations like this one remind me why. There is always more happening here than I realize, and there are always people doing quiet, consistent work behind the scenes to make this city better. If you are thinking about living in Dunwoody or working through a Dunwoody real estate decision right now, this is the kind of context that matters. Dunwoody is not just maintaining itself, it is actively being sold to the world.

Why the Dunwoody World Cup Push Matters

As a Dunwoody REALTOR®, I see how visitor dollars help residents. Tourism taxes offset what we pay, and the Dunwoody World Cup push put our hotels, restaurants, and MARTA access in front of fans from around the world. That kind of exposure is good for local businesses and home values alike.

My Take: I will take a correction from Mark any day. Find events, watch parties, and the monthly trolley tour at discoverdunwoody.com.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Dunwoody World Cup Push

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