In 2002, business partners Tim Langell and Joey Romano set out to open The Vintage Tavern. Close friends since going to high school together in New York, they had fallen in love with the city of Smyrna, Georgia, and particularly with the vision of the up-and-coming Smyrna Market Village project. The project cemented the heart of downtown as a live, work, and play community, with emphasis on being easily accessible to the residents of Smyrna and very pedestrian-friendly.