Tuesday, August 5, 2014

LongHorn in Limbo

Local LongHorn reopening timetable unknown.

The Toco Hills location of LongHorn Steakhouse was destroyed in a early morning fire two months ago today.  The cause of the blaze has not been made public and the decimated building sits idle, as yet undemolished.  

A number of readers have asked via comments and emails for an update as to when the restaurant will reopen.  While there is a message on review site Yelp.com claiming the LongHorn would reopen September 30th, I've verified that is most definely untrue.  

LongHorn is part of the Orlando-based restaurant juggernaut Darden Restaurants.  I contacted Heidi Schauer, media relations contact for the LongHorn brand, to inquire about the reopening timetable.  Unfortunately, Ms. Schauer claimed she could neither confirm nor deny when or if the Toco Hills LongHorn would reopen.  Ms. Schauer did state that an update should be available "soon."  

Darden Restaurants also owns  Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, The Capital Grille, Eddie V's, and Yard House.  Darden completed the sale of their former flagship brand, Red Lobster, to Gold Gate Capital last month in a deal valued at $2.1 billion.  Late last month, Darden Chairman & CEO Clarence Otis announced he was stepping down, but will stay on as CEO until a successor is named or December 31, whichever comes first.  Otis joined Darden in 1995.  

10 comments:

The Anti-Gnostic said...

I remember when you could still see George at the bar in the Buckhead location. Never should have taken that company public but I'm sure the money was too good.

OT: Why are there no QuikTrips in City of Atlanta--or am I wrong about this?

I'm not aware of a single location in Atlanta city limits. There must be a reason for this.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update. Will be very.sad if it doesn't reopen. This part of town has too few restaurants already.

peaches30305 said...

@The Anti-Gnostic

QT on Sydney Marcus in Buckhead

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your followup. Hopefully they reopen. I've lived in the area for 18 years and would only go a few times a year, but it was nice to have it in the area. In its absence we went to the Outback across the street last Friday and I was very surprised to see there was no wait on a Friday at 6:30.

There are way too many "fast casual" spots in the area now. The Oakgrove area seems to be doing well with mid-range options, but the rest of N. Druid Hills could use a few more options. Maybe someday someone will do something with the hole in the ground that is the intersection of Briarcliff and Clairmont.

Atlantan99 said...

@The Anti-Gnostic RE: QuikTrip,

I believe the one previously mentioned on Sidney Marcus is within the city limits and possibly even the QT at Briarcliff Road near Clifton Road. I think overall the cost of real estate makes it difficult for gas stations to open in the city, especially now given they require larger parcels than ever.

Thanks for your comments and continued readership.

The Anti-Gnostic said...

Thanks, mates. I had forgotten Sidney Marcus.

QT's model requires a large spread, and all the lots in town are small. So we end up with a lot of marginal places run on a shoestring, all slitting each other's throats. Something I wish the High Density Gospel-crowd would keep in mind.

Anonymous said...

The Briarcliff & Clifton QT is in Dekalb county, so not within the city limits. The one on Druid Hills & Briarcliff is even closer to the city limits but still not there.

There are places where a QT could go in the city, the Racetrac on Bolton & Marietta Blvd has enough space, along with the cheapest gas anywhere in the city and they beat most OTP places too!

Oh and to the guy talking about the "hole in the ground" at Briarcliff & Clermont... you mean, where there's now a nice new shiny.... QT? :)

Mary said...

The QT is great, but you have to admit that the Williamsburg Village shopping center could use a facelift.

Anonymous said...

The DeKalb County Tax Commissioner's website lists the owner of 2892 North Druid Hills Road (where the burned-out LongHorn sits) as Yvonne Tillem, Frosty Acres CA LLC, 201 Allen Rd #300, Atlanta GA 30328. She may have more info. Their tax bill for 2013 was $20,531.20, so it would seem unlikely they would want it to just sit there in its current state for long.

Anonymous said...

They finally started clearing away the fire damaged building this week. Perhaps there's a plan in place to rebuild now?

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