Friday, February 13, 2015

At Long Last... LongHorn Steakhouse to Reopen?

A new LongHorn Steakhouse coming soon?

The fire-damaged LongHorn Steakhouse on North Druid Hills Road was finally demolished earlier this week.  LongHorn Steakhouse, part of Orlando, Florida-based Darden Restaurants, burned last June, and up until this week had sat fenced in, caved in, and abandoned.  
The LongHorn building, which locals say dates to the 70s, was originally a Sambo's, and later a Skeeter's Mesquite Grille, a predecessor to LongHorn.

It remains unclear why over eight months have passed since the fire, and only now is the site being cleared. 

Heidi Schauer, Media Representative for LongHorn Steakhouse, provided the following yesterday:  

"Our landlord for the Toco Hills restaurant began the demolition of the building this week. We expect the demolition process to take two weeks."

"The landlord is in the planning phase of rebuilding the restaurant.  That’s all the information I have at this time."

With other "nearby" LongHorn locations in Tucker on Hugh Howell Road and on Piedmont Road near the Lindbergh MARTA station, many locals are eager to have THEIR LongHorn open once again.  

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm one of the locals eager to have their Longhorn back. The Tucker Longhorn is rather disgusting and something seems wrong about having to valet at the Longhorn at Lindbergh. Thanks for the update!

Anonymous said...

I never valet at Lindbergh. Just park in the deck and have them validate the ticket in the restaurant.

KevinT said...

Would a Bonefish Grill work for that area??

Atlantan99 said...

@Kevin,

When you say "that area," are you speaking of Toco Hills? If so, I would say no seeing as Bonefish already opened and closed in short order at nearby Emory Point.

http://www.tonetoatl.com/2014/02/bonefish-sinks-at-emory-point.html

Thanks for your comments and for your readership.

Anonymous said...

Last month, I asked a former employee of that Longhorn location. They had heard two different stories about the delay in clearing the location. First story was that the landlord's estate was in probate and that was causing the delay in rebuilding. Second story was that the building was underinsured.

For both stories, they heard that the gameplan was to reopen late in 2015 or early 2016.

Of course, take all of the above with a hefty grain of salt.

johnfrazier said...

I really hope that they build this time with outside seating, it would be a big plus.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand the appeal of outside seating at that location. You would basically have just a view of the parking lot and traffic on North Druid Hills Road.

Anonymous said...

Is there any chance Tucker will get a new Longhorn? God knows they need it. It is the busiest place in town. I wonder why they don't buy the empty liquor store next door and make it a much large place with more parking.

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous - same reason the double deck fronting Roswell Road in Sandy Springs is packed?

Anonymous said...

Wow, hard hitting journalism here. You couldn't be bothered to actually learn when the building was built (what, did you ask a couple neighbors?) nor did you actually look into why it took so long to demolish, which I'm sure enough public record requests and calls to the right people could have answered. Sorry you think you can do you job in your PJs. This took absolutely zero effort to write, I could have done it in 10 minutes. This "article" is devoid of any substance and you should be ashamed to call yourself a journalist. You're a blogger hack.

Anonymous said...

According to the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner's website, the 6081 square foot building was constructed in 1978, and an Executor's Deed was filed July 21, 2014. So the theory that probate issues have slowed things down seems reasonable.

Keep in mind that this is a blog, not a New York Times investigative report.

Anonymous said...

and an excellent blog at that. And since you aren't impressed with the posts, who is forcing you to read them?

Anonymous said...

It's a good blog, with news and updates that affect my life (unlike most of the government-fabricated dreck on the major news sites).

After pondering the popularity of the patios of Fellini's and Napoleon's on Lavista, I think a patio can work well. When the weather is good, people like to sit outside. Patios can have walls and nice planters, so you don't really notice the otherwise drab view.

~mindspringyahoo

Anonymous said...

...the outdoor seating area on nice days for the Einstein Bagels right next door is pretty full. Not everyone cares for a view.

Disneypal said...

I'm really hopeful to have Longhorn back in the location.

Unknown said...

The Skeeter's comment is correct if you're saying that Skeeters in this location proceeded Longhorn. However, Skeeters was started by the jr partner of the LH duo once they had a couple of restaurants going. I worked for both of these guys back in the day and went to the opening night of Skeeters. I always thought of Skeeters every time I drove past that location. No more!

Unknown said...

Longhorn is a chain restaurant. I seriously doubt that a patio is part of their concept. I agree it would be nice, but I think it's an option that is out of the running.

BTW, this is a very good blog.

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