Saturday, June 6, 2020

[SOURCES] Zinburger Permanently Closes All But Three East Coast Restaurants

It seems the COVID-19 pandemic was the last straw for the Zinburger Wine & Burger Bar brand in metro Atlanta and along the east coast.  Seventeen Fifteen of the  brand's eighteen east coast locations have closed permanently, according to multiple well-placed sources, with the lone remaining one, in Clifton, New Jersey, situated in a center controlled by the concept's owner, The Briad Group.  All but the Clifton location have been closed since March 18 with a message indicating then that they would be reopening.  Sources close to the concept indicate that the chain had been "in trouble for several months" leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic.   (As of June 18, the company revealed it has plans to also keep open its relatively new locations in Bridgewater and Marlboro, NJ too.) 
"IN RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 VIRUS, ZINBURGER IS CLOSING ALL RESTAURANTS EXCEPT CLIFTON, NJ EFFECTIVE MARCH 18TH. CLIFTON REMAINS OPEN FOR PICK-UP AND DELIVERY ONLY. WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE, BUT THE HEALTH & SAFETY OF OUR GUESTS AND TEAMMATES IS OUR TOP PRIORITY. WE LOOK FORWARD TO SERVING YOU AGAIN SOON!"

In February, ToNeTo Atlanta exclusively reported that the Zinburger restaurant in Dunwoody at Sterling Pointe would close no later than April 12.   The Dunwoody restaurant is the one location we could find whose phone had not yet been disconnected and which still played the pre-recorded COVID-19 temporary closure message with all other locations phones having been been disconnected or already reassigned.  

Briad purchased the east coast development rights to the Zinburger concept from founder Sam Fox of Fox Restaurant Concepts in 2010.  The first east coast Zinburger opened at Brad's The Promenade Shops at Clifton in December 2010.  (The six Zinburger restaurants in Fox's home market of Arizona remain open.) 

The Briad Group sued mall owner Westfield in late 2019 for what it claimed in its lawsuit was a significant drop in sales and foot traffic due to a a large scale redevelopment and repositioning of the portion of Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey where it has operated since 2012.  According to the suit, the restaurant's owners felt the drop in sales - a reported 20% - would cause it to close long before its lease expiration in 2028.  Pre-pandemic, however, the restaurant remained open, and Westfield itself could now find grounds to sue the restaurant for premature lease termination.   

Despite our findings, all eighteen of Briad's Zinburger restaurants remain listed on the company's website.  (In addition to Zinburger, Briad owns more than 100 Wendy's restaurants and several Hilton and Marriott flagged hotels.)

Parsippany Focus, a Parsippany, New Jersey publication, reported May 29 that not only has their local Zinburger closed, but a new tenant is already renovating the former burger space.  According to to their reporting, Tommy's Tavern + Tap, another local restaurant, has leased the former Zinburger and plans to open in September. 

Overall, eight of the chain's eighteen locations are situated in Simon Property Group owned projects, including the Buckhead outpost at Lenox Square.  Simon, (NYSE:SPG) is up nearly 60 percent over the past month even as its largely high end malls and centers are hit hard by closures, looting, bankruptcies and tenants refusing to pay rent.  

This past week, Simon sued Gap Inc. owner of Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Athleta, for nearly $66 million in unpaid rent and other expenses.  

It's unclear what, if any, action Simon is preparing to take or will take regarding Briad's closures, but the restaurant space at Lenox should be easy to fill given that it will soon be flanked by a shiny new Apple flagship store as well as popular (former sibling concept) True Food Kitchen. 

Interestingly, Joe's Crab Shack, a tenant in Briad's Clifton development, sued the developer this past April alleging that their request for a short-term rent reduction was met with extortion attempts, lockouts and vulgar rants from company CEO Brad Honigfeld.  

What would you like to see open in the Zinburger restaurant spaces in Buckhead and Dunwoody?  What is your favorite "better burger" in metro Atlanta?  Are you stuck with a nearly worthless gift card for Zinburger you purchased at the restaurant, at Sam's Club or that you received as a gift?

Please share your thought below.  

UPDATE 6/18: A message sent to members of the restaurant's VIP club indicates that the company will keep a total of three restaurants open rather than the one location we had previously reported.  In addition to the location in Clifton, the company will also keep open Zinburger locations in Bridgewater and Marlboro, New Jersey.  Both the Bridgewater and Marlboro locations opened in 2019.  

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The food wasn't memorable. I always thought the store in Lenox did well as a "second choice" for those who didn't want to wait for True Food Kitchen. (Like me)

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed zin burger. I hate to see it go

Karen G said...

We tried dining there twice, and both times were TERRIBLE!! Very slow; bad service. Swore to never go back!

Anonymous said...

We liked it, but it was never busy in there, no matter what time we came in.

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