Wednesday, September 2, 2020

[UPDATE] Jason's Deli Shutters Short-lived Sandwich Shop in Suburban Shopping Center

Jason's Deli has permanently closed its restaurant in East Cobb.  The restaurant, located in the Target-anchored Merchants Festival shopping center, opened in late 2018.  A combination of lower than expected sales since opening and the affects of the COVID-19 pandemic reportedly caused first a temporary closure, but now the permanent closure of the 6,900 square foot restaurant at 1401 Johnson Ferry Road, near its intersection with Roswell Road.  

Jason's Deli is now the second restaurant, and at least the third tenant in the popular center  to shutter in just the last few months.  Pier 1 Imports closed their roughly 8,500 square foot store in the center earlier this year as part of the retailer's complete liquidation following their chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.  In late February, Black Swan Tavern, part of Dunwoody Restaurant Group, also closed in the center.  The bar and restaurant, which had opened in a 2,860 square foot space within the center in late 2017, closed as of February 27, according to a report by East Cobb News.  

The closure of the East Cobb Jason's Deli is at least the second known permanent closure in metro Atlanta for the Beaumont, Texas-based company.  ToNeTo Atlanta reported August 8 that Jason's Deli had permanently closed its restaurant on Medlock Bridge Road in Johns Creek.  At the time, the East Cobb restaurant as well as the Jason's in Cumberland Mall, were both listed on the company website as "temporarily closed."  The Cumberland Mall location still indicates it is temporarily closed, while the East Cobb location has been removed from the website entirely.  

Jason's Deli is the second national chain restaurant to close near the intersection of Johnson Ferry and Roswell Roads in just the past sixty days.  California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) closed their restaurant in the Trader Joe's-anchored Pine Straw Place shopping center June 30 after about thirteen years in business. 

A siteplan for Merchants Festival was updated last week by Coleman Morris of JLL who is handling leasing of the center.  Interestingly, despite its recent update, Jason's Deli is still shown as a tenant, which could indicate that like Black Swan before it, there are legal issues preventing the removal of the restaurant and acceptance of their likely early lease termination. 

When Jason's Deli East Cobb opened, it did so in a space that had for a short time been home to an outpost of locally owned, now bankrupt, Sage Social Kitchen & Bar.  Before Sage, the space was also for a short time home to a "relocated" Chequers Seafood + Steak which had replaced longtime tenant and sibling concept Houlihan's.

Sixteen other Jason's Deli locations in Georgia remain open including metro Atlanta outposts in Buckhead, Alpharetta, Decatur, Tucker, Midtown, Kennesaw and Peachtree Corners, among others.  

Are you surprised that Jason's Deli closed in East Cobb?  What is your favorite East Cobb area restaurant?  What would you like to see open in place of Black Swan Tavern and Jason's Deli in East Cobb?

Please share your thoughts below  

10 comments:

Irish Koi said...

Very sad they had to close.

Anonymous said...

Your first new report in 13 days. Glad you're back.

Daniel said...

This location was doing poorly before the COVID crisis hit. I visited a number of times and never saw much traffic. The location has poor sightlines to the main road and is also difficult to access. I never understand how restauranteurs can see that a location has had three failed restaurants before it and think that they'll somehow be successful.

East Cobb's stubborn resistance to any new density will mean more and more failed retail and restaurant centers. Just look at the commotion surrounding the development near Sprayberry HS. The neighborhoods complained for years about the decrepit shopping center there. Now that there is a developer making a proposal they complain that it includes apartments and rentals.

Citykid said...

Not at all surprised.

The restaurant space was cold and awkward, sort of looking a lot like a hospital cafeteria inside. The buffet style was out of date 10 years ago, as were their style of plates and logo. All in all, it just felt like a product of 1998?

Anonymous said...

I'm not so sure the Cumberland location's closure is that temporary either. When grabbing takeout from Bezoria the other day I peered in the windows and the Jason's space has been mostly cleared out.

Unknown said...

Never got a chance to try it. I was disappointed in Jimmy John's since they charged more for whole grain bread, but not white bread-which I don't eat. I'd miss Jimmy John's more than Jimmy John's if the latter went out of business.

Anonymous said...

Sad. But now we have an opportunity to hopefully get a good restaurant with the drive-thru. Like Culver's, Freddy's, Fazoli's, Burger King. Maybe a fish place like Captain D's or Long John Silver's. A girl can hope

Anonymous said...

Most people I bet aren’t aware - there is a new fazoli’s here in Atlanta in Chamblee near 85 on presidential parkway. It is for take out and delivery only. Kind of a dominos or Pizza Hut to go set up. It is a full on legit fazolis. I ordered Delivery on their web site. They have their own drivers. Delivery was fast and very efficient. The food was very well packed. The only problem is..... the food taste and overall quality was nothing like what I remember from 10 years ago. It looked like the store actually executed well the way they are programmed to. Just that the recipes and the food itself was extremely lacking. Disgusting. Tbh a dollar can of chef boy r de straight from the van tastes better. It’s the brand not the franchise in this case that has failed. Waste of money waste of $45. So bad tasting we had to toss it out and order Galla’s Chamblee.

Anonymous said...

I've lost count of the restaurants this location has gone through. It's jinxed.

Anonymous said...

I was glad to see both Jason's Deli and the Black Swan open. It's always good to have new restaurants open in the area. So of course, I was disappointed when they closed. It's never a good thing to have so many empty store fronts. My husband and I really liked the Black Swan. The atmosphere was nice and the food was good. Jason's Deli had an awkward feel to it, too big, too open, too empty; however, I still enjoyed their food. I was really hoping both restaurants would make it. After so many closures, in both locations, I can't imagine another restaurant will open in those locations any time soon. Too bad.

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