Joella's Hot Chicken has closed its locations in Newnan and Kennesaw. The restaurants, both of which were converted former Pollo Tropical locations, closed as of December 22 and December 26, respectively. The pair of restaurants represented half of the Louisville, Kentucky-based chain's Atlanta-area presence. Two locations remain open in Akers Mill Square near Cumberland Mall and on Molly Lane, just off Highway 92 in Woodstock.
Joella's, which features a menu largely focused on Nashville-style hot chicken, currently operates fourteen locations across five states.
The company temporarily closed a location in Seminole, Florida shortly after the start of the pandemic in 2020 and reopened in September of the same year. By the end of 2021 however, the restaurant, a former Pollo Tropical, had closed for good. This past June Joella's closed in Melbourne, Florida, another location where it occupied a former Pollo Tropical.
October 2021 Joella's closed its location at The Banks, a mixed-use development along the Cincinnati riverfront.
Real estate sources tell ToNeTo Atlanta that there has been intense interest from several existing and new-to-market operators to take over the Joella's properties in metro Atlanta. That said, it's likely the chain will make a complete exit from metro Atlanta in the near term.
Are you surprised to see Joella's close in Kennesaw and Newnan? What is your favorite place for hot chicken? What would you like to see open in place of Joella's in Kennesaw and Newnan?
Please share your thoughts below.
Not a surprise. We drove by the Woodstock location a couple weeks back around dinner time and it was dead.
ReplyDeleteI love Joella's because they offer a vegan hot sandwich, using tofu to mimic the meat. As far as I know, none of their competitors offer options like this. I like the skinny fries, too. I think I will hit up the Woodstock location this week, after reading this article.
ReplyDeleteGrew up in Seminole and went back to visit family and tried the restaurant there when it first opened it was awful. Not only was the restaurant not clean, service and food was not good either. Not at all surprised they did not make it.
ReplyDeleteAnd here in Atlanta, the bar is even higher with plenty of competition.
Whenever I go to newnan, I eat at JoEllas. I hate to see it go. They should put a location in Henry County, Ga.
ReplyDeleteOh man! We would stop at the one in Newnan on road trips. 😔
ReplyDeleteI am a little surprised to hear of the closing - a lot of people seem to love Nashville Hot Chicken. I thought it would do well. It is always sad to see a business close and put people out of work.
ReplyDeleteIt was kind of expensive for what it is
ReplyDeleteI went to Joellas one time in Kennesaw. It was a wet-type of greasy. They chick has no flavor but grease and everything else was just sitting in the grease. It was terrible and it hadn’t been open but a couple months at the time so I’d have expected it to still be peak perfect trying to pull people in. If it dropped off after that, if feel for the people who tried it
ReplyDeleteI can’t put my finger on it but not surprised. Good food. Less than ok service. Price point was likely too high.
ReplyDeleteMy family didn’t like it! The chicken was soggy! Waffles was good. I would like to have a good soul food restaurant or a really good fish restaurant like Taqueria Del Sol.
ReplyDeleteService was terrible in Kennesaw. Went in one time and we were the only ones in there and took almost 30 mins to get our food. No apology no recognition of the wait.
ReplyDeleteService at the former Kennesaw location was slow with no urgency to support the customer. Often sides were served at room temperature or worse and replacements took forever to reach the table and were not much better than what was originally delivered. After multiple failures we started going elsewhere. We’ve found it takes a very long time to get out order at the Woodstock location. Good food when prepared timely although price was a premium. Sorry but this concept could have been a winner!
ReplyDeleteDowntown kennesaw has a place called Gus world famous hot chicken. It's amazing and the workers are amazing.
ReplyDeleteI love Gus’s too!
DeleteThey should have closed a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteI tried it once, I didn’t like it. It’s across the street from my job in kennesaw. The food wasn’t good at all
ReplyDeleteWas priced too high and chicken wasn’t anything special. Bring back Pollo Tropical!
ReplyDeleteFood was great, just unfortunately didn't bring the crowd.
ReplyDeleteNeed a good soul food restaurant in Newnan. I never tried Joella’s because Nashville hot chicken does not appeal to me. Should have kept Pollo Tropical.
ReplyDeleteWe have several restaurants in Newnan that serve country cooking already! Golden’s in downtown and Fried Tomato Buffet.
DeleteDon't forget Shirley's on 34!
DeleteTried Goldens once…never went back..not impressed
DeleteGolden's is so good.
Deletethat kennesaw location is cursed
ReplyDeleteMy first time trying it was the best experience. That was at the Cumberland location. Still a fan kinda, might a 3 pcs wing every now and then.
ReplyDeleteJust had it recently for the first time at the Cumberland location it was pretty good
ReplyDeleteDrive by the one in Woodstock all the time. It’s never busy. Surprised it made it this long.
ReplyDeleteActually worked there for over a year. Both at kennesaw and highway 92 locations. Great at first arrival but slowly things unfolded from the bottom up. No consitent employees, lazy management, and no urgency from the top to fix integral problems with some equipment. Not surprised to see it go and glad that it is.
ReplyDeleteWas never a fan. I’d like to see Harold’s Chicken open in the kennesaw location.
ReplyDeleteThere was really no way for them to compete with Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken in Kennesaw. Joella's was twice as expensive and not even half as good.
ReplyDeleteNobody that ate at a Gus's would every go back to Joella's
Whataburger should move in here next.
ReplyDeleteWe need a Cook Out in Newnan!!
ReplyDeleteYes we do.
DeleteNot at all surprised! Went to the one in Kennesaw in Summer 2020 and it was disgusting! The chicken wasn't done and the prices were ridiculous for the quality of food. Good riddance!
ReplyDeleteNot surprised. I’ve eaten there once, and didn’t like it. My favorite place right now is Hattie B’s. Compared to that, Joellas was a let down.
ReplyDeleteThe one in Newnan, was in a terrible location. Not everyone loves HOT chicken.
ReplyDeleteI went to the Newnan one all the time, but Kimi couldn't keep up with the place by herself. The place was understaffed and unfortunately super slow for that reason.
ReplyDeleteNewnan location is terribly placed, and the customer service was iffy. Pricing was a little high for what it was.
ReplyDeleteI’m not surprised one single bit! The Kennesaw location was not good. I wish them well.
ReplyDeleteNewnan location was in a poor spot. Nothing has done well there. Across the street makes a huge difference!
ReplyDeleteNever had the one in Newnan never even seen more than 2 cars there but we should definitely get a Krispy Kreme or jollibee
ReplyDeleteKrispy Kreme. JJ’s Chicken and Seafood
ReplyDeleteMay be just me, but never really liked the chicken at Joella’s.
ReplyDeleteNot surprised. Bad location and Newnan has tons of chicken places already. Now if a Cane's popped up (but not at this location) that would be an entirely different story.
ReplyDeleteI was not impressed with the chicken restaurant. Overpriced and overcooked chicken tenders... I will really like to see US cafe Here in newnan. Or an authentic Chicago hot dog restaurant..
ReplyDeleteThe location in Newnan is terrible. It's not easy for people to see how to get in or out, and hard to actually get to. Since it sits sort of by itself you have to be heading only there to eat. No place at that location is going to be successful unless it already has a big name... or unless it sets itself apart from everything else with excellent food that is different.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised at all. I was surprised it made it out of the pandemic. They had just opened up and the covid happened and then they were out for a yr or more I think. Where the building sits its hard to get to and you cant see it from the road. The parking lot was small as well.
ReplyDeleteI loved there food and the sizes of their chicken the price wasn't to bad. It will be missed