O'Charley's Restaurant+Bar Sunday evening closed another metro Atlanta location. The restaurant, located in a freestanding building in East Cobb, was located at 3550 Sandy Plains Road near its intersection with Shallowford Road. According to Cobb County property records, the East Cobb restaurant was built in 2001, was nearly 7,000 square feet and sat on a little more than an acre.
Adjacent to the O'Charley's a former Rite Aid (originally an Eckerd) was redeveloped into a new Regions Bank branch.
The East Cobb closure follows several other recent closures in the greater metro Atlanta area including those in Buford, Suwanee, Snellville, Kennesaw, Macon, Dalton, Woodstock and Tucker, among others.
The Suwanee restaurant - 830 Lawrenceville Suwanee Road - became an outpost of Hook & Reel, a Cajun seafood eatery, but will soon change again, this time reopening as KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot. The Snellville outpost - 2049 Scenic Highway - also became a Hook & Reel and remains one today. In Tucker, the former O'Charley's at 2039 Crescent Centre Boulevard today is the new home of locally owned Italian eatery Bambinelli's, which relocated from an inline space nearby.
ToNeTo Atlanta broke news in 2021 that Whataburger was entering the Atlanta market, something it did this past November when it opened on the site of a former O'Charley's in Kennesaw.
The first O'Charley's opened across from Nashville's Vanderbilt University in 1971. Today, there are about 120 locations across 16 states, down from nearly 200 just a few years ago. According to the O'Charley's website, there are still several outposts in the greater metro Atlanta area including those in Cumming, Gainesville, Austell, Conyers, Stockbridge, Hiram, Newnan and Gainesville. Georgia and its 16 overall outposts is one of the chain's largest markets by store count.
The Southern-inspired American restaurant chain is perhaps best known for their popular "Free Pie Wednesday" promotion, in which diners received a free slice of pie when they dined-in and ordered at least one entrée. The chain suspended the promotion in January 2022 but reintroduced it this past May. The O'Charley's website indicates that the chain also introduced a second promotion of $5 Margaritas, all day, every day. Despite the chain's promotional efforts, sales continue to slide and industry experts foresee additional closures.
In addition to the East Cobb closure, online reports indicate the chain also closed restaurants in Dothan, Ala., Evansville, Ind. and Lexington, Ky., among others, this past Sunday.
Are you surprised by the closure of O'Charley's in East Cobb? What do you think casual dining chains like O'Charley's, Ruby Tuesday, and Chili's can do to stay relevant? What would you like to see open in the shuttered O'Charley's restaurant in East Cobb?
Please share your thoughts below.
21 comments:
East Cobb is the Buckhead of Cobb.
They have delicious chicken fingers and honey mustard! Also love their dinner rolls! I will miss them. So did they leave because of the rent? They always had a good crowd.
Can't say I'm surprised about any O'Charley's closing. All of these types of restaurants (Applebee's, O'Charley's, Ruby Tuesday, Chili's, etc) are pretty outdated, things of the past. I don't really know how they stick around. I do have to say that if you had to go to any of them, O'Charley's had the best food. Not that that is really saying much.
Would be awesome if a quality high end restaurant went in that space, but it will probably just be another bank branch.
Can someone talk to the King’s Hawaiian Food people and tell them to move to this spot?!
What is outdated about what these type of restaurants and what they serve? Good solid food as far as I'm concerned. Guess you're outdated if your aren't into consuming the latest nasty international "foods". Nothing about the type of materials that go into preparing those "meals" with all the spices and sauces to cover up what they are made from appeals to me in the least. I'm not particularly into food poisoning.
Everything about them is outdated. The whole corporate slop aspect of it. It’s not secret knowledge that most of the food at these places shows up in a bag and they heat it up, lmao. Nobody said anything about international foods. Plenty of good American style places around. You SHOULD be concerned about all the additives and questionable things places like Applebees, O’Charley’s, etc put in your food though! The irony of your post is hilarious. If you think these places are good, solid food, you are sorely mistaken and I guarantee that you are unhealthy.
Served Pepsi not Coke, never went back.
Places like this are outdated because "most people" prefer to eat overpriced and overrated food prepared by "celebrity" chefs with unsightly tattoos and piercings, at restaurants populated by IG and Tik Tok whores. Of course, a hookah bar would do well there with East Cobb's changing demographics.
Mr Hookah Bar strikes again.
I do not know any restaurants that has a garden to run out back gather fresh product.nor fishing pond to catch seafood,meat house for fresh meat.Why does most think it's not ?
fresh.It was
Is that a 100% money back guarantee?
Bonefish grill would be great
Mr. Hookah Bar? They have a demand and a market, or they wouldn't exist. Why are some people opposed to them?
How about a Ruby Tuesday?
Ruby Tuesday was overpriced even when these places were popular. The salad bar is a nice touch but they are barely holding on in most remaining locations around the country. Ocharleys was always one of my favorites. Great chicken tenders, loved their salads and rolls! I think they may have a remaining location around Cumming. It's not terribly far from me, maybe I can go one weekend before it's gone as well. My family used to stop at one in Alabama whenever we headed west.
Oh man, I miss Empire State Pizza. The garden was so cool!
Try their food in Gainesville GA first. Not impressed, pretty awful actually. However their building is gorgeous.
To each its own I like what I like you like what you like it doesn't make me right and it doesn't make you wrong it comes down to preference. Let me do my thing I'll let you do your thing and if it's not your thing leave my thing alone.
We loved. o’Charleys at times ; but they kept changing their menu and dropping the reason we went. Even if it’s not the most popular item on the menu..if they drop the favorite item of the guy paying he just stops wanting to take the family . It’s always a risk to try something untested …This was always the case with O’Charleys …they would drop 1 item and it swayed the decision of where to go…
LOL the "Hello Hilo" is a Joke! It's like an inside drive through! Cardboard Bowls of rice with some toppings, plastic forks, food not very good and Way Overpriced! Cute Building LoL
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