Metro Atlanta will soon lose yet another Wendy's restaurant. The Wendy's at 3383 Buford Highway in an outparcel of Northeast Plaza is due to close by the end of May. The restaurant, which property records indicate was built in 1974, never received the brand's popular "image activation" renovation and still looks like a 70s era restaurant.
Brixmor, owner of Northeast Plaza, ultimately plans to redevelop the large, 50s era, more than 40 acre center, but those plans and a specific timeline are still being finalized. That said, the firm is looking to lease the soon to be former Wendy's but is reportedly only planning to offer a short-term lease. The company has already updated its site plan to reflect the 2,441 square foot Wendy's as "available." The building sits on .6 of an acre and includes an all important drive-thru.
Other outparcels at Northeast Plaza include a Taco Bell, Pollo Campero in a former Popeyes, a J Buffalo Wings in a former Long John Silver's, and even a freestanding Pizza Hut, a rarity in today's world.
Based in Dublin, Ohio, Wendy's, which proudly touts its burgers are square because they don't cut corners, is the second largest quick-serve burger chain in the U.S. when ranked by sales. This puts it behind industry leader McDonald's but ahead of the struggling Burger King.
According to the Wendy's website, Georgia is currently home to 298 Wendy's restaurants, making it the company's fourth largest market by unit count with only Florida (538), Texas (465), and Ohio (407) with more Wendy's locations. That said, the company has seen many of its intown and metro Atlanta restaurants close in recent years.
Metro Atlanta Wendy's closures include the following locations:
3146 Peachtree Road in Buckhead (now PNC Bank)
1861 Peachtree Street (now Starbucks)
1820 Peachtree Street (now The Brookwood condo building)
6350 Powers Ferry Road in Sandy Springs (now Starbucks)
6240 Roswell Road in Sandy Springs (now Truist Bank)
11855 Alpharetta Highway in Roswell (becoming a medical facility)
10475 Alpharetta Street in Roswell (now TitleMax)
3120 Johnson Ferry Road in East Cobb (now Piedmont Urgent Care)
2773 Evans Mill Road in Lithonia (demolished and rebuilt as a Burger King)
7215 Stonecrest Parkway in Lithonia (now Lithonia Pediatric Dentistry)
2545 Wesley Chapel Road in Decatur (now City Gear)
5653 Memorial Drive in Stone Mountain (now Wings 101)
3892 LaVista Road in Tucker (now Fork in the Road, a local restaurant)
1100 North Point Drive (vacant)
13794 Highway 9 in Milton (becoming Fifth Third Bank)
4600 South Atlanta Road in Smyrna (demolished and vacant)
125 University Avenue in southwest Atlanta (destroyed by fire and later demolished, now vacant)
Wendy's also previously operated restaurants in the food courts of both Northlake Mall and North DeKalb Mall, among other local malls.
To be fair, the company still operates several units in metro Atlanta including those along North Druid Hills Road in Toco Hills, Howell Mill Road in West Midtown, Piedmont Road in Piedmont Heights, Marietta Boulevard in the "Upper Westside," Perimeter Center West in Sandy Springs, and Moreland Avenue in East Atlanta, among others.
A Sandy Springs area Wendy's that was heavily damaged by fire in early 2014 finally reopened in 2017.
It's worth noting, too, that rivals McDonald's, Burger King and Hardee's have also closed more than two dozen locations in metro Atlanta in recent years as all burger chains vie for market share and work to trim under-performing units.
What would you like to see open in place of the Wendy's at Northeast Plaza? Which is your favorite fast-food burger? Who do you think makes the best French fries?
Please share your thoughts below.
21 comments:
It's a rough time for greenhouse-based architecture.
Wendy's is disgusting. And their ads are so stupid that they drag down the collective IQ of the universe every time they air.
Stinks like poo in there
the wendy's at 1820 Peachtree used to have a salad bar that was great. It then moved to where the former Miami Subs was located across the street, which is now a Starbucks.
A wendy's on Old National Hwy in College Park became a chinese restaurant about 20 years ago as well.
Surprised the Wendy's in Chamblee on Peactree Blvd is still open. No cars are ever in the parking lot
I am not sure how the Wendy's on Peachtree Blvd in Chamblee is still operating. It looks closed during breakfast hours with no cars in the parking lot, and not much better on my commute home in the afternoon. I went through the drive thru twice when they were running the $1 single promotion and I noticed on both trips they made everyone pull up by the dining room door to wait on their food, even when there were no cars in line.
The quality at Arby’s is much better than it used to be. The restaurants are all modernized and Clean. they’ve done a good job with it.
I concur, even the newest of Wendy’s locations are often not clean. Perimeter Center I’m talking to you. Most other Wendy’s are pigsty’s, even those that went through so-called image activation.
The NE Plaza Wendy's was about as bad as they get, honestly. I've been stuck there doing laundry at the adjacent 24-hour laundromat and even having 40 minutes on a machine, ordering and waiting at that Wendy's could easily take most of that time. I am pretty sure the employees were fighting last time I was there. Wendy's and BK suffer a lot from bad locations. If they're not on a corner, it's not worth trying to go. And if they are on a corner, the area isn't very good. They can't seem to get good location figured out.
I swore to never again eat at Wendy's over 40 years ago after getting food that was just barely edible. The bun seemed to have been one that had somehow gotten lost, and instead of throwing it out, they swabbed the grease on the griddle with it to soften it up and then serve my dried up burger on it. The accompanying fries tasted like they had been left over from the previous day's lunch rush.
I worked there when I was 14. On Saturdays, during lunch rush, and even at dinner, people were lined-up out into the parking lot.
Maybe the ones that are left can get tomatoes. I have not eaten at a Wendy's since they couldn't figure out how to make a burger and not put cheese on it.
Publix
To Anonymous @ 9:24, A huge reason why I swore off Wendy's. I used to joke, although it wasn't a joke, that Wendy's would put cheese in their milkshakes and on their napkins. I would always have to check my burger before leaving the window/counter and explicitly ordering WITHOUT cheese! 9 times out of 10 they would put cheese on it anyway.
And the coke tasted like wee wee?
The dude who holds a 40 year grudge over Wendy's is cracking me up.....LOL
As far as a Wendy’s goes that one you reference in Chamblee pib has the absolute worst management and the worst employees. The burgers sit up on that grill for hours on end collecting bacteria Because they think it’s quicker, but indeed, that is why there’s never any cars In the lot. I would not go there for free. I really don’t do Wendy’s often at all, but I will say the one I guess in ChamWoody on Savoy Drive is probably the highest quality one in the area, if there is such a thing. That’s actually the only location that truly cooks the burgers when you order, like they’re supposed to do. The newish one in Perimeter was really good back in the day but service was not good so I’ve stayed away. Isn’t it odd that I mentioned I really don’t go to Wendy’s often but yet I have all this feedback?
I want to "date" Morgan Smith-Goodwin.
I think you’re better off with Charles Nelson Reilly.
Agreed. This is the main reason I don’t go any longer.
So she can spread em on your biggie bag.
Wendy's Brookhaven GA - Buford Highway permanently closed.
They were sub standard - bad food- bad service -
hamburgers tasted like fish.
Goodbye.
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