Wednesday, September 11, 2024

[ALERT] 90s Favorite Romano's Macaroni Grill Shutters Last Remaining Georgia Restaurant

Romano's Macaroni Grill has permanently closed its last remaining Atlanta area restaurant.  Located at 3207 Buford Drive near the Mall of Georgia, the Italian restaurant seems to have quietly closed within the past few weeks.  Local readers recall Romano's having opened alongside the Mall of Georgia's debut in 1999.  

The Buford restaurant suffered a small fire in 2018 but reopened a short time later.  

Macaroni Grill's Buford closure follows the early August closure of fellow casual Italian restaurant Buca di Beppo which closed its lone Atlanta area location in Alpharetta following its bankruptcy filing.  

Romano's Macaroni Grill has in recent years closed its other locations around metro Atlanta including restaurants in West Cobb and Alpharetta in 2020.   The casual dining chain previously closed locations in Dunwoody and Snellville in 2013 and 2016, respectively.    

The former Dunwoody location, situated along Ashford Dunwoody Road in the Ashford Place shopping center, is today occupied by Sushi Kingdom.  The former Snellville location, situated along Scenic Highway in The Shoppes at Webb Gin, is today The Diner at Webb Gin.  Connors Steak & Seafood opened this past Fall in the former Macaroni Grill along Windward Parkway in Alpharetta.     

Following the Buford closure, Romano's operates 21 restaurants in ten states, according to its website.   

Romano's Macaroni Grill was started by serial restaurateur Philip J. Romano (also the founder of Fuddruckers and EatZi's, among other concepts) in 1988 before being sold to multi-unit operator Brinker International in 1989.  After a number of subsequent sales, the chain is today owned by Phoenix, Arizona-based Redrock Partners, LLC.    

Romano's Macaroni Grill is at least the third restaurant to close around the Mall of Georgia and remain vacant.  O'Charley's Restaurant & Bar is located behind Romano's and is adjacent to another seemingly unbuilt outparcel.  Across the street at the Marketplace at Millcreek, a freestanding former Burger King also sits idle.  

Closer to Romano's neighbor LongHorn Steakhouse, a former Mimi's Cafe that had more recently operated as Rockin' Crab is currently undergoing renovations to become Mikado, an All You Can Eat (AYCE) Japanese cuisine restaurant.  

Are you surprised by the permanent closure of Romano's Macaroni Grill in Buford?  What is your favorite casual dining chain restaurant?  What would you like to see open in place of the former Macaroni Grill location in Buford?

Please share your thoughts below. 

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not surprised. The food was not good anymore. Back when they first opened and used to have waiters who sang opera music around the restaurant the food and atmosphere were excellent. And I couldn’t understand why there were always very large filthy hand prints over the urinals. Is it really that heavy when you take it out that you can’t stand up without leaning on the wall while you pee?

Anonymous said...

The fact is there are too many restaurants, too few people willing to work hard to give great service, and too many people without enough budget or time to keep the too many restaurants in business.

Anonymous said...

I'm not surprised the Macaroni Grill closed. Their food quality went down a long time ago. My favorite chain restaurants are Longhorn and Olive Garden.

Anonymous said...

Not surprised at all. I’d rather eat Italian at Provino’s!

Anonymous said...

Too bad. The rosemary bread was awesome. So was the lentil soup.

Anonymous said...

Mom and pop local Italian restaurants are the best. Unfortunately, high rents drive them out in favor of big corporate chains. My current favorite Italian places are Novo Cochina and Pricci. Always good meals there. On a budget, Olive Garden is a good value and the food is pretty good for a chain. Service may not be the best depending on location and luck of who you get.

Anonymous said...

Sad. I had some good times at Macaroni Grill.

Anonymous said...

I love Provinos

Anonymous said...

I’m sad to see it closed. It was really good!

Mawdawg said...

The best Italian in north metro is Casa Nuova in Alpharetta. Family run and fantastic!!

Anonymous said...

I used to eat there. Very disappointed the last time about a year ago. Poor service with an attitude.

Anonymous said...

Wasn’t a fan of the place anyway. My preferred Italian restaurant these days is Biba’s.

Anonymous said...

Sad, in the last year, mall of Georgia lost Mimi’s, O’Charly’s, On the Border, and now Macaroni Grill.

Anonymous said...

One of the problems is restaurant overbuilding. The county staff that issues building permits needs to be more conservative.

Anonymous said...

Why are so many restaurants closing around Mall of Georgia? Do people not want to deal with all the traffic around there?

Anonymous said...

Because they’re all getting old and dumpy.

Anonymous said...

I too prefer Longhorn. They generally have good service and the food quality is excellent!

Anonymous said...

They do gove you tomatoe sauce to put on your meat so it’s kind of Italian!

Anonymous said...

I will miss my penne rustica. Also loved the music.

Anonymous said...

they still havent disconnected the phone! was still getting emails but the website no longer shows this location

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