[ALERT] Casual Dining Chain Shrinks to Just Four Georgia Locations After Latest Closure

O'Charley's Restaurant & Bar has closed its restaurant in Hiram in Paulding County after more than two decades in business.  The restaurant, located in an outparcel of Hiram Pavilion  (4790 Jimmy Lee Smith Parkway), reportedly closed without warning this past weekend.   

The first O'Charley's opened across from Nashville's Vanderbilt University in 1971. At its peak there were about 300 restaurants spread across about twenty states.  In recent years however, the chain has closed dozens of restaurants and today operates just 54 units across thirteen states, according to its website.  

Georgia, which by our count has seen at least twenty O'Charley's closures in recent years, today has four units still in operation: Austell, Canton, Centerville, and Ft. Oglethorpe.  Tennessee, still the company's home market, has sixteen locations, including three in Knoxville.  Five other states, including West Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, have single units still in operation.   

Property records indicate that the Hiram restaurant is about 7,000 square feet, sits on a 1.3 acre parcel, and first opened in 2002.

The Hiram site - situated between LongHorn Steakhouse and Wendy's and in front of Sam's Club - has reportedly made it quite popular already, with sources close to the center indicating that several potential users have already expressed interest in taking over the space.  

Although local and regional restaurants have backfilled some O'Charley's restaurants, growing chains such as Whataburger and Raising Cane's have been especially active in backfilling sites, with each brand having taken over a pair of former O'Charley's properties in Georgia.  

The very first Whataburger to open in metro Atlanta opened on the site of a former O'Charley's at 705 Townpark Lane in Kennesaw in November 2022.  Another Whataburger is in development at the site of the former O'Charley's at 3550 Sandy Plains Road in East Cobb.  

For its part, Raising Cane's opened a new restaurant this past March at 1842 Jonesboro Road in McDonough, where an O'Charley's restaurant previously closed.  The growing chicken chain is also replacing a former O'Charley's restaurant at 920 Buford Road in Cumming.  

Several former O'Charley's remain vacant but many others have been converted into other casual dining restaurants including those in Carrollton and Rome (Buffalo Wild Wings), Snellville (Hook & Reel Cajun Seafood & Bar, Lawrenceville  (KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot), Woodstock (Rally Point Grille), Tucker (Bambinelli's Pizza & Pasta) and Gainesville (Dynamite Sushi Steak Grill Bar).  The chain has also closed Georgia locations in Conyers, Douglasville, Newnan, Macon, Villa Rica, Dalton, Acworth, Griffin, and Stockbridge.

Are you surprised to see O'Charley's close in Hiram?  What is your favorite casual dining chain?  What would you most like to see open in place of O'Charley's in Hiram?

Please share your thoughts below.