At a time when Raising Cane's, Chick-fil-A, and other quick-serve restaurants continue to expand in metro Atlanta, fellow operator Guthrie's is experiencing some growing pains in the wake of its recent growth push in the state.
All four of the restaurants are only a few years old, with the newest having just opened in April 2024.
The Guthrie's in Peachtree City (2021 Commerce Dive) and Woodstock (2004 Eagle Drive) opened in July 2023 and April 2024, respectively, and are owned and operated by Atlanta Restaurant Group. The group also operates five McAlister's Deli locations and under another name, ownership previously operated and sold nine Zaxby's units in Arkansas.
The Cumming (3685 Browns Bridge Road) and Grayson (1645 Grayson Highway) units opened in May 2023 and December 2023, respectively, and are owned by a separate group.
Three of the four restaurants have roughly the same number of reviews (~185) and average rating (4 star) but the Woodstock unit, which opened April 30, 2024, has only 92 reviews and a 3.2 rating.
The Shumacher Group is offering the 1,836 square foot Peachtree City restaurant, which sits on .7 acres, for $1.9 million.
The group is offering the 2,187 square foot Woodstock restaurant, which sits on 2.39 acres, also for $1.9 million.
We Sell Restaurants is offering the Cumming and Grayson restaurants, each of which measure 2,200 square feet, for a total of $499,000 but are selling the businesses only, with the underlying real estate not included.
Guthrie's, which has in years past closed metro area locations in Dunwoody and Peachtree Corners, currently operates fifteen locations in Georgia, inclusive of the four being marketed for sale. Remaining locations in Georgia include those in Albany, Canton (2), Cartersville, Columbus, Hartwell, Locust Grove, Mableton, Marietta, and Senoia. The Marietta unit, located on Lower Roswell Road in East Cobb, opened in December 2024 but has just 83 reviews and an overall 3.8 star rating.
A Guthrie's that opened on Macon Road in Columbus in June 2021 (in place of a former Taco Bell) closed this past October but indicated (vaguely) that it would relocate elsewhere in the future. (The Macon Road unit is strangely still listed as open on the company's website despite work to convert into a new location of Touchdown Wings.)
Hoping to get back on track, Guthrie's on January 14 named Tom Carr its new President & CEO. Carr, who most recently spent ten years at Chicken Salad Chick as its Chief Marketing Officer, has in years past also held executive roles with SPANX, Discovery, Inc., Turner Broadcasting, and Nike, among others. During his time at Chicken Salad Chick, the brand grew from 50 units to more than 320 across 23 states and moved its corporate headquarters to metro Atlanta.
Might Carr follow in the footsteps of Papa Johns, Blaze Pizza, Smalls Sliders, and Chicken Salad Chick and move Guthries' headquarters to Georgia?
Are you surprised to see Guthrie's struggling in its push into Georgia? Who do you think makes the best chicken finger? What chain - chicken or otherwise - would you like to see expand into metro Atlanta?
Please share your thoughts below
Fast food is approaching fine dining prices and people are rethinking lunch. If Guthrie's costs more than Chick-Fil-A, I don't see how they can compete. People find CFA healthier than Guthrie's and Zaxby's, whether or not there's any truth to that. The new Zaxby's across the street from the North Druid Hills CFA is pretty embarrassing. I guess they make rent on Sunday though.
ReplyDeleteYou've obviously never been, or allowed into, a fine dining establishment.
DeleteSo if fast food prices are going up so are fine dining
DeleteNo, it is not.
DeleteThe innocuous things on here that unhinge people. It's clear some people here don't seem to understand hyperbole and/or your humor.
DeleteTurn it into a Raising Cane's, or a Burger King, or a Krystal. Or come up with a new, greasy chicken place. I don't know, here.....
ReplyDeleteI've always favored Guthrie's over the other chicken finger places. I still need to try Canes though. I find Zaxby's to be the worst of the bunch. They have too many menu items and do none of them well.
ReplyDeleteSo none are actually in Atlanta proper.
ReplyDeleteGive it up already. Atlanta has very small city limits relative to the metro area. Everyone knows this and everyone knows why Atlanta has not been allowed to expand. Enough.
DeleteYes I agree Atlanta is a small city trying to be a world class city for the last 40 years and failing.
DeleteAtlanta succeeds as a world class ghetto, but that's about it.
DeleteThen move away, we don’t need youZ
DeleteAPS is a world class school system. Everybody gets an "A"
DeleteGuthrie's sounds like a restaurant that fat people go to.
ReplyDeleteIt tastes so good, my guy.
DeleteYou sound like a dumbass.
DeleteIf true, they'd do really well ITP.
DeletePersonally I think Guthrie's has by far the best chicken fingers, but the one in Marietta is almost impossible to get in or out of unless you happen to be going east on Lower Roswell and want to continue doing so when you leave. There's a back way in, but nobody would know about it unless they scouted in advance.
ReplyDeleteBack way in? In Marietta? So it's true what they say.
DeleteI went to the Woodstock location when it 1st opened. The food and staff were great, but the location was terrible. I went back 6 or 8 months later. The staff was fine, but the food was not. Bad location, created low traffic, which likely created inconsistent food...and so the cycle continues until it closes.
ReplyDeleteThe one in Grayson is kind of in a weird spot that’s not fully developed. It’s a nice clean store but hasn’t really caught on, especially since there is a 20+ year old Zaxbys just down the road.
ReplyDeleteThe irony is Raising Canes and Zaxby's owe it all to Guthrie's. They essentially took their menu/concept and scaled it. Hopefully Guthrie's continues to the grow. I've always thought it to be the best chicken finger spot.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it when there is an article about chicken fingers you get 40 replies yet when talking about actual real restaurants, you get 5 replies? Why is that I wonder?
ReplyDeleteYou really want to say something else, like you want to give what you think is the reason. Just do it, why hide?
DeleteSounds like you're making a raysis statement.
DeleteIs it really that perplexing? I thought I was being obvious.
DeleteThey put all Guthries in weird spots. One I know is basically connected to a gas station, the one on Sixes Rd is way up on a hill, the Woodstock one sits awkwardly way back from the road where nobody would pay attention to it and the Marietta one is a joke to get in and out of. They are never busy. I tried them a couple of times at Sixes and the food took forever and was worse than zaxbys.
ReplyDelete