[WOW] Casual Dining Chain Down to Just Two Traditional Locations in Georgia

T.G.I. Friday's, once a chain of more than 600 locations across the country, is down to just 74 following its latest Atlanta area closure.  

The casual American chain recently permanently closed its restaurant at 2871 Stonecrest Circle near The Mall at Stonecrest in Lithonia in DeKalb County.  

The Stonecrest location closed briefly in 2021 after a kitchen fire damaged the restaurant.  DeKalb County property records indicate that the roughly 8,500 square foot restaurant opened in 2012 and occupied a more than two acre property.

The chain started in New York City in 1965 and grew through licensing and franchising to include several hundred locations.  After filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2024 and 2025, the chain was a fraction of its former self.   Today, the overwhelming majority of the chain's global presence is abroad, where more than 300 of the chain's roughly 400 remaining units are.  

In Georgia, there are just two traditional units left: one on Camp Creek Parkway in East Point and another on Mt. Zion Road in Morrow.  There are three other licensed "non-traditional" units at various locations in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport where even Uncle Maddio's and Atlanta Bread Co. still exist.  

There were once Friday's all around metro Atlanta including one in Doraville where the entire plaza previously carried its name.  Other former Friday's around metro Atlanta include those on Cobb Place Boulevard in Kennesaw, Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth (torn down for a new Whataburger), Peachtree Road in Buckhead, Mall of Georgia Boulevard in Buford, Greenbriar Parkway near Greenbriar Mall in southwest Atlanta, Powers Ferry Road in Marietta, and North Point Parkway near North Point Mall in Alpharetta.  

Ultimately, Friday's seems destined to become the next O. Charley's, which has shrunk to just two locations in Georgia and only fifty nationwide, rather than Chili's, another casual American chain, but one that is trending once more and saw a 4% increase in its comparable restaurant sales, according to an April financial report from owner Brinker.  

Are you surprised to see T.G.I. Friday's closing so many locations?  Why do you think casual restaurant chains have fallen out of favor?  What would you like to see open in place of the former Friday's in Stonecrest?

Please share your thoughts below