Popular Chinese eatery quietly shutters.
Lee's Golden Buddha #7, a Smyrna area mainstay for decades, quietly closed about two weeks ago. The restaurant, located on Cobb Parkway in The Promenade shopping center, was part of a group of Atlanta area restaurants by the same name. Although there were a number of owners of the separate locations, Golden Buddha became synonymous with authentic Mandarin and Szechuan in Atlanta.
Locals I spoke to seemed to suggest there was no advance warning of the closure, but that the Buddha's business may have been hurt by the recent opening of Chow King Grill & Buffet in the same center.
Following the Smyrna closure, there are still Golden Buddha restaurants on Clairmont Road near Toco Hills, on Roswell Road in north Buckhead, on Buford Drive in Buford, on Mundy Mill Road in Oakwood, and on Jonesboro Road in Morrow. Golden Buddha #6 was located on Buford Highway in Duluth and today operates as "Golden Wok." Golden Buddha previously closed their downtown location near the CNN Center, which today operates as Hudson Grille.
The Juicy Crab, a Duluth based restaurant, is opening in place of both the Smyrna Golden Buddha restaurant and the Georgia Home Theater next door, which relocated elsewhere on Cobb Parkway.
The Juicy Crab, which bills itself as a Cajun seafood eatery, made its debut on Pleasant Hill Road near Gwinnett Place Mall in late 2015. Since then, the restaurant has expanded to include locations in Conyers, Augusta and Jacksonville, Florida.
The Juicy Crab Smyrna is expected to open "in a few months."
Are you disappointed about the closure of Golden Buddha? Have you been to Chow King or The Juicy Crab? Have you already started to avoid restaurants in and around Cobb Parkway due to Braves traffic?
Please share your thoughts below.