Sage Woodfire Tavern has closed its Buckhead outpost at 3379 Peachtree Road between the W and Westin hotels. The restaurant opened about a year ago in the roughly 11,500 square foot former Morton's The Steakhouse, which closed in early 2012. Sage reportedly closed effective today, having served its final meals over the weekend.
Shortly after the restaurant opened in March 2018, owner James Liakakos hosted a "Welcome to Buckhead" opening event that provided 1,000 patrons with a free lunch buffet featuring "Oysters Rockefeller, live action pasta and carving stations, New Orleans barbecue shrimp and grits, magnificent ice carvings and an "over-the-top" dessert display, among other things.
The two-story restaurant featured an expansive patio along Peachtree Road and was updated significantly and expanded - about $3 million was spent on interior and exterior renovations - but the expenses added up and the restaurant's holding company, Infinite Dining Group, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy this past July.
At its height, the restaurant employed a reported 300 people and it's unclear if the bankruptcy and or abrupt closure led to some or all of the former employees not being paid properly for hours worked.
A now deleted post from earlier today on the restaurant's Facebook page read: "Effective March 18, 2019, Sage Woodfire Tavern Buckhead is permanently closed." A separate post from Sunday morning starts "NOW AT PERIMETER!" and invites would-be patrons to visit the restaurant at its Perimeter location at 4505 Ashford Dunwoody Road in the Park Place shopping center across from Perimeter Mall.
Sage opened in March 2018. This is the third Sage to close in recent months. At the end of 2018, the company closed its Smyrna and Alpharetta area locations following a chapter 11 bankruptcy filing earlier in the year. A location in Dunwoody remains open for now, but its unclear if it will remain a going concern.
The Buckhead restaurant's opening came on the heels of the group's opening in the former Houston's on Powers Ferry Road in Cobb County. An East Cobb location near the intersection of Johnson Ferry and Roswell Roads opened in late 2016, but was closed by May 2017. (Much to the delight of area residents, the East Cobb location recently reopened as a Jason's Deli.)
Following the July bankruptcy filing, Sage closed its restaurants on Haynes Bridge Road in Alpharetta and on Windy Hill Road near Smyrna.
Are you surprised that Sage Woodfire Tavern has closed? Are you a current or former employee of Sage Woodfire Tavern and have thoughts to share on why the restaurant did not last? What would you like to see open in place of Sage Woodfire Tavern in Buckhead?
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