[UPDATE] Tin Lizzy's Duluth Marketed "For Sale or Lease"

According to a high-level source within Tin Lizzy's, the Duluth area Tin Lizzy's Cantina at 6320 Sugarloaf Parkway will not reopen. The restaurant, located around the corner from Infinite Energy Arena, opened in January 2015, and has been "temporarily closed" for more than a year. When Tin Lizzy's opened, it replaced Loafing Leprechaun, which had closed in the same freestanding building years prior. Tin Lizzy's Duluth closure marks the second for the chain in the past year, following the May 2020 closure of Tin Lizzy's at The Point near Emory University in Atlanta.

The two Tin Lizzy's closures are among five restaurants that parent company Southern Proper Hospitality has closed since the start of the pandemic. Southern Proper also last year closed its Roswell outpost of The Big Ketch Saltwater Grill, Street Taco at Marietta Square Market, and Beni's Cubano at The Avenue East Cobb. (Maurcio Diaz, former Managing Partner with Southern Proper, purchased the Beni's name, concept and intellectual property from Southern Proper in early 2020 and continues to operate the remaining location at The Hub (fka Peachtree Center) Downtown.

The closure of Tin Lizzy's Duluth also marks the second regional chain to exit the area in the past year. California Dreaming, from Charleston-based CentraArchy Restaurants, closed its restaurant at 1630 Cross Pointe Way, off exit 109, Old Peachtree Road, this past September.

A marketing package from SRS Real Estate Partners advertises the 1.88 acre Tin Lizzy's C-2 zoned property "For Sale/For Lease." The package indicates the restaurant is 5,422 square feet and also includes a "covered patio plus outdoor dining courtyard with entertainment pavilion."

Following the closures, eight Tin Lizzy's locations in Georgia, and one in Tallahassee, Florida, remain.

The COVID-19 pandemic has no doubt caused pain and problems for restaurant owners. Fortunately, it has also provided opportunity for strong operators. Tin Lizzy's relocated its dated Midtown restaurant from 1136 Crescent Avenue to 77 12th Street where it also got a new name, Tin Lizzy's Taco Americana. The new space, formerly Princi Italia, provides the brand a fresh, new look in a space a stone's throw from their original outpost. The relocation, first conceptualized pre-pandemic, likely allows the brand to test new things, tweak its concept, and potentially prepare for future expansion.

What would you like to see open in the former Tin Lizzy's in Duluth? Do you think Tin Lizzy's has gotten better or worse since its original Buckhead debut in 2005? What Atlanta area restaurant do you think serves the best tacos?

Please share your thoughts below.