Joella’s Hot Chicken, a Louisville-based, fast-casual restaurant featuring hot chicken, has closed its third Atlanta area location. The latest closure, like the two which closed before it this past December, occupied a former Pollo Tropical. Located at 2955 Cobb Parkway, Joella's was situated in an outparcel of Akers Mill Square shopping center, not far from Cumberland Mall.
When the restaurant opened September 6, 2019, the first 100 adults in line were rewarded with "free chicken for a year" equaling 52 chicken meals, a promotion made popular by Atlanta's Chick-fil-A. The Cumberland area restaurant was the first of four restaurants the company opened in their Atlanta market entry.
Signage at the Akers Mill restaurant indicates that employees were offered employment at the final remaining Joella's in Woodstock, but the writing seems to be on the wall that its days are numbered. Joella's Woodstock is located at 188 Molly Lane (another former Pollo Tropical) and is less than a mile from where a new hot chicken restaurant debuted this past December. NRD Capital, an Atlanta-based private equity firm, debuted their new concept "The Original Hot Chicken" in place of The Captain's Boil, a seafood concept in which they invested, at 180 Parkway 575. Amazingly, The Original Hot Chicken has already garnered more than 200 reviews on Google with an average rating of 4.7 compared to Joella's 3.9 rating with nearly 800 reviews.
Joella's closure in Akers Mill is one of several recent restaurant changes in the center. Corner Bakery closed its restaurant beside Joella's this past July and is expected to reopen later this year as a new location of Snooze an A.M. Eatery. KPot, a new-to- market Korean barbecue eatery, is also slated to open later this year in the former Chuy's . Beside the upcoming KPot, Hopdoddy Burger Bar opened January 31 in place of Grub Burger Bar, a similar chain that it acquired in early 2022.
ToNeTo Atlanta previously noted that there has been intense interest in both the Cumberland and Kennesaw Joella's sites, but we have thus far been unable to confirm if any deal(s) are in place to backfill any of the chain's former Atlanta area units.
Following the Akers Mill closure, Joella's operates thirteen locations across five states.
Are you surprised to see Joella's close its Cumberland area restaurant? Who in Atlanta do you think makes the best hot chicken? What would you like to see open in place of the former Joella's in Akers Mill Square?
Please share your thoughts below.