The Buckhead outpost of The Original Pancake House has closed. The restaurant, located at 2964 Peachtree Road at Buckhead Centre (now Buckhead Center?) in Buckhead, opened in May 2021 after COVID delayed their originally planned 2020 opening. It's unclear when exactly the restaurant closed. While we just noticed it this week, local sources suggest it's been closed for more than a month!
When asked to confirm when the restaurant closed, a representative from the management team at Buckhead Center indicated they could not comment. The reluctance to comment hints at there being legal drama related to what was undoubtedly a premature closure of the restaurant in the middle of a long-term lease. (Boca Raton-based CP Group, together with Cohen & Steers, acquired Buckhead Center in February 2022.)
When The Original Pancake House opened, it replaced Brio Tuscan Grille, which had closed in 2017 after seventeen years in business. The restaurant benefited from an amazing Peachtree Road patio, but had to contend with a parking deck and a space likely too large for its actual needs.
Following the Buckhead closure, the chain has four restaurants in Georgia: One on LaVista at Cheshire Bridge Road in what is now ridiculously close to the border of the City of Brookhaven, one along Memorial Drive in Stone Mountain, one along Windward Parkway in Alpharetta and one in Savannah.
The Original Pancake House and its nearly 9,000 square feet is the latest high profile restaurant vacancy in Buckhead.
ToNeTo Atlantareported August 31 that Del Frisco's Grille closed its two level, 9,000 square foot restaurant at 3376 Peachtree Road. Del Frisco's was located in front of the Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead and a stone's throw from Lenox Square.
In addition, American Cut and its three level, nearly 20,000 square foot space remains vacant at Buckhead Village District as are the former Grand Luxe Cafe, Public Kitchen & Bar and Tavern at Phipps at Phipps Plaza. The former location of The Cheesecake Factory on Peachtree Road next to RH (Restoration Hardware) was recently demolished with seemingly no immediate plans for development, while the former Ocean Prime on Piedmont Road has been vacant since 2015.
That said, it's not all doom and gloom for Buckhead restaurants.
A new Buckhead outpost of Delbar is expected to open before the end of the year in the former King+Duke at the corner of Peachtree and West Paces Ferry Roads while new-to-market Burtons Grill & Bar is slated to open next summer at the revamped and soon to be Publix-anchored Buckhead Landing shopping center.
Are you surprised to see The Original Pancake House close in Buckhead? What is your favorite breakfast spot in Buckhead? What would you like to see open in place of The Original Pancake House on Peachtree Road in Buckhead?
Please share your thoughts below.