A chain many may not realize is still as substantial as it is will soon add another Atlanta area restaurant. Quick-serve seafood eatery Captain D's plans to open in a new restaurant in place of a former Hardee's at 3056 Jodeco Road in McDonough, officially in the Stockbridge city limits.
The new Captain D's is opening on the opposite side of I-75 as where Costco recently opened a new store and Sprouts Farmers Market, Bahama Breeze, Chipotle, Whataburger, First Watch and a new futuristic Chick-fil-A are expected to open later this year.
ToNeTo Atlanta reported in January that Tim Hortons plans to open in a former Hardee's in Fairburn while Caribou Coffee plans to open in another former Hardee's in Loganville.
Nashville-based Captain D's was established in 1969 and has endured several years of ownership changes and decreases in store count. Interestingly, the chain was co-founded by Alex Schoenbaum, founder of the Shoney's restaurant chain and father of Ray Schoenbaum, owner of Ray's restaurants locally.
The Because We Care Henry County - Atlanta South Facebook page, operated by Elton Alexander Stockbridge Mayor Pro-Tem, was first to report on the planned restaurant.
Today there are 535 Captain D's restaurants including 311 that are franchisee owned and 224 that are run by corporate. By comparison, ninety percent of McDonald's more than 40,000 locations are owned by independent franchisees.
According to the Captain D's website, the company currently operates 100 restaurants in Georgia, or about 19 percent of the total chain making the peach state its largest market by unit count.
In metro Atlanta, Captain D's has locations on Montreal Road near Northlake Mall and recently reopened another on Hugh Howell Road after a fire caused its temporary closure. According to the company's website, a separate restaurant on Church Street in Decatur is also "temporarily closed" for unspecified reasons with no set reopening timetable.
Representatives from Captain D's did not immediately return our inquiry seeking comment.
In 2023 the company opened a new location in a short-lived Dunkin'on Cobb Parkway in Marietta but closed what had been a relatively recently renovated unit in an outparcel of Greenbriar Mall in southwest Atlanta. 755 Restaurant Corporation, an entity started by the late baseball legend Hank Aaron, plans to open a new Popeyes in place of the former Greenbriar unit.
Are you a fan of Captain D's? Did you know Georgia [still] had so many Captain D's? All things being equal, do you prefer Captain D's, Long John Silver's or Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips?
Please share your thoughts below