Plans for a new location of Jim 'N Nick's Community Bar-B-Q at Northlake [Mall] in Tucker are moving forward. The new restaurant, first rumored in 2023, was tabled for months but is now back on and making its way though preliminary public and planning meetings in the City of Tucker. The new Jim 'N Nick's is planned for an outparcel of Northlake [Mall] along Briarcliff Road.
The new Jim 'N Nick's would be 4,800 square feet and include a drive-thru, which is the primary reason the development's progress has been slow as it needs a SLUP (Special Land Use Permit) for the drive-thru feature.
A community meeting was held at the mall in late January to discuss the proposal. The community meeting is the first of four steps in advance of the project being green-lit. In the weeks to come, the Planning Commission, Mayor, and City Council will all review the plans. The dates of those meetings have not yet been scheduled, according to the City of Tucker calendar.
ToNeTo Atlantareported on March 21 that Jim 'N Nick's also plans to open a new restaurant in The Avenue West Cobb (3625 Dallas Highway) in West Cobb where it will replace a freestanding Chili's which closed this past June at the center after about two decades in business.
Based in Birmingham, Jim 'N Nick's is owned by Atlanta-based Roark Capital Group and operates 47 restaurants in six southern states. Georgia, currently with 18 units, is the chain's largest market by store count.
The chain's closest unit to Tucker currently opened in August 2016 along Scenic Highway in Lawrenceville/Snellville and is reportedly one of Jim 'N Nick's best performers.
The chain's newest Atlanta area location opened this past October in Covington with another (along with fellow Roark-owned brand Miller's Ale House) planned for 4951 Riverside Drive near The Shops at River Crossing in Macon. A new Jim 'N Nick's is also coming to Savannah where it will open at 7804 Abercorn Extension, next to a shuttered Golden Corral, in an outparcel of a former Sears at Oglethorpe Mall.
If Jim 'N Nick's moves forward as planned, it would join the relocated Dugan's which debuted at the mall this past November.
Sources close to Northlake [Mall] tell us there are multiple other restaurants planned for the property which could include both inline and freestanding options.
In the greater Northlake area, ToNeTo Atlanta has in recent weeks reported on two other restaurants opening soon including Fluffy Fluffy in Northlake Festival and Taichi Bubble Tea in Briarcliff LaVista shopping center.
Jim 'N Nick's could also bring competition to Tucker's beloved Old Hickory House, a local barbecue eatery, located less than a mile away on Northlake Parkway. The restaurant however, an area mainstay since 1974, recently lost its founder George Jackson, who passed away February 15 at age 97.
Are you excited for the planned opening of Jim 'N Nick's in Tucker? What other retailers or restaurants would you like to see open at Northlake? Who in the Tucker area do you think offers the best barbecue?
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