Fledgling franchise Ponko Chicken has quietly closed yet another location as the once promising brand shrinks to just a handful of locations. The Ponko in Lenox Square in Buckhead, which opened about four years ago in September 2020, reportedly closed without warning a few weeks ago.
When Ponko opened, it replaced Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe which had itself closed in late 2019 after about four years in business. Taziki's had replaced a longstanding Subway, the ubiquitous sandwich chain that has seen significant store closures but is reportedly looking to again grow its metro Atlanta presence.
Ponko features a menu centered on "Japanese Soul Food" with several chicken tenders and sandwiches breaded and covered in the restaurant's signature sauce.
For its part, Ponko has struggled to sustain the excitement that followed the chain after its resurrection after a nine year hiatus in 2017 and its subsequent franchise offering.
A January 2020 release announcing the Lenox Square location said "PONKO Franchise Corporation currently has agreements to open over 25 stores in various locations throughout the Atlanta Metropolitan Area."
Nearly five years later, the chain has closed more locations than it has opened. At least one of the planned locations was to be in Woodstock but those plans seem to have been called off. A franchise in Chastain Park in North Buckhead closed in September 2022, while one in Decatur closed this past August.
In their August 19 post, the Ponko Lenox Facebook page also indicated that "three fabulous new PONKO Chicken drive-thru locations in and around the Metro Atlanta" are "very soon on the horizon."
The Ponko website indicates that there are currently six locations in Georgia: Alpharetta, Athens, Marietta (Marietta Square Market), Chamblee, Duluth, and Midtown. The company also operates a food truck and has a single franchise in Auburn, Alabama. The Auburn restaurant opened in May 2022, but closed in December 2023. According to the website and local reporting, the restaurant is expected to reopen sometime this month under new ownership and management. The Athens restaurant on busy Baxter Street also opened in 2022 but "temporarily closed" in recent days with locals suggesting the closure may instead be permanent.
Have you been to Ponko Chicken? Why do you think Ponko Chicken is struggling so much? What would you like to see open in place of Ponko Chicken in Lenox Square?
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