The Chick-fil-A Dwarf House restaurant at 1570 Pleasant Hill Road will close early next year and be replaced by something far more boring. The Duluth restaurant will shut down February 28, 2025, said Chris Bruno, owner/operator of Dwarf House Group LLC, an affiliate of Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A Inc.
The closure, identified on the filing as "permanent," will lead to the loss of 111 jobs. A representative from Chick-fil-A confirmed to ToNeTo Atlanta that the Pleasant Hill restaurant will be demolished to make way for a new Chick-fil-A restaurant and not a new Dwarf House, a change that promises to be both boxy and boring.
The Dwarf House concept, built in homage to the late Chick-fil-A Founder S. Truett Cathy’s first restaurant, the Dwarf Grill, has been around since 1985. At their peak, there were eleven locations across greater metro Atlanta.
These restaurants offer both counter-service and full-service dining and the same menu items as a typical Chick-fil-A, in addition to specialty choices such as sweet potato soufflé, fried okra, crispy sprouts and corn bread muffins.
Chick-fil-A has demolished several Dwarf House restaurants over the past few years including those in Woodstock, Rome, Newnan, Griffin, Stockbridge and the original in Hapeville. All but the Hapeville Dwarf House were rebuilt and reopened as "Truett's Chick-fil-A," restaurants with both counter-service full-service options and memorabilia meant to honor Cathy's legacy and little red doors to commemorate their origins.
ToNeTo Atlanta reported on the company's Dwarf House "scrape & rebuild" projects in 2019 and wondered if the kitchy concept was in danger of extinction.
The iconic Hapeville location closed in April 2021 and reopened as the - Hapeville Dwarf House - February 17, 2022. The new location is larger and more modern than its predecessor but maintains its charm and appeal.
Gwinnett County property records indicate that the Duluth Dwarf House first opened in 1993, measures 5,875 square feet and sits on 1.9 acres.
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| A example of a new Chick-fil-A restaurant |
The new restaurant is expected to be far smaller and be branded as simply "Chick-fil-A." The move, something ToNeTo Atlanta heard rumors of several years ago, is reportedly in response to the change in demographics in the area and the company's effort to simplify operations.
Are you sad to see another Dwarf House close? Have you been to the new Dwarf House in Hapeville? Do you think Chick-fil-A is still king of the chicken sandwich?
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