Historic burger chain to shutter Ponce de Leon Avenue location.
Zesto Drive-In announced earlier today it will close its restaurant on Ponce de Leon Avenue in Old Fourth Ward after 60 years in business. The Ponce location will cease operations as of next Saturday, September 20th. Zesto serves a variety of burgers, shakes, fries and ice creams and is this year celebrating the brand's 65th anniversary.
Zesto started in 1945 as a subsidiary of Rockton, Illinois-based Taylor Freezer Corporation, and by 1949 was operating in 46 states including Georgia. Taylor's "Zest-O-Mat" soft serve ice cream machines were the inspiration for the Zesto Drive-In. Taylor abandoned the Zesto restaurant concept a decade after its inception and the remaining restaurants became independent operations. Taylor continued to manufacture frozen yogurt machines and its machines are still around today and found in many FroYo shops.
Zesto locations in Little 5 Points, East Confederate & Moreland Avenue in Southeast Atlanta, near Lindbergh MARTA station on Piedmont Road, on Forest Parkway in Forest Park and on Carriage Oaks Drive in Tyrone will remain open. The first Atlanta area Zesto was located on Peachtree Road in south Buckhead across from what is now the AMTRAK train station and was then known as "Brookwood Station." Zesto also had area locations on Roswell Road and Cheshire Bridge Road.
Interestingly, Zesto's stylized Piedmont Road location was originally built as a McDonald's.
A number of independent Zesto restaurants still exist around the country.
The Ponce location will reportedly be replaced by a restaurant and NOT a bank. It's not publicly known what restaurant will replace the Zesto, but whatever replaces it will undoubtedly, yet sadly, mean the demolition of the existing iconic building. I would not be shocked to see either Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A or North Carolina-based Cook-Out replace Zesto as they both lack a presence in the immediate area and both have the funds to make a deal like this happen. I'm quite sure the restaurant sits in the Beltline Overlay District, which could present some challenges for whoever seeks to replace Zesto.
What is your fondest Zesto memory? Would you be a fan of a Cook-Out or a Chick-fil-A in place of Zesto? What would you like to see replace the Zesto?
Please share your thoughts in the comments below.