[EXCLUSIVE] Hardee's Has Quietly Closed More Than A Dozen Restaurants in Georgia (2024)

Hardee's has in recent weeks closed at least thirteenfourteen restaurants in the greater metro Atlanta area. Many of the restaurants were only a few years old and were part of a recent return to market led by franchisee Capstone Restaurant Group, and its affiliate, Summit Restaurant Holdings, LLC, a Boulder, Colorado-based firm and one of the largest franchisees of the brand nationwide.

Several of the restaurants were operating under limited hours and limited service - with some only open until 4PM and offering Drive Thru only.

Many of the restaurants were new builds specifically for Hardee's such as the restaurant on Mountain Industrial Boulevard in Tucker which opened in 2018, while others, like the one on Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell which wasa former El Pollo Loco, were conversions of existing buildings.A Hardee's in Dallas, for example, opened in 2016 on the site of a former Wendy's.

What made matters confusing for us and no doubt for any would be patron, is that all of the shuttered restaurants have been removed from the Capstone corporate website but are still active on the Hardee's website. If not for our report and investigation, it would be easy to think that all of the confirmed closed restaurants were open and operating with hours, third party delivery and location details still present on the corporate Hardee's website.

Hardee's, which got its start in Rocky Mount, North Carolina in 1960, is today based in Franklin, Tennessee, and like so many restaurant franchises, is owned by Atlanta-based private equity firm Roark Capital Group. (Hardee's and sibling brand Carl's Jr. are held under the CKE Restaurants Holdings LLC umbrella.)

Although no reason was given for the closures, the Georgia closures were seemingly part of a broader move by franchisees of the brand nationwide. Media reports in Kansas, Missouri, and South Carolina suggest that another seven restaurants were shuttered in recent days in those states.

The Wichita Eagle reports that one Hardee's in Derby, Kansas three in Wichita and one in Topeka all shuttered earlier this week, with employees blindsided by their abrupt closures.

A single Hardee’s in Columbia, Missouri also closed earlier this week according to a report by theColumbia Missourian. The paper reported that its Hardee’s locations are owned by Summit Restaurant Holdings LLC. A spokesperson for Hardee’s parent company CKE Restaurant Holdings, told the Missourian that the closure in Columbia “is part of SRH’s efforts to re-position its restaurant portfolios in light of the challenges that remain in the industry."

A Fort Mill, South Carolina, Hardee’s located at 101 Tom Hall Street that had reportedly been a local mainstay since the 1970s also closed. The Herald reports that the restaurant was corporately-owned.

Signage at the Lilburn and Tucker restaurants thanks customers for their "many years of patronage" despite the restaurants having opened in 2016 and 2018, respectively.

Following the closures, Hardee's still operates several dozen restaurants across Georgia but few in what many would consider metro Atlanta. Most of the chain's Georgia presence is in smaller, rural communities where the restaurants are popular gathering spots for ROMEOs: Retired Older Men Eating Out - a term we learned from Sherrod "Pete" Patterson, a longtime friend of ToNeTo Atlanta, who passed away in 2021.

Remaining area restaurants include those on Bouldercrest Road, just inside the perimeter, Roswell Road in Sandy Springs, Stone Mountain Highway in Stone Mountain, and Floyd Road in Mableton, among others.

The thirteen Georgia locations that we confirmed have closed in recent weeks are:

1727 Mountain Industrial Blvd. - Tucker

5335 Lawrenceville Highway - Lilburn (Less than a mile away is a former Bojangles that closed in 2019 after about four years in business.)

3069 Cobb Parkway - Kennesaw

891 Holcomb Bridge Road - Roswell

2686 Hamilton Mill Road - Buford

2520 Delk Road - Marietta

1700 Old Pendergrass Road - Jefferson

3075 Atlanta Highway - Athens

4365 Lexington Road - Athens

7940 Senoia Road - Fairburn

4360 Atlanta Highway - Loganville

1266 Merchants Drive - Dallas

104 South Tennessee Street - Cartersville

100 Hazel Mosley Road - Jasper

A Hardee's in the Columbus, Georgia neighborhood of Midland closed this past December, while outposts in Claxton and Statesboro closed this past April and May, respectively, according to Grice Connect.

The closure of the Hardee's restaurants in Georgia comes as Whataburger muscles into the market with three locations having recently debuted and a fourth in Cumming slated to open soon. Overall, the Texas-based chain plans to open at least 50 restaurants in the state by 2030.

Metro Atlanta is littered with long since closed former Hardee's restaurants, with several still standing, but as other restaurants.

A classic 1970s era Hardee's restaurant

Willy's Mexicana Grill operates out of a onetime Hardee's on Howell Mill Road as does Fresh to Order on Johnson Ferry Road in East Cobb, El Huarache Veloz on Roswell Road in Marietta and Zaxby's on Bullsboro Road in Newnan. Surcheros, a growing Mexican franchise, opened a new flagship location on Main Street in Alpharetta in what one reader indicated was a roughly 95% renovation of a onetime Hardee's that had closed in 2020.

Cookout on Lawrenceville Highway in Tucker and soon to open Andy's Frozen Custard on North Druid Hills Road in Toco Hills both replaced former 70s era Hardee's restaurants. ToNeTo Atlanta also reported this past November that a new Chipotle is coming to Duluth on the site of a onetime Hardee's.

Interestingly, Hardee's previously opened in a converted former Donatos on Towne Lake Parkway in Woodstock, but the restaurant closed several years ago and today operates as a Chipotle which also makes use of the pizza chain's original building.

Are you surprised to see so many Hardee's close? When was the last time you ate at a Hardee's restaurant? What would you like to see open in place of the Atlanta area Hardee's that have closed?

Please share your thoughts below.