RIP Fatz and O'Charley's

[Driftwood]

Restaurant chains Fatz and O'Charley's have closed close to 20 locations each this week. Neither would make the Michelin Guide, but both were perfectly fine places to eat.
We had three Fatz and two O'Charley's in the region, and all were always pretty busy.
My wife and I don't go out to eat that much, but about once a month we would go to Fatz when it opened on Sunday morning, sit at the bar, and have lunch. They had 10 oz. $2 drafts, but the regular bartender knew us and hooked is up with 16 oz. beers. Pretty good for Sam Adams seasonals.

 

[Noholesin1]

The O’Charley’s not too far from the convention center in Orlando, before it closed, had the best happy hour deal going — half-price appetizers and 20-ounce drafts for $2.95.

 

[dixiehack]

The O’Charley’s where I grew up is great, a fact that I attribute to being within an hour or so of HQ in Nashville. The further away they get from Music City, the worse the quality. I gave up on the one near my house in 2019 when more than once I couldn’t get anybody to acknowledge my presence and seat me when business was slow. The last time I actually called them from the lobby on my cell thinking someone would at least emerge from the back to answer. Nope.

 

[Deskgrunt50]

Thought O’Charley’s was very good. Haven’t been to one in years. One of my lifelong friends was a server there for a bit after college and, if I recall, found it to be a positive experience.

Not familiar with Fatz.

 

[DanOregon]

Is it like the Bennigan's of the South?

 

[Driftwood]

Is it like the Bennigan's of the South?

Not really "like" Bennigan's, but certainly the same type of place along with Applebee's.
Fatz was based in South Carolina with places in North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia.
The whole operation going bankrupt doesn't surprise me. They revamped their menu a couple of years ago and not for the better. The quality tanked. The shutdown was corporate and caught everyone off guard because someone I work with had called the local one as recent as the morning of the closing about a future event, and they gave no indication that their future only went as far as that same afternoon.

 

[Regan MacNeil]

The calabash (sp?) chicken there was good. Haven’t been to one in 15 years, tho.

 

[FileNotFound]

There’s an O’Charleys in the Stockholm airport. That’s all I got.

 

[garrow]

Never heard of Fatz, but very familiar with O'Charley's. Saw them all over Georgia.

 

[Woody Long]

Never heard of Fatz, but very familiar with O'Charley's. Saw them all over Georgia.

When my parents retired to the south, I went down for a visit. The first night I'm there, my dad suggests we go out to this "great local place" he found.

It was O'Charley's.

 

[Azrael]

Long before there was an O'Charley's, there was, in New York City, a Charley O's.

Discuss.

 

[maumann]

Also a mule named Charlie O. Perfect irony for an ass of a baseball owner.

 

[sgreenwell]

When my parents retired to the south, I went down for a visit. The first night I'm there, my dad suggests we go out to this "great local place" he found.

It was O'Charley's.

Out here in the ultimate suburbs (Katy, TX), it's way harder to find a non-chain than a chain. Even things you don't think are a chain will still have like five locations in Katy. Also, we're constantly getting "test" restaurants from national and international chains, probably to see if they can expand their footprint. We have like one Tim Horton's, and Coffee Fellows is opening like five minutes from my house.

 

[Driftwood]

I was just talking to a lady who retired here from Rhode Island. When she said Chick-fil-A she called it Chick-fil-"ah."
I pretty sure that made my eye twitch, and I might have cringed.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

I had never eaten in, seen, or even heard of these two chains until this thread noting their demise. Not much of a New England presence, I guess.

 

[Woody Long]

I had never eaten in, seen, or even heard of these two chains until this thread noting their demise. Not much of a New England presence, I guess.

Both places start to pop up on the blue signs on the Interstate once you reach the Charlotte area.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

I haven't been in the South in years. Not out of negative feelings, just I'm old, I live in a nice place, and I'm not that up for travel. Plus, with a daughter in France I try to visit at least once a year, that pretty much does for the travel budget.

 

[dixiehack]

I had never eaten in, seen, or even heard of these two chains until this thread noting their demise. Not much of a New England presence, I guess.

They used to own the 99 restaurant chain in New England. Never been to one, but I’d guess the concepts overlap.

 

[Driftwood]

My wife and I used to get the southern appetizer sampler on Sunday at Fatz: fried green tomatoes, fried pickles, pimento cheese with toast, and a couple of their Calabash chicken strips.
Their shrimp and grits wasn't bad, either. The ribs were pretty good for chain ribs.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

They used to own the 99 restaurant chain in New England. Never been to one, but I’d guess the concepts overlap.

Then I understand the chains completely. The 99 is still around, although not as many as there once were. One in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston was the site of a spectacular gangland slaying a couple decades ago.