Open since 1927, The Colonnade has long been a destination in Atlanta for its classic meat-and-three fare. But over the last decade, the Cheshire Bridge Road restaurant institution has weathered several challenges—a series of bridge fires that cut off access roads for weeks (or months) at a time, a forced closure due to the global pandemic, and in 2024, a transition to new ownership.
But as The Colonnade approaches its 100th birthday, Atlanta’s second-oldest restaurant is more popular than ever, thanks to new leadership and a group of loyal regulars who can’t get enough of its fried chicken plates, ice-cold martinis, and the connections they’ve made with fellow diners.
“People sit at the same tables every week, introduce themselves to new people, and it’s a very welcome and lovely thing,” said co-owner Paul Donahue of The Colonnade’s enduring charm and appeal.
He and his partner, Lewis Jeffries, were longtime regulars themselves before purchasing the restaurant last fall. Jeffries dined there frequently with his grandmother as a child, and his uncle was instrumental in securing The Colonnade’s current location when it had to relocate from its original spot on Piedmont Road.
“Regulars are the lifeblood of any restaurant,” Donahue said. “Yes, the special occasion people are great and an important part of the business, but it’s the people there every week that keep the doors open.”
One of those people is J. Brian Crawford, a Midtown-based real estate coach who’s been a regular at The Colonnade for the last 20 years.
He and four other close friends even have a group chat called “Grumpy Old Ladies of the ‘Nade,” complete with a weekly check-in to get a roll call for their standing 7:30 p.m. Friday dinner date.
“The food here is like the food I ate as a kid,” said Crawford, an Alabama native who’s a fan of dishes like prime rib and fried chicken. “It’s affordable, and the cocktails are fantastic, some of the best martinis in Atlanta.”
“Plus, where else in the world can you get salmon croquettes besides here or your mama’s kitchen in the 1970s,” he added.
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When he’s not gathered with friends at a round table by the windows, Crawford sits solo at the bar or wanders around the restaurant chatting with other patrons and staff, often with a Vesper in hand.
“The people here are not just your servers or waiters, you know their stories, and they’re like family,” he said of longtime staffers like Rhea Merritt, who’s been managing the restaurant’s front-of-house for over 50 years.
That family-like vibe is what has kept another Friday night regular, Patsy Moss, coming back week after week since moving to Atlanta in 1970.
Donahue calls Moss The Colonnade’s “queen bee,” and she can often be found holding court with friends at one of the half-moon banquettes in the cozy, wood-paneled dining room.
“She is always checking in on others, and always greeting new people,” said Donahue of Moss’s welcoming demeanor and popularity with other Colonnade diners.
Like Crawford, Moss is a fan of The Colonnade’s retro, Southern-style food, including obscure menu items like tomato aspic, a nostalgic, gelatin-based dish that reminds her of eating at friends’ houses as a teen in South Georgia.
“Yes, The Colonnade is country cooking, but it’s so much more than that,” said Moss, who praised the updates Donahue and Jeffries have made to the restaurant’s menu and décor.
While the couple—who also own Lingering Shade Social Club in the Old Fourth Ward—never intended to get into the restaurant business, Donahue said he and Jeffries couldn’t pass up the opportunity to purchase a restaurant steeped in so much personal and collective history.
“It was appealing because it’s a restaurant we knew extremely well, and we knew what the potential could be,” said Donahue.
“The staff had almost become like family to us, and it felt like a very good fit,” he continued. “Plus, it’s just five minutes from our house in Brookhaven/Pine Hills, so it’s very convenient.”
Since taking over, Donahue and Jeffries have revamped the menu, adding old favorites like fried oysters, spinach salad, and prime rib to the nightly menu. They also launched the restaurant’s first-ever wine list and updated the menus, cocktail napkins, and placemats with a playful, green-and-pink Palm Beach-inspired color scheme.
“It’s funny, because the colors were a little shocking to some people after all that beige, but when we were redoing the bar and replacing equipment, we found some old laminated placemats that were that same pink and green, probably from the 1970s or 1980s,” explained Donahue.
Crawford appreciates the “fresh energy” the new owners have brought to the beloved restaurant. He said while Friday nights were always busy, it’s now common for the line for the bar to wind all the way from the back wall to the front door at peak dinner hours—now seven nights a week for the first time since the pandemic.
As former regulars, Donahue and Jeffries understand how cherished The Colonnade is to multiple generations of Atlantans. It’s something they take very seriously, as for many people, including Jeffries, the restaurant is tied to family histories and deep-rooted friendships akin to family.
Over the next couple of years, Donahue and Jeffries plan to refresh the interior space with new carpet and wall coverings in time for The Colonnade to celebrate its 100th birthday in 2027—and many of its longtime regulars plan to be there for the party.