R. Thomas, the decades-old Buckhead diner famous for its 24-hour vibe and the colorful parrots greeting customers out front, suddenly went dark on Peachtree Road this week. A paper sign taped to the front door says the closure is for “cosmetic renovation and system upgrades” and promises a March 19 reopening. Meanwhile, multiple employees and customers have posted on social media that staff were caught off guard and told they no longer had jobs.
As reported by Atlanta News First, the notice appeared this week and the outlet notes the restaurant was sold last year to the Teranga Group. The company is described as a hospitality operator that runs lounges and nightclubs in Atlanta and Charlotte. Atlanta News First credits a post from TonetoATL with first flagging the closure.
What the sign and website show
R. Thomas lists the Peachtree address on its website and says the restaurant has served Atlanta for more than 30 years. The door notice, reproduced in social posts and local reporting, cites cosmetic work and “system upgrades” as the reason for shutting the doors and gives the March 19 reopening date. That combination of a public sign and staff posts leaves open whether any return to business will keep the same employees or the same operating style under the new ownership.
Staff reaction and ownership change
Multiple employees and former staffers posted that they were told they no longer had jobs, a wave of reactions that Atlanta News First summarized in its coverage. The same report notes that the business was sold last year to the Teranga Group. A neighborhood discussion on Reddit captured both diners’ and workers’ reactions, with some posters calling the layoffs abrupt and others worrying aloud about what would happen to the restaurant’s parrots.
Past disruptions on Peachtree
R. Thomas has already seen its share of trouble on that stretch of Peachtree. Georgia Public Broadcasting and other local outlets covered a February 2024 water-main break and sinkhole near the restaurant that briefly closed neighboring businesses and tied up traffic. With that recent history, a sudden shutdown, even one labeled a cosmetic renovation, has regulars on edge. The mix of uncertainty about staffing and a specific reopening date has left many longtime patrons skeptical about what the place will look and feel like if it comes back…