This rumor (and until I hear more this is strictly a rumor) comes straight from the decks of an unnamed Chick Fil-A restaurant: the inheritors of entrepreneur Truett Cathy’s fast food empire are prepared to close his small cadre of “Dwarf House” restaurant locations upon his passing (which is hopefully long and away in the future). Located primarily on the southern end of Atlanta, the Dwarf House restaurants are based upon the original Chick Fil-A restaurant (called the Dwarf House) located in Hapeville, Georgia, in the shadow of Hartsfield/Jackson International Airport. Denizens of Atlanta’s southside know that the Dwarf House restaurants are split down the middle: one side is dedicated to fast food style ordering and seating while the other side of the restaurant is staffed by waiters and waitresses. Dwarf Houses serve up full breakfasts, offer an artery clogging dish known as a “hot brown” and perhaps most shockingly, the Dwarf House restaurants actually do cook and serve those award-winning cows who have put the phrase “Eat mor Chikin” on the tips of American tongues. That’s right, they serve hamburgers, steakburgers and steak. They even serve grilled ham and cheese sandwiches! So why would they want to close these restaurants?
The restaurants are normally well-staffed and offer excellent service, which undoubtedly costs money. Perhaps these higher-service outlets cannot compete along the same strip where pimpled teens sling low-priced burgers out tiny windows. In the mid-1990’s Mr. Cathy rolled out a special one-off Chick Fil-A restaurant in Morrow’s Mt. Zion area. The resturant, known as “Truett’s Grill”, is styled in a Googlie 1950’s theme, its parking lot peppered with period vehicles adding ambience to the entire experience. A year or so ago Mr. Cathy opened another Truett’s Grill a few miles to the south, another gift to the locals who helped him launch a bazillion chicken sandwiches across the globe.
So are the Powers That Be at Chick Fil-A really planning on shuttering the Chick Fil-A restaurants? I hope not. As an enormous fan of Mr. Cathy’s company, his dedication to his community and the family feel of the Dwarf House restaurants I hope to find myself sitting in a Dwarf House sometime in 2067, comfortably gumming a chicken sandwich.