Paula Deen has abruptly closed the Savannah restaurant that launched her to Food Network fame

In this Feb. 13, 2015, file photo, Paula Deen attends the EVINE Live launch event at The Todd English Food Hall at The Plaza in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File)

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Former Food Network star Paula Deen announced Friday the abrupt closure of the Savannah restaurant that launched her to fame with its menu of fried chicken, banana pudding and other indulgent Southern dishes.

Deen ran The Lady & Sons restaurant with her two sons, Jamie and Bobby Deen, for nearly three decades. Loyal fans visiting Savannah continued to line up for Deen’s buffet long after the Food Network cancelled her show, “Paula’s Home Cooking,” in 2013.

But 78-year-old Deen said Friday that The Lady & Sons closed for good along with The Chicken Box, which sold takeout lunches behind the main restaurant. A statement posted on Deen’s website and social media accounts didn’t say why the restaurants had shut down.

“Hey, y’all, my sons and I made the heartfelt decision that Thursday, July 31st, was the last day of service for The Lady & Sons and The Chicken Box,” Deen’s statement said.

“Thank you for all the great memories and for your loyalty over the past 36 years,” she said. “We have endless love and gratitude for every customer who has walked through our doors.”

Deen said her four restaurants outside Savannah will remain open. They’re located in Nashville and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Branson, Missouri.

Windows at The Lady & Sons were covered with brown paper Friday. Signs posted at the front entrance read: “It is with heavy hearts and tremendous gratitude that we announce that we have retired and closed.”

Deen’s restaurant seemed `packed’ until it closed

Adrienne Morton and her family, visiting Savannah from Cincinatti, had made dinner reservations at Deen’s restaurant for 5:45 p.m. Friday.

Morton said she received a text message Friday morning saying her reservation had been canceled.

“I thought this must be a mistake or maybe they planned to close and we don’t live here and just weren’t up to speed, but no,” Morton said. “We wish them the best. Hopefully everything turns out.”

Martin Rowe works in a downtown office across the street from Deen’s restaurant. He said business seemed to be going strong up until it closed.

“Nobody knew anything was wrong,” Rowe said. “I walk by there two or three times a week at lunch, and it was always packed.”

Deen went from nearly broke to Food Network fame in Savannah

Deen was divorced and nearly broke when she moved to Savannah with her boys in 1989 and started a catering business called The Bag Lady. She opened her first restaurant a few years later at a local Best Western hotel, then started The Lady & Sons in downtown Savannah in 1996.

The restaurant soon had lines out the door and served roughly 1,100 diners per day at the height of Deen’s popularity. A USA Today food critic awarded The Lady & Sons his “meal of the year” in 1999.

Deen moved her Savannah restaurant to a larger building nearby the year after The Food Network debuted “Paula’s Home Cooking” in 2002. Filmed mostly in her home kitchen, Deen taped more than 200 episodes over the next decade.

The Food Network cancelled Deen’s show in 2013 amid fallout from a lawsuit by a former employee. A transcript of Deen answering questions under oath in a legal deposition became public that included Deen’s awkward responses to questions about race.

Asked if she had ever used the N-word, Deen said, “Yes, of course,” though she added: “It’s been a very long time.”

Deen returned to television on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” on chef Gordon Ramsay’s Fox show “MasterChef: Legends,” and on Fox Nation, which began streaming “At Home With Paula Deen” in 2020. She also posts cooking videos to a YouTube channel that has more than 520,000 subscribers.

By Russ Bynum