Longtime Standby Radial Cafe Closes Its Second Location in a Week

A week after shuttering its College Park location, Radial Cafe has closed its Candler Park outpost.

The beloved restaurant announced its closure on June 7 with a sign reading “Thank you. We are grateful for the love, enthusiasm and patronage we have been shown over the years; however we regret that our restaurant is now closed permanently. Warm regards, management and staff of Radial Cafe.”

The Candler Park Radial operated for nearly 20 years. Owner Frank Bragg purchased Radial in 2010 and announced plans to expand in 2016. Radial’s second location in College Park lasted less than a year.

Bragg posted a longer message addressing the closure of both locations on Radial Cafe’s Facebook Page:

“Sadly, I hate to tell you that both restaurants are now permanently closed. Last week, I had no choice but to shutter the College Park location. What a beautiful restaurant with so much potential! Unfortunately, it was not keeping up financially. Despite our best efforts, we were spending more than we were able to take in.”

Last week Bragg said College Park’s closure wouldn’t affect the original location.

“Closing College Park was supposed to help us keep Candler Park open. For many months, we have “borrowed from Peter to pay Paul” to keep both properties afloat, but Candler Park’s success was based on a plan with razor thin margins and less than a week after closing College Park, it was obvious that Candler Park had to be closed as well.

For over 19 years, the Radial Cafe brand has existed in the Atlanta market. It was always been a great example of the “little engine that could”. Despite its small size, it had a big place in the hearts of many people in our community. When I bought the Candler Park restaurant in 2010, I was aware of the enormous responsibility I had to protect this brand and to grow it responsibly.

We had issues and opportunities over the years, but I will always be very proud of our work. Not only did we create a safe, fun and eclectic environment for people to come and enjoy great food and drink, but we were active in our community and made a difference with donations of time, treasure and talent. We raised the bar operating as an environmentally responsible restaurant and set an example, which many other restaurants came to follow. We won many awards for our food, service and ambience over the years and were always grateful for these nods from the critics and the fans! I hope Radial Cafe will be remembered as a great restaurant and a great business.”