Maddy’s BBQ Closed for Good?
Decatur Metro | August 24, 2011 | 5:50 pmIt’s a restaurant news sorta day it seems.
I’ve received a number of independent reports over the last few days that Maddy’s BBQ out Scott Boulevard has closed its doors.
Nittany313 wrote in earlier today…
It appears that Maddy’s BBQ is now closed. The doors were locked and it was empty today at lunch. …Half Off Depot is offering refunds for anyone still holding a Maddy’s voucher.
I wonder if it’s because they never did offer a kiddie menu…
Sad if true. Very good BBQ just around the corner from where I live. I imagine Community BBQ, Fox Brothers, and Burnt Fork cut into their base quite a bit. I’ll miss them.
Quit going to Maddy’s a few years ago cuz they were slower than x-mas. Even when I called ahead. They just can’t compete with the mucho good BBQ places around now. And JT may be right about the kiddie friendly. If you please the kids, you please the ‘rents.
And then you annoy the heavy drinkers, and that’s where the profit is.
I was there a month or two ago, and there was a teen band going onstage and the place was swarming with families.
My sense was the opposite was the problem. It was the adult menu. They had lost their beer and wine license a while ago, and last time we were in they invited us to go down the street and bring a six pack back. It’s hard for anyplace like that to make a go without beer revenue.
Why did they lose their beer and wine license?
Heard from a band that played there that they sold alcohol to minors and that’s what cost them the license. The night we visited, the kitchen staff were going down the street to bring back six packs for themselves.
Yeah, I call selling booze to kids not family friendly. And they were drinking in the kitchen? That is silly.
When I was 17, I drank some very good beer. I drank some very good beer I purchased with a fake ID. My name my Brian MacGee. I stayed up listening to Queen, when I was 17.
“Shut up brain, or I’ll stab you with a Q-tip!”
They’d been without a liquor license for about a year now. I’m surprised they made it this long. Too bad. Good ‘cue while it lasted.
Too bad. They were one of those classic ATL BBQ places, along with Fat Matt’s and Daddy Dzzz (sp?), that were cool before BBQ restaurants became cool inside the perimeter. But everytime I went it felt like they were a throw back to the Atlanta of the 80s, when new wave hippie Emory kids graduated and started populating the area around Melton’s App & Tap. Anyone remember Jakes Roadhouse (eventually Jake’s Toad House) – the weirdest damn combination of red necks and hippies you’d ever seen. Ah…I miss that place.
Pity – I hope someone else picks up the location. That was one of the original Old Hickory House locations (I think it may have been Old Hickory House #3). I remember when it was built – 1960 at the latest. That means that brick pit has been producing barbecue for over 50 years – a lot of good smoke flavor in that heath! I liked it when it was Rockin’ Robs and I liked Maddies. Hope it can continue.
I will miss Maddie’s! Best potato salad ever… we made a point of getting a big pan of it for our wedding (even though the rest of the food came from Community)!
One of my best friends did that for their wedding, too! Oh. hi Barb.
On my boyfried and I’s second date, we had dinner at Maddy’s and then drinks at Depeaux (back when it was still Depeaux). Now both places are closed, I wonder if the universe is trying to tell me something
Eh. Sucks for the owners, but no loss to me.
I miss Big Gregs. That was a dang good old fashioned Southern breakfast!
Was a big fan of Maddy’s–really sorry to see it go…
I am surprised to see that so many thought the BBQ was good. I thought it was borderline terrible. The ribs were passable, if barely so. Very little smoke flavor and not always tender. But the pulled pork was hideous — absolutely drowning in BBQ sauce, no discernable smoke flavor, with the texture of something that came from a can.
Agreed. I just never thought it was that good.
Some of it may be regional. My non-Southern parents embarrass me all the time when they visit. They think they love barbecue but what they really mean is that they love ribs with lots of barbecue sauce. They have been severely disappointed when they’ve ordered barbecue and gotten something other than ribs. I’ve tried to explain but all that’s done is resulted in them asking for “real” barbecue as though anyone knows what they mean.
Never tried the pulled pork so can’t comment there. Fat Matt’s ribs are better – much better – but Maddy’s ribs were good. Their chicken was excellent. Back before Community Q and Fox Brothers were around, the decision to go around the corner and eat Maddy’s ribs and chicken vs. driving up to Fat Matt’s and fighting to find a parking spot was an easy one to make. Was it great BBQ? No (but then again, brisket is where it’s really at for me). But it certainly scratched the itch when I wanted BBQ.
+1. I am from Memphis where your average corner bbq place would be considered fantastic here.
Never thought it was that great honestly, but I still miss and long for it’s predecessor, Rockin Robs. RR was the best BBQ around and if was still here, I’d pick it over any other option. I can taste the field peas and snaps just writing about it.
Yup, Rockin Robs was way better. Maddy’s was never really all that good and now, thankfully, there are several, far superior options. Just like Watershed… You snooze, you lose!
I suppose people have different tastes. I loved Maddy’s… loved their sandwiches and stew; my kids loved their ribs. But most of all I loved going to watch some great bands within walking distance from my house. It was a shame when they lost their beer/wine license; I think that hurt their business. I heard that it had something to do with the owner’s recent divorce… never heard about serving underage drinkers.
If you didn’t like Maddy’s then no loss to you; I will certainly miss them for sure.
I really loved Burnt Fork when it first opened but something has been really off there lately. The meat is always cold, the collards are full of stems with no meat…. I can’t figure it out. Since they do a lot of “from scratch” stuff I really, really wanted to love them. Are the same folks still running it? I never see the older friendly guy in there anymore.
I thought he was the owner and if so, he needs to be there!
We tried Burnt Fork recently and were severely underwhelmed. I asked the waitress if something had dairy in it and she just shrugged her shoulders and said, “I don’t know.” I had to tell her to go ask. The Q was cold, but the room was hot as hades. Not going back.
Hmmm, I’ve had several very good meals there, but I haven’t been for a month or so. Hope it was just a fluke.
IntownAtlanta told me earlier today that they had been calling for about a week and the phone was never answered.
We had some phone line problems with AT&T for a week they have been fixed for now. I apologize for the inconvenience and I’m sorry to those in this topic who have had any bad experience at Burnt Fork BBQ.
I would love to hear from anyone who has had a less that perfect experience.
My wife Kara and I bought out my father (John the nice little guy) last spring so he is back in retirement where he wanted to be.
Please feel free to ask for me: Josh, Kara my wife, partner, baker, and pastry chef or our GM Nick if you ever have any issues that you feel need to be brought to our attention, we couldn’t have made it this far without a wonderful community like the Decatur community.
Thanks,
Josh Kramer
[email protected]
404-373-7155
614 Church St.
Decatur, GA. 30030
The potato salad was the main reason we went. It was as if they took an entire baked potato loaded with toppings and put it in a really slow blender.
Yum.
Frown.
The last couple of times I went to Maddy’s the kitchen staff and customer service were horrible. People yelling, slamming fists on counters; it was excruciating. There were several people waiting, along with me, for small orders phoned in ahead that took forever. Plenty of locals were saying, “I’m never coming here again.” I was one of them.
Just curious — How long ago was that?
what a drag! they were a great spot to order inexpensive take-out from every so often. the last time they were out of potato salad and seemed to have very few other side items available. have tried Community Q and Burnt Fork, neither of which are my preference. Fox Bros. rocks, but in a different way. will have to give Fat Matt’s another try.
it’s sad to see another local business go under. that means 2 empty restaurant spaces very close to one another – the old Chinese buffet, and now Maddy’s. will keep my fingers crossed that someone else decides to take the space over soon.
The day Community Q opened was the day I stopped going to Maddy’s. I was a fan of Maddy’s. I went once a week, but Community Q is just better. Sorry Maddy’s
I liked Maddy’s. Never had bad, slow service and went there every couple of weeks. I also never saw anyone slamming fists, etc. It was nice to pick up and take home for sandwiches. Nice to have a business in that building AND nice to see a band once in a while without having to go somewhere big with many college kids. I”m sorry to see it go. I do not like Community at all. I don’t understand the hype and “yes”…I really am from the deep south. I know barbeque…whether I want to or not!
Dang, sorry to see this. I like all the BBQ places mentioned in this thread, but none of them have sauce that I liked as much as at Maddy’s.
I worked there until the very end and have no idea what all this selling to minors talk is.
We lost our beer license because the person whose name the license was in had a falling out with our owner, and the owner just never seemed to care to renew it for some reason or another.
Certainly not because we sold alcohol to kids.
Gossip kills.
But bad management killed Maddys, and that is all.
That would explain the randomness over the past ten or so months in quality. The food as of late was still good but something seemed to be missing most times. The one constant was the sauce, what I’d do for a vat of it right now.
Uh, just go to Fat Matt’s and you can buy it by the bottle. I know they claim to have tweaked the recipe but it was really pretty much the same thing.
So, where do we get the perfect potato salad now?
Jobless, if you’re the guy who lives with the guy that I know with his girlfriend and their dogs and Widespread Panic paraphernalia (now, is that obscure enough to maintain anonymity yet specific enough to narrow it down?!?), good luck in your endeavors in a city somewhere north of here. If you’re not that guy, I feel your pain anyway and wish you good luck as well. I heard that, despite months of warning signs, the end was still abrupt. I would certainly consider showing up to work to find the Sheriff padlocking the place and tagging items for a foreclosure sale to be a sign of bad management as well!
Hey Jobless, since they’re no longer open, can you post the recipe to their potato salad? It was to die for.
I loved the restaurant a matter of fact i was @ fat matts the day it opened when same mgmt; operated that. i miss them and always want to open my own. as of right now a lot is on my plate but keep in touch because hopefully soon i will venture into & can would be happy to take on those w/ maddys reseme’s. thankyou
keep in touch
I’m really bummed. I could walk there from my house and get live music and (in my opinion) great bbq and baked beans any night of the week! Really sad to see them go. Hope someone else can utilize that brick pit!
OH NO!!! How on earth are they closed??? They had the best barbecue and potato salad in town. Proximity to Maddy’s was one of the reasons I moved into a house over there!
best ever!
frankie says really missed
hope you’ll relocate
agreed