FIGO Decatur Closes Its Doors
Decatur Metro | September 6, 2017 | 1:18 pm
Been meaning to post for a few days now. Long time Decatur pasta restaurant Figo has closed. From Tomorrow’s News Today…
FIGO Pasta, the Atlanta-based pasta chain, has closed their location on East College Avenue in Decatur. Local sources indicate the restaurant quietly closed earlier this week with no advance notice to patrons. A sign on the restaurant’s door confirms that the restaurant is permanently closed and directs patrons to the company’s location off Moreland Avenue in the Edgewood Retail District.
Photo courtesy of Tomorrow’s News Today
Not surprised. The quality of take out and dine in service was gently declining at that site for awhile. And then the phone number on the website stopped taking calls. There was a time when we loved this place and one picky eater family member refused to dine out anywhere but there.
Our family had the exact same discussion and comments when we heard the news.
Did either of you ever voice your concerns with the management on hand?
I would not classify any of my experiences as ever being “management complaint worthy.” It was more of a subtle erosion over time. I noticed fewer and fewer patrons each time we went, something I presume management was keenly aware of themselves.
Ditto. Also, it’s not my job to keep management informed. There’s other places to eat and our picky eater matured a bit.
At Home, In my experience management can never be aware of everything at all times. Customer feedback is key to any small business and try as they might things do happen. If Decatur wants to continue to have the image of supporting local businesses then it behooves you to say something because if locally owned businesses keep disappearing you’ll be left with chain stores that couldn’t care less whether you are satisfied or not because someone else will come in to replace you. Unfortunately, it seems to be an all too common scenario when a business closes around here that people then chime in with the comments or criticism when some simple feedback could’ve helped. I’m sure that if you were or are employed somewhere you would appreciate some feedback from an employer instead of being axed and told afterwards that your performance had just “steadily declined over time”. Plus it’s neighborly and some of these business owners may be your neighbors.
I’m pretty sure management was purposefully pulling out its support for the Decatur location because the phone was disconnected or inoperable and you had to start ordering through another location’s number.
I’m not shy about giving feedback! But it’s not easy these days to even locate management for many establishments, never mind talk to them. It used to be easy to locate an email address on a website or a phone number in a directory. Now it’s harder and harder to find that info. The Figo Decatur location became hard to reach hence we stopped our once frequent take-out orders. I don’t think the problem was that Figo didn’t receive enough constructive criticism.
And don’t get me started with cell phone, internet, and cable service….it’s clear that they don’t WANT to be reached!
MrHogan,
I’ve never been in the restaurant business, but I imagine that employee turnover, number of daily sales, and total revenue are pretty basic stats an owner can track. It shouldn’t take customer feedback to demonstrate there was an issue at the location. If I had some undercooked chicken or an a-hole waiter(ess), that would be a different story.
As a side, I never realized this was a locally owned place. I know several local shop and restaurant owners, but have never met anyone fitting either description at this Figo location (even since opening). As AHID mentioned, it may have been challenging to complain had I thought I should to someone.
Now back to watching the path of Irma!
MrHogan,
It looks from other responses that there was a fundamental decline at this location which aligns with my experience. This is not an isolated incident where feedback to management can correct it – the decline was DUE to poor (or lack of) management. For example, the last time I was there a few months ago, they were “out” of much of their menu.
These comments aren’t intended to criticize a business that failed… rather it’s an honest discussion of why they failed.
Exact same comments here. Used to be a fave among ASC staff, and was particularly fun to be waited on by ASC students. Always bustling at lunchtime. But over the last few months, the quality of service went down considerably. New faces every time we visited, and most of the staff didn’t seem to know or care about what they were doing. We wondered if they were under new management or something. I’m sad, because I also have a finicky eater who only wants to eat there. 🙁
My last few experiences there were bad, as well. Both of the last two times I visited, the staff at the counter to take orders didn’t know what the kinds of pasta were by name – I had to point at the menu. One night at dinner time, I went in for takeout and they were completely out of all dry pasta and sauce. What appeared to be the manager was there at the time, chatting with famiy in a booth. She had to step in to issue a refund, as I had already paid before the workers realized there was no sauce and the woman working the counter didn’t know how to do the refund – the amount of confusion was staggering. It seemed clear their days were numberd. Too bad, as this was always a favorite place to eat.
I liked the place too, and it was a vibrant scene when it first got going, but then the quality went down hill. One night the takeout we got had ridiculously small portions, like 1/2. I did mention something about that the next time. I finally had to give up on the place. In the complex restaurant business, this one would seemed like a less complex operation, and one you could make work, and make money. Too bad.