TGI Fridays closes restaurant next to Tennessee Aquarium in downtown Chattanooga

photo TGIFridays is closing its restaurant next to the Tennessee Aquarium in downtown Chattanooga.

The sign above the shuttered restaurants still proclaims, "In here, it's always Fridays."

But after more than 21 years of operation, TGIFridays is no more in Chattanooga. The landlord for the 200-seat restaurant on Broad Street is looking for a new type of eatery and terminated the lease for TGIFridays, effective today.

Restaurant employees and guests were greeted with the news today on the door of the downtown eatery as work crews removed TGIFridays signs and fixtures throughout the day.

"In my opinion, this is the best restaurant location in downtown," said Jon Kinsey, president of Kinsey, Probasco and Hays -- the managing partner for the building that houses the restaurant at 2 Broad St. "We have several interested people in this site and we are close to having a replacement that we think will be great for downtown."

TGIFridays was one of the first restaurants to open in the shadow of the Tennessee Aquarium more than two decades ago and has operated as a company-owned store since 1995. But with the May sale of TGIFridays by the Carlson Group to a pair of private equity firms -- Sentinel Capital Partners and TriArtisan Capital Partners -- TGIFridays is trying to sell most of its 247 restaurants in the U.S. to franchise operators.

Kinsey said he wants to get a new restaurant concept in the downtown site, rather than taking over the TGIFridays franchise.

TGIFridays previously operated another local restaurant in East Brainerd, but with the closing of the downtown store, the Fridays chain will no longer have a presence in the Chattanooga market.

In a statement, TGIFridays said Tuesday that the Chattanooga restaurant "will be closing for business reasons.

"Having operated at this location for over 20 years, this was a very difficult decision as we understand the impact it has on our guests who enjoyed dining at our restaurant and on our team members who worked there," a company spokesperson said. "We appreciate and thank our guests for visiting Fridays in Chattanooga over the years."

Kinsey, a former Chattanooga mayor and real estate developer, said he is in talks with a variety of potential tenants, including both local and national restaurant operators.

"We hope to make an announcement of a new tenant soon," Kinsey said.

Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340.

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