The Guthrie's restaurant on Signal Mountain is being remodeled and downsized from about 3,400 square feet to 1,700 square feet. The restaurant, which closed July 28 for the changeover, should reopen in September.A restaurant chain famous for its chicken fingers has expanded to Brained but is downsizing atop Signal Mountain.
Guthrie's opened its fourth area restaurant this week with the opening of a Guthrie's ToGo unit at 5203 Brainerd Road. Will Garrett, co-owner of the local franchise for Guthrie's, said response this week has been "very strong" to the new Brainerd, or MidTown, location even though it is smaller than the other Guthrie's in Trenton, Ringgold and Signal Mountain.
The new 1,300-square-foot Guthrie's in Brainerd offers the same menu of chicken strip boxes and buckets as other Guthrie's outlets but has no inside seating and employs about 16 workers, or only about half as many as the usual staff at the existing restaurants.
Garrett said the franchise owners are also remodeling the Signal Mountain Guthrie's location to cut that 3,400-square-foot site in half. During the remodeling, which began in late July, the restaurant is closed.
"We hope to reopen in mid to late September," Garrett said. "We're remodeling the Signal Mountain unit, repainting and upgrading some of the facilities and will have a smaller restaurant when we're done more in line with other Guthrie stores."
Garrett said he remains committed to Signal Mountain but wants a better sized location.
Garrett opened his first Guthrie's on Lookout Mountain in 2009, which he relocated to Trenton the next year. He joined with partner Grady Williams Jr. to later add other units on Signal Mountain and Ringgold, Ga.
Garrett, said he grew up loving the taste of Guthrie's chicken fingers and wings while he was a student at the University of Alabama.
Guthrie's began in 1965 and pioneered the first chicken fingers restaurant concept 13 years later. Guthrie's began franchise locations in 2005 and today there are 27 Guthrie's locations open n Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and Kentucky. Other units are expected to soon open in Ohio.
"We use the best filet of the chicken and everything we cook is made from fresh and cooked only a few minutes before we serve it," Garrett said.