4 Rivers Smokehouse to continue Florida growth

Barbecue chain 4 Rivers Smokehouse has closed its Atlanta restaurant, but founder John Rivers said the business will look at a return to the city’s suburbs.

The Atlanta store was the only 4 Rivers Smokehouse outside of Florida. The Winter Park-based chain has 13 other locations, and one on the way in Daytona Beach.

Rivers said the company is working to add two more Florida restaurants after Daytona Beach, including one that would ideally open before the end of the year.

He said he put off closing in Georgia for more than a year, hoping that sales would grow.

“It wasn’t performing, especially compared to our other stores,” Rivers said.

The Atlanta restaurant was a test for whether 4 Rivers Smokehouse could work in an urban setting, Rivers said, and the company will target a more suburban site near the city for a return.

Its closing comes at the same time another of his restaurants, The Coop in Winter Park, has started doing business on Sunday.

4 Rivers Smokehouse will remain closed on Sundays.

Rivers’ restaurants have opened on Sunday in the past for fundraising efforts, such as to help the Bahamas following Hurricane Dorian.

Rivers said Sunday profits from The Coop will be used in community outreach.

“That was my one stipulation: that if I was going to agree to open on Sundays, we would use the sales of Sunday to do good back in the community,” he said.

Rivers said The Coop did more than twice the sales he was expecting on its first regular Sunday open.

His 4R Foundation has raised funds for facilities at Edgewater High School, including a greenhouse and raised beds, and for improvements to agriculture facilities at Ocoee High School.

Rivers also is working on a 40-acre urban farm that will host students from Orange County Public Schools and feature a discovery center and a farm-to-table restaurant in Orlando’s Packing District.

First Watch to open new Winter Park restaurant: First Watch will close its Maitland restaurant and open a new spot in the former Cinco Tacos + Tequila space in Winter Park.

The breakfast, brunch and lunch chain is expected to open in the 4,000-square-foot space at 140 N. Orlando Ave. An exact opening date was not released, but the company is hoping to open in late summer or early fall.

First Watch will not renew its lease at 1221 S. Orlando Ave. in Maitland when it expires, and its staff will move to the new Winter Park store, the company said.

The new restaurant will feature a bar serving cocktails like a vodka and kale tonic. The only other Orlandoarea First Watch with the cocktail program is in Waterford Lakes, the company said.

Cinco Tacos + Tequila closed last year.