Paula Deen abruptly closes restaurant that launched her to celebrity chef status
Now, over 25 years later, the Georgia native has announced the closing of the Lady and Sons — the iconic restaurant that made her a star of Southern cuisine and a household name in the cooking world.
Opened in downtown Savannah, Ga., in 1996, the Lady and Sons boasted a menu of local classics like fried green tomatoes, banana pudding and hoecakes. The signature dish, Southern fried chicken, was enough to draw lines wrapping around the block — and the restaurant came to be viewed as an embodiment of the indulgent and buttery flavors that characterize Southern cooking.
'There in Savannah, Paula Deen's homestyle Southern menu at the Lady and Sons turned me into a ravenous beast, unmindful of manners, cholesterol, North-South diplomacy and the dropped jaws of my companions,' USA Today, then the nation's most-read daily newspaper, wrote on Dec. 17, 1999.
Earlier that year, the popularity of the Lady and Sons caught the attention of Food Network journalist Gordon Elliott. Deen appeared on Elliott's short-lived show 'Door Knock Dinners' that led to her own Daytime Emmy-winning Food Network program, 'Paula's Home Cooking.'
On her website and social media accounts, Deen bid farewell to the Lady and Sons and its longtime fans. Also closing is her newer restaurant, the Chicken Box, which opened in 2023.
'Hey, y'all, my sons and I made the heartfelt decision that Thursday, July 31st, was the last day of service for The Lady & Sons and The Chicken Box,' Deen said in the statement. 'We will now focus our attention on the four Paula Deen's Family Kitchen locations across the country.'
The announcement came without warning, especially as the restaurant continued to draw tours and lines of customers. Three weeks prior to the announcement, the Lady and Sons posted on Instagram that it was hiring for all positions.
Over the years, some of Deen's other restaurants have also closed suddenly. In 2014, employees at Uncle Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House — a Savannah eatery she co-owned with her brother, Earl W. 'Bubba' Hiers Jr. — reportedly arrived to work to find the doors locked and the appliances removed. A sign on the door said, 'Thank you for 10 great years. Uncle Bubba's is now closed.'
The Panama City, Fla., location of Paula Deen's Family Kitchen also closed abruptly in 2019, laying off 30 employees without advance notice. Several former employees told local news channel WJHG that they were left without their main source of income following the closure.
Uncle Bubba's closure came a year after controversy began to surround Deen after a former manager at the restaurant sued Hiers, alleging sexual and racial discrimination.
Food Network canceled 'Paula's Home Cooking' after Deen admitted to using a racial slur during a deposition for the 2013 lawsuit. Lawyers asked Deen if she had ever used the N-word, to which Deen replied, 'Yes, of course,' later adding, 'It's been a very long time.'
Since then, the 78-year-old has focused on her restaurants.
The Lady and Sons, as her core establishment, was the result of a litany of personal struggles and ambition. Both of her parents passed away when she was in her early 20s and Deen, then a young mother, struggled with depression and agoraphobia, or fear of going outside.
With only $200 left, Deen founded a catering company out of her kitchen called the Bag Lady. Her handmade bag lunches were delivered by her sons Jamie and Bobby and earned Deen a local reputation for her homestyle cooking. After one attempt at a restaurant, the Lady in 1991, the follow-up, the Lady and Sons, co-owned with Jamie and Bobby, would be her success.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Penguin Random House editor shared post mocking murdered exec Wesley LePatner
A top editor at Penguin Random House allegedly mocked the murder of Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner in a bizarre Instagram post which blamed her for the housing crisis and ending with 'rest in piss.' Thomas Gebremedhin, vice president and executive editor at Doubleday Books, shared the vile Instagram story highlighting an X post about Monday's mass shooting at 345 Park Ave., where LePatner, 46, was gunned down while trying to shield herself behind a marble pillar. 'Her sole job was making sure housing is expensive and that we all rent for the rest of our lives,' read the original post portraying LePatner — a Jewish mom of two — as the face of unaffordable housing. 4 Thomas Gebremedhin, a VP and executive editor at Penguin Random House, reposted an X post screenshot about LePatner's death, sparking backlash across social media. William – 'She made $9,000 a minute … Rest in piss.' Social media users were quick to point out that LePatner did not earn '$9,000 a minute,' and condemned the post, which was first made in response to Blackstone's official memorial tweet and flagged by Free Press reporter Maya Sulkin. 'It's not just people in the dark corners of the internet justifying LePatner's murder,' Sulkin wrote in a Friday X post. 'It's people like Thomas Gebremedhin.' 4 LePatner's 14-year-old daughter tearfully called her 'my rock' at Thursday's funeral service at Central Synagogue, held just blocks from where she was killed. Zuma/Billy Tompkins / The tone-deaf repost stunned many in the publishing world, where Gebremedhin moves in elite literary circles. His Instagram, @tgebremedhin, is private but screenshots of the story began circling online this week, triggering widespread condemnation. 'Book publishing industry is full of scum. Probably more woke than the worst universities,' one user commented under Sulkin's post. Another wrote: 'The Left be like: anyone with a lot of money deserves to be murdered, unless they're Hamas terrorist billionaires.' 4 Wesley LePatner, a mother of two and top Blackstone executive, was shot and killed Monday in the lobby of her Midtown office building during a mass shooting. Blackstone '[He] should be fired … absolutely deplorable,' a third chimed in. LePatner, who was global head of Core+ Real Estate and chief executive officer for Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, was mourned by her firm and family as 'brilliant,' 'warm' and 'deeply respected.' She served on the board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, mentored young women and was honored by UJA-Federation for her Jewish philanthropy. She was shot dead Monday by gunman Shane Tamura, who killed four before turning the gun on himself. LePatner had crouched behind a pillar in the lobby of 345 Park as bullets flew. 4 Shooter Shane Tamura opened fire inside 345 Park Ave., killing four — including LePatner — before fatally turning the gun on himself, police said. Obtained by NY Post Her teenage daughter called her 'my rock' during a tearful funeral Thursday at Central Synagogue in Midtown, where more than 500 mourners gathered just blocks from the site of her death. Neither Penguin Random House nor Gebremedhin immediately returned messages seeking comment.
Indianapolis Star
2 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
Ralph Lauren's Oak Bluffs collection celebrates historic Black beach community
Cricket sweaters, patchwork blanket, and distressed baseball caps. Each is part of the new collection called Polo Ralph Lauren for Oak Bluffs, celebrating the historically Black community of Oak Bluffs in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. The collection is an evolution of the 2022 collection based on Historically Black Colleges Morehouse and Spelman, who are again partners in the Oak Bluffs collection, and is a part of the company's "Design with Intent" portfolio. "Ralph Lauren as a man, as a brand is sort of the world ambassador to Americana," James Jeter, Creative Director for Polo Men's at Ralph Lauren told USA TODAY. "With that comes this incredible responsibility for us to tell these incredible American stories as fully, as broadly, as accurately as possible." The collection deftly weaves HBCU campus style drawn from Morehouse and Spelman with resort wear that references the historic Black beach town and Black traditions. "It was just very important to tell that story, the multi-faceted, multi-dimensional experience that is the Black experience that also translates into the American experience," Dara Douglas, Product and Brand Lead for Design with Intent, told USA TODAY. It is accompanied by a documentary on the community directed by Cole Brown titled "A Portrait of the American Dream: Oak Bluffs" that debuted on the brand's YouTube page on July 24. "Oak Bluffs' unique history, traditions and sense of community deeply inspire me and speak to what we are all searching for – a place where you can be free, uncontrived, joyful and truly at home," Ralph Lauren, Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of the eponymous preppy stalwart, said in a July 23 press release. Oak Bluffs was once a part of nearby Edgartown and was deemed to be the place "suitable" for Black workers at nearby resorts, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Oak Bluffs community envisioned by the collection started in earnest when Charles Shearer opened Shearer Cottage in 1912, according to The Root. The Black news outlet described the inn as, "an act of defiance in an America riddled with discrimination and racial segregation, where safe lodging for Black travelers was a rare luxury." "So by default really, Oak Bluffs becomes the place ... for young, educated, affluent African Americans—the politicians and the movie stars." Dr. Elaine Weintraub, historian and co-founder of the Martha's Vineyard African American Heritage Trail, told the Trust. At the heart of Oak Bluffs, according to the Root, is a beach called the Inkwell that served as a place where, "Black folks could swim, sunbathe, and just be, without getting side-eyed or harassed." Weintraub described vacationers to the Inkwell, Shearer Cottage, and Oak Bluffs throughout the decades as a "who's who" including Madame C.J. Walker, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., actress Ethel Waters, and singer Lionel Richie. "Well, I think perhaps I should say what you I think are aware of. Our people are deeply mystical, you might say spiritual and we have a an appreciation for place," Dr. Lawrence E. Carter Sr., the Dean of the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel, said in the documentary. "How Martha's Vineyard became Martha's Vineyard has an awful lot to do with traffic, who came through here and by coming through here bequeathed something." Dorothy West, the youngest member of the Harlem Renaissance, said of Oak Bluffs, "I thought there was always summer here" in an interview published by the Martha's Vineyard Museum Oral History Channel. "I think historically it has represented a place where African Americans could be successful, could be around other African-Americans, could share in a culture and a place in the sun and that they'll own and that they'll belong," Weintraub said. Oak Bluffs still holds that same significance today. Netflix's show "Forever", released in March, showcased this on an episode titled "The Vineyard", allowing viewers to see the vibrance and richness that still exists in Oak Bluffs. The 2022 collection was described by Jeter as a "period piece" that drew from the ephemera of Morehouse and Spelman, of which Jeter and Douglas are alumni, from 1920's to the 1960's. "You'll notice that there's this kind of decorum (in the 2022 collection). We leaned a little bit into politics of respectability, which really started such an incredible conversation," Jeter said. He added that imagery for the collection's campaign was "intentionally less serious" and leaned into a multi-generational interpretation of summers on the shore. "Quite frequently people think of the output that comes from the Black experience, whether it's through entertainment, through sports. So you constantly see the Black body in motion, but this notion of rest and relaxation as a space that the black body could occupy I think is quite revolutionary," Douglas said. The collection comes as companies have backed away from concepts labeled DEI following pressure from the Trump administration and other right-wing forces. Jeter and Douglas both pointed to the collection as a part of the company's commitment to widening the brand's view of what is included in "Americana," with James saying "we intended to stick to that."
Screen Geek
2 hours ago
- Screen Geek
American Eagle Releases Statement Over Sydney Sweeney Controversy
Sydney Sweeney recently played a central role in a new marketing campaign from American Eagle. While many Sweeney fans were amused by the campaign, there was ultimately some backlash regarding her involvement, and now American Eagle has issued a statement regarding the Sydney Sweeney controversy. It appears that the controversy began with an advertisement where Sydney Sweeney, who has blonde hair and blue eyes, had the following dialogue: 'Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.' This led some critics to suggest that the advertisement was making a nod to eugenics or Nazi propaganda, particularly because of Sweeney's blonde hair and blue eyes and the consistent reference to 'great jeans,' aka 'great genes.' While Sweeney, who has also collaborated with Dr. Squatch, has yet to respond to the controversy at the time of this writing, American Eagle has issued a statement on Instagram. It's a statement that takes a rather light perspective on the situation. Here's what they shared: ''Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans' is and always was about the jeans,' the statement begins. 'Her jeans Her story. We'll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way,' AE continues. 'Great jeans look good on everyone.' Of course, not everyone is happy with the statement on Instagram, with some critics believing that it's not serious enough based on the gravity of the situation. Others feel as though the situation is only being perceived as serious and that it's simply an ad campaign for jeans with a sense of humor. Either way, it's a debacle that has gotten just about everyone involved, including the White House. We'll have to see where the reception of the Sydney Sweeney collaboration with American Eagle goes next, but this is certainly one way for the label to continue their campaign with the same spirit that started it.
