Photograph by Andrew Thomas Lee
Atlantans panicked last summer, when The Colonnade, the city’s second-longest running restaurant, went up for sale. After many decades, owners Jodi and David Stallings had decided to retire. The beloved 98-year-old Cheshire Bridge Road institution, famed for its meat-and-threes, had just crept out of the pandemic when a pair of road closures caused by bridge fires threatened to collapse the iconic eatery’s business for good.
There was a collective sigh of relief, then, when longtime regulars and partners Lewis Jeffries—a third-generation Atlantan who has eaten there for 60 years—and Paul Donahue announced they would purchase their favorite restaurant. They wasted no time bringing back customer favorites, including the prime rib.
Here, Jeffries, Donahue, and some of The Colonnade’s dedicated staffers explain why the restaurant, which opened in 1927, is such an enduring Atlanta institution.
Photograph by Andrew Thomas Lee
Lewis Jeffries, new owner, regular for 60 years: I’ve been coming here since I was six years old. We own Lingering Shade on the Beltline, and we were in the market to open another bar. I was minding my own business eating dinner one night when Jodi and David stopped by my table and asked, “Would you guys be interested in buying it?”
Paul Donahue, new owner, regular for 30 years: The whole deal was done in less than 48 hours. They wanted the new owners to keep The Colonnade The Colonnade. Jodi and David knew us. We’ve been coming here for decades. We just wanted to continue to eat here every Thursday night, and we love all of the people who work here. Some have worked here for 30 or 50 years, and that’s hugely important. There aren’t many places with that kind of history.
Photograph by Andrew Thomas Lee
Rhea Merritt, front of house, 52 years: Some of our regulars have been coming in since they were kids, coming in with their parents, back in the 1940s and 1950s.
Photograph by Andrew Thomas Lee
Jay Skinner, bartender, 27 years: We have customers who come in every day. They’ll tell us in advance if they’re not. We know a lot of their phone numbers. If they don’t show up, we’ll call them.
Merritt: Just to make sure they’re okay.
Randell Stenson, server, 37 years: You have to be a people person to work here. It’s easy committing orders to memory, like for our regulars Dan and George. George will always order something different, but Dan wants his chopped sirloin and a salad. I make sure his beets are on the side, so George can eat them.
Sonya Newton, kitchen manager, 42 years: Definitely it’s the fried chicken, the collards, the yeast rolls, and the macaroni and cheese that keep people coming back. We probably go through four or five cases of chicken a day. The key is the way we do our batter. That’s all I’ll say. No double-dipping either, just a single pass. And folks would have a fit if we didn’t have the tomato aspic.
Photograph by Andrew Thomas Lee
Merritt: The tomato aspic has been on the menu as long as I’ve been here. I don’t eat it.
Skinner: Neither do I. It’s like the pears and cheese. If you went to school here, school cafeterias served that at lunch.
Merritt: Since we don’t take reservations, the waitlist can get long, but it doesn’t bother me. I know they’re not going anywhere until they eat.
Skinner: Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day are usually our biggest days.
Merritt: Those waits can get into an hour or even an hour and a half. Those are hard days.
Skinner: People bring lawn chairs and tailgate out in the parking lot. One year a guy set up a TV in the back of his van. He and some of the other regulars were out there watching football until their tables were ready.
Photograph by Andrew Thomas Lee
Stenson: No disrespect, but working on Thanksgiving for so many years has put me off turkey. One year we served 1,800 orders of it in nine hours. Sometimes, I’ll be in my bed at two o’clock in the morning and have nightmares about turkey.
Newton: When I started, it was a family-owned business, so the people I worked with became like family. It’s just something I like doing, going on 42 years now. I feel good about feeding so many people each day.
Stenson: The key is having patience and kindness, but the kindness comes right after the patience. It’s a real family affair here. There isn’t another place like this. It’s the quality of the food, the people, and the service. The Colonnade is like a country club—without the dues.
Jeffries: We didn’t want anything to happen to this place. I feel like The Colonnade is a part of my family.
Donahue: We want to make small improvements, like updating the equipment behind the bar, making the website brighter, and having a social presence on social media. The old girl is about to turn 100, and she needs a new party dress. The Colonnade serves the kind of food we all love and we all need.
Photograph by Andrew Thomas Lee
Back to 21 Reasons We Love Atlanta.
This article appears in our February 2025 issue.
