Remember that emotional finale, where Bobby Flay talked about being on the brink of a dream? Well.. it may have been more of a nightmare. Soul Daddy, the winning "healthy soul food" concept of America's Next Great Restaurant is now closed. Yup, every one of those three amazing locations, shuttered.
Here's the statement from the company on the final closing:
After careful consideration and a thorough review of its performance, we have decided to close Soul Daddy at the Mall of America. This was a difficult decision for us, as we wanted to see Soul Daddy succeed, but the restaurant simply was not performing as we had hoped. We'd like to thank all of the customers who tried our restaurants and the people who worked hard to try to make the restaurants succeed.
-- Soul Daddy Restaurants
Eater reports that though the Mall of America location lasted longer than the Los Angeles and New York spots, ultimately the restaurant was not performing as well as anticipated.
Soul Daddy was Jamawn Woods' first restaurant. Before his win on America's Next Great Restaurant, he ran W3's, a small catering company in Detroit, Michigan. Looks like the great fried vs. baked chicken debate is a memory of simpler times. Poor Jamawn!
Follow Clean Plate Charlie on Facebook and on Twitter: @CleanPlateBPB.