Tristan Wood
Lindy’s Chicken’s original Tallahassee location has shut its doors for the final time.
The restaurant, located on 2112 N. Monroe St., closed this week after 30 years in business. The announcement was made on Facebook by Greg Tish, host of radio’s The Greg Tish Show.
Lindy’s Chicken, founded by Ray Salis, had its start more than 50 years ago when it began serving fried chicken out of the back of a bowling alley. It expanded to the North Monroe location, and eventually grew to several restaurants across Tallahassee, Crawfordville and Blountstown.
In a statement from the managers of the store, they said the pressure of a Chick-fil-A built next to them in 2000 finally caught up to the restaurant. The Lindy’s Chicken location is going to be turned into a parking lot for the Chick-fil-A.
“Even though we didn’t have a fancy drive-thru or CFA $ to update, we had a long reputation of being the best tasting. If you have spent any time in Tallahassee you know it is true,” they said. “After 22 years CFA finally wore us down, they need the room. My brother Brian will go to work at another LINDY’S and my parents can finally really retire.”
About 350 people have liked and 147 have commented on Tish’s Facebook post making the announcement.
One commenter reflected on her memories as a child with the restaurant.
“When I was little, my granddaddy would pick me up from daycare and we would get gizzards and fries while waiting to pick my grandma up. Good memories. I wish these places would last forever but our memories will,” she wrote.
Another said they noticed more and more small businesses being pushed out of business locally by big restaurant companies.
“Tallahassee is losing all their mom & pop restaurants to big chain restaurants which is the heart of Tally because they were founded & built by local big bend families not Wall Street which could shut down any day if the stock market takes a dive,” they wrote.
Lindy’s Chicken is not leaving Tallahassee altogether. The business’s Lafayette and South Monroe are remaining open.
