Omnivore - R.I.P., Zesto Drive-In on Ponce de Leon Avenue
‘The flavor of the building will still be here and that belongs to Atlanta’
- Courtesy Zesto
Zesto on Ponce de Leon Avenue will soon shut off its neon lights, stop serving ice cream, and no longer hand out slaw dogs, ending a 60-year run at its iconic Midtown location.
The restaurant’s owners last Friday announced that the fast-food eatery had been sold to an “undisclosed buyer” and will officially close on September 20. Jimbo Livaditis, a part-owner of Zesto’s six metro Atlanta locations with his brother, Lee, tells Creative Loafing the unexpected opportunity to sell the restaurant occurred in recent weeks.
The members of the Livaditis family trust responsible for the building decided against renewing the property lease, which was set to expire at the end of 2014. According to Jimbo Livaditis, the landmark building is expected to remain intact under its new ownership.
“Zesto on Ponce is in its prime with everything going on in the neighborhood with Atlanta Beltline and Ponce City Market,” Jimbo Livaditis says. “I’ve been told that it will probably be a restaurant. The flavor of the building will still be here and that belongs to Atlanta. It belongs to the fabric of the community.”
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Following the opening of Zesto’s Piedmont Avenue location in 1953, the soon-to-be-closed Midtown outpost became the chain’s second-oldest in metro Atlanta. In its earliest years, Zesto only sold ice cream to walk-up customers, later expanding its menu to include burgers, hot dogs, wings, and fries.
In 1991, Zesto owners knocked down the original structure and replaced it with “a showpiece bearing the porcelain, chrome, neon, coved ceilings, and tiled floors and walls of a classic diner.” The retro-styled drive-through restaurant was completed one year later and received the Atlanta Urban Design Commission’s Award for Architectural Excellence for its retro design.
Five other Zesto restaurants in metro Atlanta, including ones on nearby Piedmont and Moreland avenues, will stay open. The Livaditis family, which currently has no plans to sell the remaining locations, intends to help employees at the soon-to-be-closed location land on their feet.
“This was kind of a sudden thing,” Jimbo Livaditis says. “So we’re trying to do whatever we can to take care of Zesto’s employees. We’re trying to relocate them to other Zesto locations, recommend others for jobs, and we’re not objecting to unemployment.”
The new owner of the nearly 1 acre site has not yet been revealed. Fulton County property records show the property’s total value is worth approximately $1.6 million. People have speculated that it may be another fast-food restaurant to compete with the McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Zaxby’s in the area.
NOTE: This story has been updated to correct two errors. The name of the restaurant is Zesto, not Zesto’s. It’s located in Midtown, not in Old Fourth Ward.