One of Atlanta's oldest LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants caught fire early this morning, destroying the building. Located on North Druid Hills Road near LaVista Road, the LongHorn has been a Toco Hills mainstay for over 30 years. George McKerrow, Jr. opened the first LongHorn Steakhouse on Peachtree Road in south Buckhead in 1981. (The original location is now an Enterprise rent-a-car office.)

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but while the fire reportedly started between 1:30 and 2AM, multiple fire crews were still on site after 8AM this morning putting out hot spots.





Heavy machinery was already onsite that will reportedly be used to demolish the building.



The building was originally a Sambo's and later a Skeeter's Mesquite Grille, a predacessor to LongHorn and also operated by George McKerrow Jr.





Today LongHorn is owned by Orlando-based Darden Restaurants, who has yet to release a statement regarding a potential rebuilding of the location.



For now, diners in need of their LongHorn fix should head to nearby LongHorn locations on Hugh Howell Road in Tucker or on Piedmont Road near the Lindbergh MARTA station.





Darden announced last month they would sell their flagship chain, Red Lobster, to Golden Gate Capital in a deal valued at $2.1 billion. LongHorn is reportedly one of the company's stronger chains which has seen sales increases over the past few quarters and now includes about 450 locations.









The front entrance of Longhorn with severe damage to the rear

A view from the parking lot of Einstein Bros. Bagels

Potential demolition machinery along North Druid Hills Road





The heavily damaged side (closest to the kitchen if memory serves)



