Paula Deen, 78, Makes Heartfelt Farewell: Celebrity Chef’s Iconic Restaurants Shut Their Doors Amid Emotional Announcement
Paula Deen announced the closures of more restaurants.
Aug. 4 2025, Published 4:15 p.m. ET
Paula Deen has been left burned after her decades-old Savannah, Georgia restaurant The Lady & Sons closed its doors for good, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The chef's flagship eatery joins a growing list of Deen's restaurants that have shuttered in the past several years.
The former celebrity chef shuttered her flagship eatery.
Over the weekend, the former Food Network star, 78, revealed on both Facebook and her official website that The Lady & Sons and another nearby restaurant, The Chicken Box, had flown the coop.
"Hey, y’all, my sons and I made the heartfelt decision that Thursday, July 31st, was the last day of service for The Lady & Sons and The Chicken Box," she wrote in a message signed by herself and her adult sons Jamie and Bobby.
"Thank you for all the great memories and for your loyalty over the past 36 years. We have endless love and gratitude for every customer who has walked through our doors.
"We are equally grateful to our incredible staff, past and present, whose hard work, care, and hospitality made The Lady & Sons what it was."
Renewed Focus
The restaurants join a growing list of her closed stores.
Deen pledged her continued dedication to her hometown, while also promoting her remaining restaurants scattered across the U.S.
"Savannah will always be our home, and we’ll always be here to support our wonderful community," she wrote. "We will now focus our attention on the four Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen locations across the country, in Pigeon Forge, Myrtle Beach, Nashville, and Branson.
"We’re excited to continue visiting these restaurants regularly, starting with Branson on August 8th."
Career Freefall
Deen has never recovered from a racism scandal.
Deen and her once-thriving business empire have been in a free fall ever since her alleged racist comments and bad behavior behind the scenes.
Hundreds of employees have been laid off without any notice after the sudden shuttering of at least four of the celebrity chef's staple restaurants.
"In her effort to find a get-rich-quick scheme, she overproduced," an insider previously spilled about her restaurants. "Now, she's selling off."
Out of Business
Her Food Network empire crumbled.
Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen restaurants in San Antonio and Panama City Beach had previously closed, leaving workers scrambling to find new jobs.
“When the staff showed up for work, they were told they no longer had jobs," one source previously told RadarOnline.com. "Even worse, Paula hasn’t made good on the salaries they were owed!"
One former employee said she was devastated over having the rug pulled out from under her.
"It left me in debt. I’m behind in my bills." wailed line cook Annette Badillo. "They haven’t paid their vendors for months, so we probably should have seen this coming."
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Canceled
The disgraced star has dealt with financial woes for more than a decade now, previously stirring up controversy when it was claimed in 2013 that she used the N-word and wanted to throw her brother a "plantation-style" wedding with Black servers.
Deen later addressed the allegation that she used the racially-charged term to describe another restaurant's waitstaff that she wanted to emulate.
"That's not what these men were," Deen explained during her deposition in a lawsuit filed by one of her former Savannah, Georgia, restaurant managers. "They were professional Black men doing a fabulous job," she said.
The racial discrimination claims in the filing were ultimately dismissed, in addition to the entire lawsuit, which brought forward claims of sexual harassment in the workplace. Both sides settled "without any award of costs or fees to any party."
Deen lost a TV show, a book deal, and several lucrative endorsements amid the controversy.
