Famous Dave’s BBQ restaurant is packing up its smoker and leaving Delaware.
The Christiana Town Center location permanently closed earlier this month after its lease expired and the chain decided not to renew it.
Allied Realty, the owner of the shopping center home to about a dozen retail stores and restaurants such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Boscovs and Bertucci’s, is planning to replace the vacant space with another restaurant in the near future.
More:Mission BBQ could be heading to New Castle County. Here are the latest plans.
The Christiana restaurant opened in 2008 as Delaware’s first Famous Dave’s location.
Expanding the business
A second location later opened off Concord Pike in Talleyville. It closed in 2018, due to declining revenue streams.
In August, BBQ Holdings, the parent company for Famous Dave’s and eight other restaurants, was bought out by MTY Food Group Inc. in a $200 million acquisition.
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An Aldi opened in the Christiana Town Center in late 2021, and there are several nearby projects in development bordering Route 273.
Adjacent to University Plaza, the large shopping center on the west side of Route 273, a Wawa is planned, along with two retail sites – one designed for a fast-food or quick-service restaurant and the other for a larger restaurant or retailer.
And a new Hobby Lobby appears near completion in University Plaza.
It will be Hobby Lobby’s second Delaware location, joining its store at Route 13 and College Road near Dover Downs that opened last year.
More:Hobby Lobby, Wawa and Aldi are among new stores coming to Christiana. Here’s what we know.
