Longtime patron to reopen Roswell restaurant

Butter almond cake. from Anna Lee's in Roswell.

Credit: AJC

Credit: AJC

Butter almond cake. from Anna Lee's in Roswell.

A Roswell restaurant that closed its doors last month after more than three decades is getting a second chance.

Anna Lee’s, located at 425 Market Place, will reopen Aug. 24 after closing at the end of July.

Richard Decker, who also owns Uptown Cafe in Johns Creek, reached out to Anna Lee’s owner Annelies McMorran after hearing she planned to close the restaurant. They came to a “quick agreement,” said Decker, who met McMorran in the late 1980s, when he started patronizing her restaurant.

Anna Lee’s will open with the “same staff, same food and same hours,” Decker said. McMorran will be a presence at the restaurant to help with the transition and do some baking.

“It’s a great place,” Decker said. “It has a longstanding reputation in the community, and I’d hate to see a restaurant like that go away.”

McMorran purchased the restaurant in 1983, after previously working there as a waitress.

A native of the Netherlands who attended college in Indiana, McMorran moved to Atlanta in 1976 and worked in several area restaurants.

When it closed, Anna Lee’s was one of many food and beverage concept casualties due to the coronavirus economic impact. It is among the first to reopen after its initial closure.

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