Serpas True Food closes after 12 years in Old Fourth Ward

Serpas True Food Big Easy BBQ Shrimp with rosemary focaccia bread. 
Bob Townsend for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Credit: Bob Townsend

Credit: Bob Townsend

Serpas True Food Big Easy BBQ Shrimp with rosemary focaccia bread. Bob Townsend for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Longtime Old Fourth Ward restaurant Serpas True Food has closed after 12 years.

The restaurant, which owner Scott Serpas opened in the Studioplex development in 2009 in a space that was once a cotton storage facility, announced the closure in a post on its Instagram account. The post cited an inability to come to an agreement on the lease with the building’s landlord as reason for the closure.

Serpas True Food served a menu of Louisiana-influenced dishes and cocktails. The restaurant initially closed in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and didn’t reopen for delivery and pickup until June. The dining room reopened in August 2020.

Chef Scott Serpas’ menu at Dixie Q is mostly standards — brisket, pulled pork, house-made sausage — with just a few touches to hint that an upscale-dining chef is involved. (Chris Hunt/special)

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Serpas came to Atlanta after honing his cooking skills in his native Louisiana. Before opening his own restaurant, he worked in the kitchens of the now-shuttered Sia’s in Duluth and Two Urban Licks on the Eastside Beltline.

Serpas also debuted Brookhaven barbecue spot Dixie Q in 2017.

The year it opened, Serpas True Food was named one of the 10 Best New Restaurants in America by GQ magazine. Former AJC food critic Meridith Ford gave the restaurant a positive review when it opened, calling it a “true amalgamation of good Southern cooking, with lots of Louisiana influence thrown into the pot.”

Though Serpas, like many restaurateurs, struggled during the pandemic, he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last year that he was cautiously optimistic about the future.

“I don’t know when it’s going to get back to normal. I hope, by 2021. But, even then, I think it will be a slow crawl. We’ve learned a lot, through perseverance, and it builds character in people, and hopefully brings people together. It’s not just a you thing, or a me thing, it’s a we thing, you know.”

Serpas did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the closure.

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