Paula Deen Permanently Closed Savannah's The Lady & Sons and The Chicken Box Restaurants

Long before Food Network hired and later fired celebrity chef Paula Deen, she opened her first large-scale restaurant, The Lady & Sons. Before that, according to her website, she opened a restaurant inside a Best Western motel based on her established catering business. But The Lady & Sons was a big part of her career as a chef and celebrity chef, so when she shared on Facebook that she was ready to shut its doors for good, people didn't understand why.

On Aug. 1, 2025, Paula shared a post on the Facebook page for the restaurant, where she announced that the previous day would be the final day of service for good. The post limited comments, so Paula's supporters and frequent restaurant patrons were unable to comment and ask questions. But now, everyone wants to know why Paula Deen closed her restaurant.

Technically, Paula not only closed The Lady & Sons, but she also shut down The Chicken Box, which she included in her post. As a smaller space, The Chicken Box opened in 2023, per People. It was directly behind The Lady & Sons in Savannah, Ga., where Paula lives. When Paula shared her Facebook post, however, she did not give a reason for closing both restaurants so abruptly.

"Thank you for all the great memories and for your loyalty over the past 36 years," she wrote in the post. "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. Savannah will always be our home, and we'll always be here to support our wonderful community."

She did add that her focus would be spent more on Paula Deen's Family Kitchen, which has four locations across the south in the United States. That could be a reason why she felt ready to close her flagship restaurant. However, immediately following her announcement, Paula did not share any other details about the why of it all.

According to CBS News, the windows of The Lady & Sons restaurant were covered in brown paper after its last day on July 31, 2025. The outlet reported that a sign on the doors said, "It is with heavy hearts and tremendous gratitude that we announce that we have retired and closed."

While The Lady & Sons was Paula's first major restaurant in its own space and not inside a motel, she got her start with her catering company called The Bag Lady. Per Paula's website, she started the home catering business when she was on the brink of homelessness and had no other prospects.

She and her teenage sons worked together starting in 1989, and from there, Paula's reputation as a traditional southern cook began.