A vacant restaurant building in the Windyke area of Memphis is about to get a new tenant: American Deli, the Atlanta-born fast-casual chain famous for its lemon pepper wet wings, has filed paperwork to transform the former Original Hot Dog Factory space at 4265 Hacks Cross Road into its newest local outpost. No opening date has been announced yet.
According to WhatNow, the project involves a commercial alteration permit now under review with the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development. The planned restaurant would carry an occupant load of 77 people across 3,538 square feet, according to the same filing. Rather than gutting the building, the renovation plan calls for retaining the existing walk-in cooler and freezer, the electrical system and panels, the rooftop HVAC unit and ductwork, and the grease trap as-is, with work limited to relocating existing ducts and grills and installing new interior finishes including walls, flooring, and ceiling.
The building itself has some history worth noting. Before the permit filing, the site operated as a co-branded restaurant housing both The Original Hot Dog Factory and Spice Wing, according to Grubhub. The standalone property sits on a 33,803-square-foot lot and was originally built in 2007 with drive-thru infrastructure, per Realmo, meaning it has functioned as a standalone drive-thru restaurant site since it was constructed.
How Memphis Reviews the Remodel
Commercial alterations like this one are evaluated jointly by the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development through the Develop901 portal, using the 2021 International Building Codes that were adopted in 2022, according to Building Club. The joint city-county agency oversees construction enforcement across all of Shelby County, giving American Deli's Windyke plans the same regulatory path as any other commercial remodel in the region.
This is far from American Deli's first rodeo when it comes to repurposing an existing Memphis building rather than building from the ground up. The chain already operates roughly 14 locations across the Memphis metro area, including stores on Lamar Avenue, Poplar Avenue, Kirby Road, and Shelby Drive, per DoorDash's Memphis listings. That density reflects a deliberate strategy: American Deli has steadily built brand presence in major Memphis retail and dining corridors rather than concentrating in just one part of town.
A Pattern of Adaptive Reuse Across the City
Just this year, American Deli filed plans to convert a long-vacant former Wendy's at 2221 Frayser Boulevard into a 2,678-square-foot Memphis restaurant with an occupant load of 25, as Hoodline reported in April. That project involved interior updates and equipment retrofits similar to what's now planned for Hacks Cross Road. Further back, in July 2023, the chain converted a former dry cleaning business at 2426 Lamar Avenue into a fast-casual restaurant with a drive-thru, adding to its growing regional footprint in Shelby County.
The Hacks Cross corridor itself has seen a wave of turnover among national chain vacancies. In February, Raymah Cafe filed plans to repurpose a former Applebee's building just down the road at 3895 Hacks Cross Road, part of a broader trend of fast-casual and local concepts backfilling space left behind by bigger chains along that stretch.
The Chain's National Growth and Local Track Record
American Deli got its start as a single mall store at South DeKalb Mall in Atlanta in 1989 and has since expanded to more than 200 locations across 10 states. According to the company's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, the top quartile of its franchised stores generated an average annual gross revenue of $2.10 million in 2025, while the second quartile averaged $1.47 million, figures drawn from 203 franchised locations operating continuously throughout the year.
Memphis has not been without safety concerns tied to the brand's existing footprint. In June 2025, a DoorDash driver was shot and critically wounded during a delivery run at the American Deli location on Lamar Avenue, and an 18-year-old suspect was subsequently arrested and charged with attempted murder in that case, according to Hoodline's prior coverage. No such concerns have been raised in connection with the new Windyke project, which remains in the permitting stage with no confirmed opening timeline.
