After Buddy’s Rib and Steak closed in June 2024, its longtime Northport building is set to become an A-Town Wings location. The Atlanta-based fast-casual chain plans to open at 2701 Lurleen B. Wallace Blvd., at the corner of 27th Street—a new restaurant in a building associated with Buddy’s 46-year run.
The Tuscaloosa News reported that A-Town Wings plans to take over the former Buddy’s site. Landlord Druid City Properties is completing repairs and improvements before the chain undertakes its own buildout, according to The Tuscaloosa News and Right Space Commercial. The latter expects the restaurant to open in early 2027. Druid City Properties operates under the same ownership umbrella as the commercial real estate firm handling the deal.
Why This Corner Made Sense for the Chain
The freestanding building sits on a 2,035-square-foot footprint with 33 parking spaces along a corridor that handles more than 43,000 vehicles daily, according to the Tuscaloosa Patch. Those numbers underline the commercial logic of the site, positioned along one of the busiest connector routes between Tuscaloosa and Northport.
Right Space Commercial said the Northport location is intended to reach commuter traffic crossing the Black Warrior River between Highway 359 and Highway 82 North. The brokerage also said the site would complement, rather than compete with, A-Town Wings’ existing East Tuscaloosa location.
A Fast-Growing Chain With Local Roots
A-Town Wings was founded in Atlanta in 2008 and now operates 25 locations across the Southeast, according to the Tuscaloosa Thread. The chain already has a presence in the area at 2319 University Blvd East, tucked inside an Alberta Chevron station. The company was launched by two self-described passionate chicken shop owners who have since expanded well beyond their original Atlanta footprint.
The menu leans fast-casual, built around chicken wings, Philly cheesesteaks, and fried seafood combos. Customers outside the chain's Atlanta and Augusta markets cannot phone in orders under a strict corporate policy, meaning Northport diners will need to order in person or through online delivery platforms once the new location opens.
The Building's Deep Northport Roots
Buddy’s Rib and Steak occupied the building for 46 years. The restaurant’s history dates to 1978, when R.P. “Buddy” Hall acquired Smalley’s Rib and Steak. Hall also operated a restaurant in the Leland Shopping Center, and Buddy’s added breakfast service in 1980.
Hall ran the restaurant for more than 30 years before the Hall family sold the business to Phillip Guy in 2010. He passed away two years later, on July 4, 2012, at age 75, and was remembered as someone widely known in Northport for greeting regulars by name, according to his Dignity Memorial obituary.
Another local restaurant’s move across the river
The Tuscaloosa Thread reported that the Globe Restaurant closed its Northport location in 2009, then tried to revive the concept in Tuscaloosa’s Temerson Square; that version closed less than a year after opening. The Globe’s attempted relocation differed from Buddy’s story: Buddy’s ended its run at its longtime site, which is now set to house a new restaurant brand. The Tuscaloosa Thread chronicled the Globe’s closure and attempted revival.
Buddy’s long run in the building ended with its permanent closure in June 2024.
A Tough Final Chapter for Buddy's
Former owner Phillip Guy, who bought the business from the Hall family in 2010, listed the restaurant and property for $1 million in October 2023, hoping to find a buyer willing to keep the Buddy's name alive. When no such buyer emerged, he closed the restaurant permanently on June 13, 2024, citing severe post-pandemic labor shortages and rising costs.
Now, as Druid City Properties works through its renovation list and A-Town Wings eyes an early 2027 debut, the corner at Lurleen B. Wallace Boulevard and 27th Street is set to carry a new identity, even as decades of Northport dining history remain baked into its walls.
