The Move: The legacy of R. Thomas’ Deluxe Grill

Some of my favorite restaurant memories from when my children were little include taking them to R. Thomas’ Deluxe Grill on Peachtree for Saturday morning breakfast. The trip from the car to the host stand typically took an extra five minutes because we had to stop and see the talkative tropical birds outside the entrance. The trip back to the car after breakfast took equally as long.

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Children (and adults) crowded around the cages engaging with cockatoos like Peaches and Cream, and Ruby the parrot who would squeak, squawk, or mimic words like “Hello.” People marveled at the beautiful birds who seemed unbothered by their busy city living quarters.

It’s hard to miss R. Thomas’ driving down Peachtree with its motley collection of yard ornaments, flea market finds, and multicolored Statue of Liberty. I also love the unpretentious diner vibe inside R. Thomas’.

The restaurant’s owner, the late Richard Thomas, was almost always outside in the mornings watering the plants and feeding his beloved birds. Like the birds, he would greet customers heading into the restaurant, smiling and chatting up the regulars. Sometimes he’d chuckle when first-time visitors would gaze upon the magical world he had created outside. If you ran the Peachtree Road Race before he died in 2017, you likely saw Mr. Thomas on the sidewalk cheering on runners with one of his birds perched on his arm.

My first memories of dining at R. Thomas’, however, were the late-night pitstops in my 20s. The restaurant was open nearly 24 hours and served everything from its popular Peachtree breakfast plate to a teriyaki rice bowl to vegetarian meatloaf with bottomless coffee and fresh juices. Tables were filled with people like me and my friends, hospital workers on break, and restaurant industry folks just getting off their shifts. It was a late-night microcosm of Atlanta.

When Mr. Thomas died , longtime patrons, some of whom had been coming to the restaurant since it opened in 1985, truly mourned his death. He was a special part of our lives and typified the entrepreneurial spirit of Atlanta. He was one of the few restaurateurs to offer a variety of healthier dishes on Atlanta’s Main Street (and at all hours,) including vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options, well before other restaurants jumped on the bandwagon.

It’s been a rough few years for R. Thomas’, which is still family-owned. The pandemic saw the restaurant cease its 24-hour dining service and pivot to takeout in 2020. When R. Thomas’ finally reopened for dine-in service, the takeout window remained for to-go orders, but the restaurant closed early.

Then came the brazen theft of the restaurant’s birds in 2023, followed by the gaping sinkhole earlier this year that threatened to take out R. Thomas’s dining room, along with neighboring restaurants Sufi’s Kitchen and Bell Street Burritos. The thought of losing this Atlanta restaurant institution was hard to fathom.

During a recent visit to R. Thomas’, I snapped a photo of Peaches and texted it to my kids. Both in their early 20s, they immediately texted back. They knew I was at R. Thomas’ and made me promise to take them back when they returned home for the holidays. I ordered the breakfast quinoa bowl. It’s mixed with scrambled eggs, kale, tomatoes, and salsa. I like to order a side of chicken sausage to cut up and add to the bowl.

The restaurant finally resumed late-night dining again in April, which means you can eat at R. Thomas’ from 7 a.m. to 5 a.m., Wed. through Sat. And while you’ll likely see me dining here during regular breakfast hours rather than late at night, I’m happy a new generation of young people will discover the joys of an R. Thomas’ burger or breakfast quesadilla on Peachtree at 2 a.m.

This story first appeared in the Aug. 1 issue of Side Dish. Read the entire newsletter here.

The post The Move: The legacy of R. Thomas’ Deluxe Grill appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta .