A Lexington restaurant notorious for continued poor inspections from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control has closed, along with the entirety of the Southeast chain of which it was a part.

Charlotte Creel, general manager for the Fatz Cafe at 942 E Main St., confirmed to the Chronicle that her location and all 18 locations in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia have closed.

The chain's other Midlands location was in Camden.

Creel said the Lexington restaurant was called at 1 p.m. today by Fatz corporate and told to close immediately and permanently. Tennessee newspaper The Greeneville Sun also reported the closure of its local Fatz and the chain as a whole, reporting that the local general manager there cited bankruptcy as the reason. Creel told the Chronicle she wasn’t given a reason for the closure.

Multiple other news outlets report finding signs exactly like the one the Chronicle found when visiting the local Fatz.

The sign taped to the door says, “We are sorry to announce that after proudly serving this and many other communities for years Fatz Cafe will be closed permanently,” further stating that all existing locations are closed effective Aug. 23. “We thank you for your support throughout our years in business.”

The Fatz website, which notes the chain has been in business since 1998, doesn't yet mention the closure.

According to its Facebook page, the Lexington location had been in operation since at least 2009.

Prior to the announcement of the Lexington restaurant’s closure, the Chronicle was looking into the Food Grade scores it had received from DHEC, prompted by the SC Food Grades Bot on X (formerly Twitter), which posts C grades received by S.C. restaurants after DHEC inspections. The account noted on Aug. 10 that as of that day the Fatz chain had appeared on the account more than 10 times since the bot launched in August 2022.

Since 2020, the Lexington location received five C grades on routine inspections and three C grades received on follow-up inspections, conducted when DHEC had to follow up on previously assessed violations.

The restaurant had received four C grades in 2023, two on routine inspections and two on follow-ups.

From 2020 to 2023, the restaurant was hit with a range of similar violations, with the cleanliness of the building frequently being a problem. DHEC reports noted instances of floors, walls and equipment being heavily soiled and sticky.

Pests were a common theme for the three reports from2021 and 2022, with roaches noted throughout the restaurant, including in light fixtures, on the walls, inside coolers, in the seams of cooking and storage equipment, in storage areas and on the outside of containers. Rodents and rodent droppings were also noted.

While no roaches or rodents were noted in 2023 reports, flies were reported crawling on the ceilings, walls and on clean dishes.

The building was often noted to be in less than subpar condition, with DHEC observing missing or broken tiles, large gaps underneath doors, pooling water and buckling floors.

This is a developing story and will continue to be updated.