2008.04.29
Krystal appears to have shut its doors in Salem
A Krystal fast food restaurant that arrived in Salem in early 2007 with much fanfare appears to have shut down. There are signs on the outside of the eatery’s building and on the tall sign in front of its location on Wildwood Road, stating that it is closed.
The reason for its abrupt closing is unknown, and hopefully, more details will emerge.
Rich Pappas of Radford owns this Krystal franchise. It took him several years to bring the concept to this area after he announced its opening in 2005. He told me then that he had run into some financial roadblocks with securing the property on which to build the restaurant.
Krystal Co. is known for its square hamburgers, and it is based in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Well darn, that really stinks. I always enjoyed Krystal burgers when I was down in Georgia and had been long-waiting for them to arrive in this area. It's a shame to see them go so quickly.
Comment by Other John — April 29, 2008 @ 11:12 am
That was fast!
Comment by Michelle — April 29, 2008 @ 11:26 am
They still show as a location on website. Who knows what is going on.
Comment by dean — April 29, 2008 @ 12:14 pm
Face it, they were nasty, and for what you got, expensive. Once the novelty wore off, the place was empty.
I wrote corporate nine months ago that if they didn't get someone in there that knew what they were doing the place was going to fail.
Comment by Ed Adair — April 29, 2008 @ 4:26 pm
In all fairness, I experienced a few good meals and a few bad meals there. It was really random. Decent when the food was good. Terrible the other times. The building was so small that often seating was impossible.
The place did often seem like the employees had went through training at disorganized R us. Nice people, but the old saying of "running like a well oil machine" never did apply there. Not even on their best days.
Still, I hate the loss of Krystal in Salem. A little more organized style, more consistent good food days and a few more seats might have done wonders.
Comment by Sam Wallace — April 29, 2008 @ 7:34 pm
Dun dun dun another one bits the dust. Never got to eat there. Seamed to be a over price novelty to me so I never stopped in. Wounder how long cheeseburger cheeseburger will hold out. It along with Red Robin are over priced burger joints. Come on
$5-$6 just for a burger. But if it just happened today maybe it had something to do with the shooting next door at Food Lion. I can't find anything on the local news web sights but I suspect that's a good chance why they are closed.
Comment by Mike — April 29, 2008 @ 8:28 pm
I moved to Chattanooga from Floyd and have had the chance to try Krystal. I don't care for them. I don't think they belong in the Roanoke area....
Comment by Stephanie — April 30, 2008 @ 7:32 am
As a former Georgian I was thrilled to see Krystals arrive in Salem but my excitement was lessened when I saw the prices on the menu. If Krystals does reopen hopefully the prices will drop to make those delicous burgers affordable to everyone.
(with more mustard)
Comment by Anonymous — April 30, 2008 @ 10:49 am
Either your a Krystals fan or your not, i personally hate to see the place go. me and my kids loved it.
Comment by Tom — May 6, 2008 @ 4:31 pm