NORFOLK, Va. — Customers along Norfolk’s Ballentine Boulevard are grappling with sudden change after two longtime chicken restaurants either closed or paused operations around the new year.
At Feather ’N’ Fin, near the intersection of Princess Anne Road and Ballentine Boulevard, customers arrived Monday to find the restaurant closed and the parking lot nearly empty.
Customer Kiree Bates said he knew something was wrong immediately.
“Me and my brother pulled and we were the only car here and that’s unusual, cuz it usually be packed all the time,” Bates said.
A supervisor with Feather ’n’ Fin told News 3 the closure is temporary and part of what he described as a reset for the business.
“I know a lot of people have been talking about us shutting down, but I just call it a temporary shutdown to a fresh start — a rebranding,” said Damian Davis, a supervisor and co-owner of the restaurant’s newly launched food truck. “So everyone in the community, bear with us.”
Davis said Feather ’n’ Fin has deep roots in Norfolk and the surrounding area, calling it more than just a place to eat.
“It’s more than a restaurant. It’s a family thing,” Davis said. “We’ve been here 56 years. Last week was our 56-year anniversary. The customers love us.”
While the brick-and-mortar location is closed, Davis said a food truck operating under the same name opened just days later in the same area, allowing customers to continue buying food during the transition.
“We here every day, Monday through Sunday, 11 to 7,” Davis said, adding that customer support since the food truck opened has been strong. “It’s inspiration, hearing them talk — ‘Hey, y’all still got one of the greatest chickens. We miss y’all.’”
Davis said the Suffolk location remains open, while other locations around the Southside have closed temporarily.
“Our Suffolk location is still open,” he said. “Our Virginia Beach location just closed temporarily. Our Tidewater Drive location been closed for two weeks now. Everything is temporary.”
When asked about the specific reason for the closure of the Princess Anne Road restaurant, Davis declined to go into detail.
“Due to personal discussions, I can’t,” he said.
For Davis, who said he has worked at Feather ’n’ Fin for more than a decade, the changes have been emotional.
“It was kind of hard,” he said. “Seeing the community come out and support us every day, every night — loyal customers — it just kind of broke my heart when we had to make change. But to make changes for a greater change.”
Just a short drive away, another longtime Norfolk chicken institution has closed permanently.
Pollard’s Chicken shut down its Ballentine Boulevard location on Dec. 31 after serving the community since 1969. The building is now boarded up.
Stephanie Payton, a Ballentine Civic League member and longtime customer, said the closure was difficult to process.
“It’s sad,” Payton said. “And then you have your many questions as to why.”
In a statement posted on social media, Pollard’s confirmed the closure, calling it a difficult decision and thanking customers for decades of support. The company said its other locations remain open but did not provide a reason for closing the Norfolk site. A representative told News 3 no one was available to speak on camera Monday.
As customers adjust to the changes along the Ballentine corridor, Davis said his message to the Feather ’n’ Fin community is one of patience.
“To all our customers, I thank y’all over the last 56 years,” he said. “Tell a friend, tell a friend — we’ll be back again. To the community, I say bear with us temporarily. We’ll be back soon.”
