The Southern comfort food empire that once made Paula Deen a household name has come to an abrupt end in her home state of Georgia.

After 36 years of serving buttermilk biscuits and fried chicken to tourists and locals alike, the disgraced celebrity chef has permanently closed the doors of her iconic Savannah restaurants, The Lady & Sons and The Chicken Box, marking the end of her Georgia restaurant presence and leaving dozens of employees without jobs or proper notice.

The sudden closure on Thursday, July 31, sent shock waves through Savannah’s historic district, where The Lady & Sons had become a tourist magnet.

Deen’s restaurant empire has been steadily shrinking since her career-damaging scandal over a decade ago, when she admitted to using racial slurs and faced allegations of work

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