Kandi Burruss’ Blaze restaurant owes $154K in rent, repairs, lawsuit says

The landlord of the property is Montego Pacific Inc., a corporation registered in California. Representatives for Montego declined to comment. Property manager Bridger Properties did not respond to a request for comment.

Burruss, one of the longest-serving cast members in The Real Housewives franchise, opened Blaze along Cascade Road in southwest Atlanta in 2020 with her husband, Todd Tucker. The restaurant is one of two full-time restaurants the couple owns. They opened a Southern comfort food restaurant in Castleberry Hill in 2017 called Old Lady Gang.

The lawsuit, filed Monday, doesn’t specify if Blaze is still operational. The restaurant’s social media pages haven’t been updated in months, its website displays different hours from Yelp and the website Resy no longer allows users to make reservations. One review on TripAdvisor posted in July said she discovered the restaurant was closed after she received a text message confirming her reservations for that night. The most recent health inspection score for the restaurant that The Atlanta Journal-Constitution could find is dated December 2023.

There is no signage on the restaurant indicating it has closed, and an AJC reporter on Tuesday noticed some signs of life scattered around the premises. Two half-full Starbucks cups and a cleaning rag were observed on the bar. Unfurled napkins were on tables. But the windows were dirty and the faux grass affixed to walls of the outdoor patio appeared to be peeling off.

Burruss and her companies owe rent on the property through March, according to a billing statement included in the complaint.

The complaint includes multiple invoices from two restoration companies dated between September and October. One totaling $29,235 is for repairs following microbial remediation in the kitchen and prep area. Another totaling about $24,580 is for repairs related to water damage. Another totaling $17,390 is for remediation because of visible microbial growth throughout the kitchen and prep area.

There is also another invoice totaling $4,734 for restoration and remodeling related to water damage. This invoice is dated in July 2024.

Credit: Paras Griffin

Credit: Paras Griffin

This is not the first time Blaze Steak & Seafood has faced issues from conditions of the kitchen. About four years ago, the restaurant received a health inspection score of 55, which is considered a failure. Blaze shut down to address the issues the inspector cited and reopened two days later.

The low score was the accumulation of largely minor issues, such as pink organic residue in ice makers, a Chick-fil-A cup in an area with regular food supplies and a food handler switching from raw seafood to ready-to-eat foods without washing hands, according to the inspector’s report.

The restaurant’s most recent health score, dated in late 2023, is 93, according to records from the Georgia Department of Public Health.

Under the terms of the lease included in the complaint, the tenant must perform all maintenance, as well as make and pay for all repairs, to the premises. If the tenant fails to make repairs, the landlord can do so, but the tenant must reimburse them for all costs incurred with an additional 10% overhead charge, according to the complaint.

The lease also allows the landlord to recover a late fee of 5% of the past due amount each time the tenant fails to pay rent and other charges by the first day of the month. All sums remaining unpaid when due accrue interest of 12% per year.

According to the complaint, the landlord is allowing the defendants to avoid liability to pay the landlord’s attorney’s fees and other expenses of litigation by paying the past due rent within 10 days of the date that they’re served.