When Chad Dillon, an owner of the Boiler Seafood in Atlanta’s Lindbergh neighborhood, was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon, his community lost an entrepreneur known for sharing his secrets to success.
“He was not a gatekeeper at all,” his hair stylist, Nadia Clark, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Clark is a manager at Fader’s Barbershop, next door to the Boiler at the intersection of Piedmont Road and Lindbergh Drive in Buckhead. She often cut Dillon’s hair and discussed business with him.
Dillon was found suffering from multiple critical gunshot wounds in his car on John Wesley Dobbs Avenue in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, Atlanta police said. Officers treated the 33-year-old at the scene, but he died from his injuries.
Dillon was in the area to scout a potential location for a new restaurant, Clark said.
Atlanta police homicide commander Lt. Andrew Smith told Channel 2 Action News the shooting appeared to be a targeted attack and not a random act. Police have not said if a suspect has been identified.
“It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of one of our beloved owners, Chad Dillon,” representatives for the Boiler said in a statement. “He poured his heart and soul into this restaurant, turning it into more than just a place to eat, but a cherished community gathering spot.”
The statement said the Boiler would remain open for regular business hours, and the tables out front had begun to collect flowers, photos and other memorial items by Thursday afternoon. Roses were hung through the handles of the front doors. Employees of the Boiler, weary from the media attention, refused to speak to the AJC about Dillon’s death.
Bre Dawson, an employee of the Boiler, spoke to Channel 2 on Wednesday.
“Chad really didn’t deserve to go out like that. He didn’t deserve that,” she said. “He was a great guy. He was a genuine person.”
Clark spoke to him the day he died. She saw Dillon driving on the Downtown Connector and called him to check in. He told Clark he was checking out a new restaurant space and they agreed they’d talk soon.
“I wish we could let him know that we love him,” Clark said. “And everything he’s built, that’s going to continue to live on.”
Credit: David Aaro
Credit: David Aaro
Dillon was an entrepreneur who also owned the Seafood Menu with rapper Lil Baby in Vine City, though neighbors say that restaurant closed in January after less than a year in business. Dillon previously publicized plans to open several other restaurants around metro Atlanta.
Clark said she hopes Dillon is also remembered for his work helping those who were incarcerated.
In recent years, Dillon launched a business plan pitch competition, similar to ABC’s “Shark Tank,” at the Metro Reentry Facility run by the Georgia Department of Corrections, Forbes reported. He donated $10,000 to the effort, with five winners each receiving seed capital to start their own businesses.
“I literally was talking about business (with inmates), and they were so intrigued about how I started my business,” Dillon told the Atlanta Voice in 2022. “I asked, ‘How can I help them see the vision that they can start their own business?’”
Dillon was born to Jamaican parents and raised in New York City before going to Howard University to study business and marketing, according to Forbes. He eventually moved to Atlanta and opened the Boiler in 2020.
“He’d give you the shirt off his back and that’s why it’s so sad to hear about this for real,” Dawson, the restaurant employee, told Channel 2.
Clark said Dillon would let her young son help out with small jobs at the restaurant while she worked, like carrying supplies inside from his car.
“I told Chad, ‘Teach him everything you know,’” Clark said about her son’s interactions with Dillon. “He was great with the youth, he was great with people. He was an amazing man.”
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