PORTERDALE, Ga. – With legal and financial troubles mounting, the Yellow River Ale House and Sportsman’s Grille restaurants in Porterdale appear to be closing.
On Friday evening, numerous hopeful customers approached the restaurants, owned by Julie and Chris Freeman, only to find that brown paper and “no trespassing” signs had blanketed the doors and windows of the Main Street restaurant.
The restaurants had been a mainstay in Porterdale for the last year. However, several past employees have come forward, claiming they were not paid for their services. This led to Julie Freeman being arrested twice on Sept. 25 and Sept. 29, respectively, on four separate counts of theft of services.
Though there has been no official announcement of the restaurant’s closure, the sudden lack of activity was coupled with the disappearance of both restaurants’ social media presence
Both the Yellow River Ale House and Sportsman’s Grille used Facebook to notify customers of special, theme nights and maintain a digital presence. As of Friday afternoon, both establishment’s Facebook pages were deactivated, though both profiles still appear on Instagram as of this writing.
The Covington News attempted to reach Julie Freeman on multiple occasions on Friday, but a comment was not immediately returned.
The News also reached out to Hutch Bros LLC, the landlord of the building, for additional confirmation of the restaurant’s closure. Eric Hutcheson of Hutch Bros declined to comment, and referred The News to his attorney, who has not immediately returned a request for comment.
The apparent closing of the two restaurants is just the latest move in a host of legal problems that owner Julie Freeman has faced in relation to the two businesses. According to a filing in federal bankruptcy court, Freeman reportedly owes several months in back rent to Hutch Bros.
On Sept. 29, Hutch Bros filed a motion on Monday in the bankruptcy hearing for a relief from automatic stay – a protection that allows debtors protection from their creditors – citing a cancellation on Yellow River Ale House’s insurance for lack of payment. The restaurant's insurance, provided by GEICO, was cancelled on Aug. 1, according to a court filing.
The bankruptcy case was dismissed on Oct. 1 due to Freeman not paying the final installment fee.
There was also previous legal indication that the Sportsman’s Grille was on the outs.
Per the Georgia Secretary of State’s LLC business search, the Sportsman’s Grille was “involuntarily or administratively dissolved or its certificate of authority revoked” on Sept. 19.
“[The LLC was dissolved] for failure to file its annual registration, failure to maintain a registered agent or registered office in this state, and/or failure to submit payment for a dishonored fee payment or for fees, taxes, or penalties owed,” per the accompanying certificate of administrative dissolution/revocation.
The Yellow River Ale House’s LLC registration remains intact as of this writing.
If evicted from her Porterdale businesses – which has not been outright confirmed – this would be far from the first time that Freeman has been forced to yield occupancy.
In July, Freeman’s @Local Coffee House on the Covington Square closed after facing eviction. Customers were promised a new location in the months to come, but there has yet to be any information put out by Freeman regarding a new location.
Beyond her current business pursuits, Freeman faces additional hefty allegations. In the same bankruptcy filing, a Nevada-based medical company claims that Freeman embezzled $5.6 million from them.
Freeman worked as a contracted chief financial officer for CPI Management Group for approximately 2.5 years. The company alleges that she made around 150 payments to herself during the span of her services. She was terminated in April 2024.
Freeman does not currently face any criminal charges as a result of these allegations.
