Dunkin’ Donuts Set for Development on Former T’s Site in Augusta

A Dunkin' Donuts-anchored retail strip is planned for the site where T's Restaurant once stood on Mike Padgett Highway in Augusta. Three parcels at 3416, 3430, and 3438 Mike Padgett Highway need rezoning. The Augusta-Richmond County Planning Commission will review the request on Jan. 5.

Piyush Patel filed the application. He operates several area locations under Accord Management. The project calls for a 7,200-square-foot retail strip. Plans include 55 parking spaces and three handicap spaces, according to a letter of intent submitted to the city.

T's Restaurant closed its Mike Padgett location after a fire gutted the building in 2020. The pandemic made reopening nearly impossible. The seafood spot had served customers at 3416 Mike Padgett since 1952.

Harry G. Fulcher and his wife, Ostelle, started the seafood eatery on the banks of Miller's Pond in northern Burke County back in 1946. Fulcher's 11 siblings called their brother "T" for short. That nickname stuck. His full name was Harry Garrett Fulcher, named for T. Harry Garrett, who served 42 years as principal of then-Tubman High School.

Postwar industrial expansion along Mike Padgett, then Old Savannah Road, brought hungry customers to the drive-in-only business. Demand grew. The Fulchers began adding dining rooms to accommodate everyone. The Fulcher family kept running the operation after Mr. and Mrs. Fulcher died in 1983.

T's reopened in North Augusta in 2021 following the 2020 fire, but closed again in 2023. The business still runs a food truck, which sometimes parks in front of the old location on Mike Padgett Highway.