Cook Out Athens GA — 2 Locations Near UGA, Hours & Menu Prices (2026)

How Many Cook Out Locations Are in Athens, GA?

Athens has 2 open Cook Out restaurants as of October 2026, according to Cook Out’s store locator: 1917 W Broad St (30606) on the west side, about 1.5 miles from the UGA campus, and 1020 Jordan Dr (30606) off Epps Bridge Parkway near Loop 10. No new Athens store is listed as coming soon, and the next-closest Cook Out is in Winder, about 18 miles west.

The two stores are only about 3 miles apart in a straight line, but they serve different crowds. The West Broad Street store is the in-town choice for UGA students, downtown, Five Points, Normaltown and anyone already on Broad Street or Prince Avenue. The Jordan Drive store is the west-side choice for drivers on Loop 10, SR 316 and Epps Bridge Parkway, shoppers in the big-box district along the parkway, and Oconee County residents coming up from Watkinsville and Bogart.

• Athens – W Broad St: 1917 W Broad St, Athens, GA 30606, on the US 78 Business corridor west of downtown, about 1.5 miles from North Campus and Sanford Stadium.
• Athens – Jordan Dr: 1020 Jordan Dr, Athens, GA 30606, at Jordan Drive and Epps Bridge Parkway, close to Loop 10 exit 1 and a Walmart.
• Typical hours: 10:30 AM to about 3 AM Sunday–Thursday and about 4 AM Friday–Saturday; hours vary by store.
• Next-closest store: 46 W May Street in Winder (Barrow County), about 18 miles west.
• Coming soon: Cook Out’s locator lists no coming-soon stores within 30 miles of Athens as of October 2026.

Looking for a Cook Out in Watkinsville, Bogart, Jefferson, Commerce or Winterville? None of those towns has its own store in the locator. Watkinsville and Bogart drivers are usually closest to Jordan Dr; Jefferson, Commerce and Winterville drivers usually head into town to W Broad St, though either Athens store works from Loop 10.

Where Are the Cook Out Locations in Athens, GA?

Traveling beyond Athens? Every store is on our Cook Out finder map.

Both Athens stores are listed first, followed by the nearest store outside the city, in Winder about 18 miles west. Addresses come from Cook Out’s own store locator (October 2026). Each card has a Google Maps directions button. Distances are approximate straight-line miles from central Athens, so actual drives run a little longer.

Which Cook Out Is Closest to My Part of Athens?

Use W Broad St for UGA, downtown, Five Points, Normaltown, the Eastside and anyone inside the Loop; use Jordan Dr for Epps Bridge Parkway, Oconee County, SR 316 and the southwest side. Because both stores are on the west side, people east of downtown will drive a few extra minutes either way.

A quick tip for newcomers: the Jordan Dr store is easy to reach without driving through downtown, which helps on football Saturdays when Broad Street, Lumpkin Street and the campus streets are jammed. If you are leaving town toward Atlanta after a game, Jordan Dr sits right on the way to SR 316.

When Did Cook Out Come to Athens?

Athens was one of Cook Out’s earliest Georgia markets: a store at Epps Bridge Parkway and Jordan Drive was reported in early 2013 and was among the chain’s first handful of Georgia locations by spring 2014. A second Athens store was reported as planned at the end of 2014, and the city has two stores today.

Exact opening days for the two Athens stores were never widely announced, in keeping with the chain’s low-key approach, so we do not list one here. What is clear is that Athens got Cook Out well before most Georgia cities, and that the university crowd helped make it a natural early market. For the full statewide picture, see our Cook Out Georgia guide.

How Do I Get to Cook Out From Loop 10, SR 316 or Broad Street?

For the Jordan Dr store, use Loop 10 exit 1 (Epps Bridge Pkwy / US 29-78 / SR 316) and follow Epps Bridge Parkway to Jordan Drive. For the W Broad St store, use Loop 10 exit 18 (Atlanta Hwy, US 78 Business) and head east toward downtown. Loop 10, also called the Athens Perimeter or the Paul Broun Sr. Parkway, is a 19-mile ring around the city, so both stores are a few minutes from it.

Coming from each direction

• From Atlanta, Lawrenceville or Winder on SR 316 east: SR 316 runs into Loop 10 at exit 1, right by Epps Bridge Parkway, so the Jordan Dr store is the natural first stop.
• From Watkinsville on US 441 north: take Loop 10 west to exit 1 or exit 4 (Timothy Rd) and follow the signs for Epps Bridge Parkway.
• From Monroe on US 78 Business (Atlanta Highway) east: stay on Atlanta Highway past the Loop and Georgia Square Mall; the road carries you toward the W Broad St store.
• From Commerce or Jefferson: come in on US 441 or US 129 to Loop 10, then go around the west side to exit 18 for W Broad St.
• From Lexington, Washington or Elberton: Loop 10 exit 8 (Lexington Rd) or exits 10B–D (US 29 north) put you on the Loop; it is usually quickest to continue around to the west side rather than cut through downtown.

One more local detail: the Atlanta Highway exit (exit 18, the old exit 3) was rebuilt around 2019 with a new loop ramp to the outer Loop, so older directions that mention exit 3 refer to the same interchange.

Is There a Cook Out Near UGA and Sanford Stadium?

Yes. The W Broad St store is about 1.5 miles west of North Campus and Sanford Stadium, the closest Cook Out to UGA; the Jordan Dr store is about 4.5 miles away near Loop 10. Both keep the chain’s typical late hours, which suits students, game-day crowds and hospital night shifts.

Game-day tip: if you plan to eat before or after a home game, order on the west side rather than near campus, and expect lines at both stores in the hours after the game. Use the Google Maps button in the directory above to check traffic before you go.

What Time Does Cook Out Close in Athens?

Most Cook Out stores open at 10:30 AM and close around 3 AM Sunday through Thursday and around 4 AM on Friday and Saturday, and the Athens stores generally follow that pattern. Hours vary by store and can change on holidays and during UGA breaks, so check the store’s Google Maps listing before a late drive.

These are chain-wide typical hours, not posted schedules for each Athens store. Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holidays often bring shorter hours or a closure, and staffing can occasionally close a window early.

For holiday patterns, drive-thru-only nights and how hours differ by state, see our guide to Cook Out’s late-night hours.

Late-night tip: the W Broad St store is the one downtown and campus crowds reach first after the bars close, so it tends to be busier around 1–2 AM on weekends. If that line is long, Jordan Dr is roughly 10 minutes away at night via Loop 10.

What’s on the Cook Out Athens Menu, and How Much Does It Cost?

The best value at either Athens store is the Cookout Tray, typically about $7.39–$7.99 for an entree, two sides and a drink. A Jr. Tray typically starts around $5.29 and milkshakes run about $3.99, though exact prices vary by store and can change.

Calories for popular picks

Calorie figures below come from Cook Out’s published nutrition sheet. They are per item, so add your entree, sides and drink together for a tray total.

Ordering tips for Athens: the drive-thru moves fastest if you order by tray (for example, “a Big Double tray, Cook Out Style, with hush puppies and fries, sweet tea to drink”). Shakes take longer, so order them with the meal rather than adding them at the window. Feeding a dorm floor or a tailgate group? Several trays usually cost less than combo meals at the other chains on Broad Street and Epps Bridge Parkway, and one person can collect a big order at the walk-up window.

For full details see the Cookout Tray menu, the milkshake menu and the Cook Out calories guide.

How Does Cook Out Compare to Zaxby’s and Other Athens Favorites?

Cook Out’s edge in Athens is a full tray with two sides for under $8 and a drive-thru that stays open until about 3 or 4 AM; hometown names like Zaxby’s win on local pride, and Athens’ soul-food and diner institutions win on character.

Athens has a real fast-food connection of its own. Zaxby’s was founded in Statesboro in 1990 by Zach McLeroy and Tony Townley and has long been headquartered in Athens. The Varsity, the Atlanta hot dog drive-in that had a well-known Athens location, closed that store in 2021, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which left Cook Out as one of the few places for a cheap burger-and-shake run deep into the night. On East Broad Street, Weaver D’s Delicious Fine Foods, whose “Automatic for the People” slogan gave R.E.M. an album title, was listed for sale in late 2025, per the AJC.

If you want a sit-down plate of fried chicken, collards and mac and cheese, Athens’ meat-and-three spots are the move. But for a burger, hush puppies and a banana pudding shake at 1 AM on a Friday, the two Athens Cook Outs are hard to beat.

Where Are the Other Cook Out Guides Near Athens?

For every Georgia store, start with our Cook Out Georgia guide; the closest city guides are Atlanta, about 55 miles west, and Augusta, about 85 miles southeast. Winder and Gainesville are the nearest stores without a guide of their own.

On a road trip? From Athens, SR 316 is the quickest way to the Atlanta-area stores, and I-85 to the north links you to Gainesville, upstate South Carolina and the Carolinas beyond.

Cook Out Athens FAQs

Answers to the questions people ask most.