This past Monday, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp announced plans to begin [allowing] the reopening of select businesses which were temporarily shuttered by state mandate in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. Despite the fact that COVID-19 is believed to still be very much a threat to metro Atlanta, the state, and the country, Kemp apparently feels the time is right to allow some businesses to reopen. Gyms, salons, and other indoor facilities were able to start reopening this past Friday (although few actually did) and restaurants can resume full operation as of today, April 27, contingent on compliance with 39 state guidelines.
The exhaustive guidelines were released April 23, giving restaurant operators only a few short days to get their businesses prepared and ready to be compliant. (It's unclear what if any enforcement of the guidelines there will be.)
Highlights from the guidelines are:
- No more than 10 patrons per 500 square feet are allowed inside at once.
- All employees are required to wear masks at all times.
- Employers must screen and evaluate workers who exhibit signs of illness, such as a fever over 100.4 degrees and a cough or shortness of breath.
- Restaurants must post signs that say no one with symptoms of COVID-19 can enter.
- Party size is limited to no more than 6 per table.
- Restaurants are to discontinue use of salad bars and buffets.
- Restaurants must use pre-rolled silverware.
- Items must be removed from self-service drink, condiment, utensil and tableware stations and have workers provide those items to patrons.
- Patrons must be kept separated while waiting to be seated through floor markings or waiting in cars. Workers who show signs of illness can’t come in to work.
- Employees who have COVID-19 must self-isolate for 7 days and be fever-free and symptom-free for 3 days before coming back to work.
- Employers must train employees on the importance of frequent handwashing, use of hand sanitizers and avoiding touching their faces.
- Playgrounds must stay closed.
Countless restaurant owners have come out saying that while they, and by extension their employees, are itching to get back to work [to make money], they don't feel the timing is right to do so in a way that protects both their staff and patrons.
Many of the restaurants that have decided to open are corporate chain operations. In particular, Houston-based Landry's and Orlando-based Darden are both opening several of their Atlanta area restaurants for dine-in service as of today.
With help from our dedicated readers, Eater Atlanta and restaurant reservation site OpenTable, we were able to create the most extensive list of restaurants that plan to open today or later this week. All restaurants listed below are slated to open today (April 27) unless otherwise noted.
Greater Metro Atlanta Area / Statewide
Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar (Chamblee, Decatur, Roswell & Smyrna)
Bahama Breeze (Duluth & Kennesaw)
Bonefish Grill (Akers Mill, Alpharetta, Buford, Snellville, etc.)
Chicken Salad Chick (All corporately owned stores in Georgia)
Goldberg's Bagel & Deli (Select locations)
Jason's Deli (statewide)
LongHorn Steakhouse (Most restaurants in Georgia, see website)
Maggiano's Little Italy (Alpharetta, Cumberland & Dunwoody)
Olive Garden (Most restaurants in Georgia, see website)
Outback Steakhouse (Statewide)
Seasons 52 (Buford & Dunwoody) [Buckhead has closed permanently.]
Smokey Bones Barbecue (Lithonia, Peachtree City & Columbus) [Buford "on hold"]
Stoney River (Cumberland, Duluth & Roswell)
Taqueria Los Hermanos (Tucker, Lilburn, Lawrenceville & Suwanee) [Dunwoody still takeout only]
The Original Hot Dog Factory (Smyrna & Downtown)
The Capital Grille (Buckhead & Dunwoody)
Waffle House (Most locations in Georgia)
Alpharetta
Barleygarden Kitchen & Craft Bar (Friday May 1, patio only)
Chronic Tacos
Buckhead
Anis Cafe & Bistro (Friday, May 1)
Antica Posta
Atlanta Fish Market (
Bistro Niko (
Buckhead Diner (
Chops Lobster Bar (
Pricci (
Benihana
The Palm Atlanta
Del Frisco's Grille
F&B Atlanta
Chastain Park
Mirko Pasta
Downtown
Morton's The Steakhouse (Wednesday, April 29)
Dunwoody
Carbonara Trattoria (Potentially as soon as May 10)
Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse
J.Alexander's
McKendrick's Steakhouse (Friday, May 1)
Marietta
Douceur de France
Johnnie MacCracken’s Celtic Firehouse Pub
Marietta Pizza Company
Mirko Pasta (Patio only)
Midtown
STK Atlanta
Oceanaire
Bulla Gastrobar
RA Sushi
Peachtree Corners
Redlands Grill
Roswell
1920 Tavern
Hugo's Oyster Bar
Shanghai Chinese Food & Bar (patio only)
Sandy Springs
Mojave
Ray's on the River (Friday, May 1)
Taka Sushi
Home Park
Moe's Original BBQ
Rocky Mountain Pizza
Old Fourth Ward
Bantam Pub
Vinings
C&S Seafood & Oyster Bar
West End
Boxcar at Hop City (Friday May 1, patio only)
Diners, it seems, are most eager to eat steak with Capital Grille Buckhead and Chops Lobster Bar having been booked 14 and 16 times respectively by 1 PM Friday, with Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse booked ten times.
Do you have plans to dine at one of the restaurants that is/will be opening this week for dine-in service? What meal are you eager to enjoy most? Do you think restaurants will be able to be compliant with all the state guidelines?
Please share your thoughts below.
22 comments:
Most of those on the list of those opening are restaurants that have not been open for takeout and delivery. But the new rules do not portend to provide a sustainable operation. The 10 customers is not per 500 sq feet of total space, but is 10 per 500 sq feet of "public space" wnich does not include kitchen area, bathrooms, hallways, etc. So the number of allowable diners is too small to make any money, especially in upper end places where diners normally take their time.
Thus, one can only conclude that those opening will violate those rules since there will be little enforcement. The GA state patrol will not be prowling restaurants for violators. So everyone will be violating some of the rules.
Kemp's rules are a joke and an insult to the restaurant industry. Its as if he said its ok to open, but you must follow my rules which will result in huge losses for you.
Small places like Carbonara in Dunwoody will only be able to legally have about 12-18 diners at once. They are better off sticking to take out.
Watch those that open now fail and close again.
So disappointing. To add to the list - J Alexander's in Dunwoody is opening per Facebook. Not sure if this carries over to Stoney River and the location they renamed at the Forum, but wouldn't be surprising to be everything owned by the parent group.
Alex Berenson on twitter is one of the few journalists telling the truth about this institutional over-reaction. The doomsday pessimists were (thankfully) wrong. Restaurants should be allowed to operate as normal since covid is very seldom having any drastic effect on anyone other than elderly with many 'co-morbidities'.
The Dunwoody mantra is 'everything will be ok' so just let the bureaucrats abuse us as much as they'd like. Only if people make their voices heard will this nonsense ever end.
Bravery isn't boycotting, cowering inside, and calling the police on others. It's actually just taking the minimal risks into account and living life.
Nope. Too soon. Will continue with curbside.
These restaurants are making very bad decisions. Many will decide not to patronize these restaurants at all because it puts their curbside and delivery at risk. I won't be. And to anonymous saying this disease only effects the elderly...you are WRONG.
Thanks so much for compiling this list, Eli. It is far more extensive than any of the other lists out there.
There have been a little over 900 total deaths in Georgia from Covid-19. The seasonal flu takes an average of 1,500 lives each winter. All the numbers show that the virus made its peak in Georgia on April 7th and there is no evidence behind the "second wave" or any of the other doomsday predictions. We overreacted to some really scary, but grossly inaccurate scientific models and predictions. That's okay, but thankful that our governor decided not to continue to force people into unemployment by staying shut down based on those wrong numbers.
I'm excited to go support these restaurants. If you're not ready yet, that's okay too. Take all the time you need. But think hard about whether you ever want to venture out during flu season again.
Was Kyma inadvertently left off or are they not opening along with the other Buckhead Life restaurants?
To the anonymous 2nd commenter.
While we did not not have mass death in the city, if everyone had gone on like business as usual for the last 6 weeks things could have been much worse. What would have actually happened, no one will ever know. All we can do is look at other countries. Staying at home wasn't to stop the virus, it was to slow the spread so that hospitals could keep up.
Most weren't cowering inside, they were just doing what medical professionals suggested. Most don't wear a seatbelt for years then say "this thing is useless because I have had to use it.
I believe Outback is open also. Made my reservation for Redlands on this Thursday evening and looking forward to a night back to normal.
Restaurants can offer both options - take out and dine-in.
@anonymous 1;39pm, these restrictions were drafted by the GA Restaurant Association.
Jason's Deli & Outback also both open for dine-in effective today.
@ Anonymous 4/27/20 4:02pm: If we had gone on with business as usual, we would have likely suffered the same fate as Sweden, who did just that and had a Covid19 curve that looked strikingly similar to every other country.
Regardless, can we all agree that the spread has not overwhelmed the hospitals here in Georgia? There are entire floors that have been shut down and have been sitting empty waiting for the onslaught.
Bon appetit.
Looks like the "open now" and "covid is like the flu" morons have somehow found this blog....sad
You mean the Sweden that has twice the population of neighbor Norway, but 10x the deaths? That Sweden?!
@Oden - yes, that Sweden. The one with the same curve pattern as its Scandinavian neighbors and every other country in the world. If you think that social distancing kills the virus then that's another issue. It was only meant to temper the spread of cases so that hospitals were not overwhelmed, not to be a permanent new way of life. Sweden's approach should have spiked the cases and completely overwhelmed its hospitals (it didn't).
You are free to stay home for as long as you like. They project a vaccine will be available sometime in the spring of 2021. But remember that new virus mutations will likely continue to emerge like they have since the dawn of time. Might want to think about building up some kind of immune system.
The objective was to flatten the curve. Hospitals are not only NOT over-run, but are mostly empty, cutting hours of workers, and furloughing and laying off workers.
Further, numerous studies have found that children not only don't catch covid to any significant degree, but also do not spread it very much.
At this point, the goal-posts are being moved by some people that have *some sort* of ulterior desire to see the US economy crumble. Oh and let us not forget that their desire to disrupt global economies and supply chains is actively causing hundreds of millions of people to starve.
Everyone can decide on their own when they feel 'safe' dining out--but for all engaged in boycotts against restaurants that are opening back up, you had better shut your trap when your nearby restaurants go out of business and are replaced with banks and similar types of 'excitement'.
May i suggest for you to set an eye exam as soon as possible. You are seeing things that aren't really there. By any metric, Sweden's neighbors are all on the downside of the curve. Sweden's new cases and deaths continue to be near their highs. Sorry, but your spin job doesn't work on me.
To the "if you don't want to go out, just stay home" contingent...what about the people who work at these chains and are being drafted back and perhaps live with someone older, or for the sake of their own health and safety are apprehensive about serving people in a dining room or cooking in a kitchen or cleaning up after your mess? That person tells their employer they are uncomfortable returning to work and thus become a "voluntary quit" and can no longer receive unemployment. So a) not everyone can "just stay home" if they have a certain type of job and b) who, exactly, is this helping if the purpose of this insane move to reopen the state this early was ostensibly to help those who have been unemployed? At least before, they were receiving unemployment without risking their lives.
Or, oh, wait, could it be that this whole rush to reopen has something to do with KEEPING people from receiving unemployment and thus keeping the state numbers low? Hmmmmm....something to ponder while you enjoy that steak you just couldn't wait a few more weeks to eat in a restaurant.
Nice, but bizarre conspiracy theory there May 1, 1:33am. The reality is that the goal was to flatten the curve--and it was long ago flattened. Thus a variety of lies and misinformation have been dispensed to 'move the goalposts'.
The reality is that covid is not dangerous to young people. Some studies have found that young people also don't seem to spread it to any significant degree. And the hospitalized covid cases are almost all: older, co-morbidities, lower socio-economic (less access to good healthcare, multiple health issues).
The self-centered obsession that 'team apocalypse' has with eradicating covid does have opportunity costs--funds dedicated to this feeble excuse for an apocalypse that could have actually saved hundreds of thousands of lives had they been spent on other things (cancer, etc.). And let us not forget that not only are millions of Americans now wondering how they'll pay for food, but these draconian government over-reactions are also causing millions of people in Africa and elsewhere to starve. But we understand--these foreign/dark people that are *actually* starving to death are not as important to you as the emotional blackmail you enjoy inflicting:'oh don't do that! you'll make old people die!'.
And the fact remains: the best way to help everyone is to re-start the economy in full. Your scare propaganda was wrong two months ago, wrong a month ago, and undoubtedly is wrong now too. Spreading the lies of high level people only leads to a less pleasant world for everyone.
There are 1500 deaths annually in Georgia from the common flu, which is a respiratory virus. To date, there have been 1140 deaths from COVID-19 in Georgia, another respiratory virus.
@ May 1, 2020 at 9:57 AM
So are you asserting young people are at no risk whatsoever?
A lot of conjecture for something that is still being discovered, that we fully don't know about. Hopefully no one you know, will be afflicted by it, all in a quest so you can go back to your crap burger at Applebees.
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