As the restaurant industry across the nation starts to emerge from the devastating impact of COVID, key marketplaces across the country continue to welcome back their dining patrons.
Atlanta, GA finds itself in the crosshairs of the nation’s simmering political environment which led to MLB-Major League Baseball pulling its annual all-star game. With that in the background, Total Food Service wanted to get a read on how the Georgia capital’s restaurants and foodservice community is faring.
“Any conversation about Georgia has to start with the fact that we were the last state to close and the first to reopen,” said Karen Bremer, President and CEO of the Georgia Restaurant Association. “Our governor, Brian Kemp, was very supportive about following safety rules but allowing businesses to return. The restaurant industry is the second largest private sector employer in Georgia, second only to our agriculture business.”
According to the Association’s statistics, it’s estimated that in 2020, Georgia’s restaurant industry was down $5 billion dollars. 57% of its 19,000 restaurants closed, 378,000 workers were laid off and approximately 3,800 of those restaurants will not return.
Asked about Atlanta, Bremer noted: “Atlanta’s downtown business center has been dramatically affected by the lack of business travelers and employees who are slow to return to their offices.” She cited a recent study by Harvard, saying it attributed 28% of dining out to business. As for the rest of the Atlanta metro area, restaurants with outdoor patio space fared much better.
According to Kris Reinhard, who’s on the board of Atlanta’s Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and a partner in Fifth Group Restaurants, proprietors of thirteen restaurants throughout Atlanta, areas that are starting to show signs of life again are Buckhead, the upscale residential district; Midtown, home to Piedmont Park; and West Midtown, brimming with dining hotspots and busy breweries.
“The further out from downtown you go, the busier the restaurants get. Our neighborhood joints have come back much faster than our downtown ones,” Reinhard said.
Just outside the city proper, Reinhard said is a vibrant dining scene now in neighborhoods like the charming, and quaint Virginia Highland, Old Fourth Ward, where famed food hall Ponce City Market is and Decatur, buzzing with eateries walking distance from its downtown square.
People from all over the world settle in Atlanta for the warm weather and business opportunities it offers, which has made it an international city. It’s been a draw for a lot of talented chefs. “But you also have Southern hospitality, and here it’s a real thing,” said Reinhard.
Talents who have pushed Atlanta to become one of our country’s most exciting culinary forces include James Beard award-winning chefs like Linton Hopkins and Steven Satterfield, former Top Chef contestant Kevin Gillespie, and besides Fifth Group Restaurants, other restaurant groups have staked out a good piece of the restaurant landscape like Ford Fry’s Rocket Farms, Castellucci Hospitality Group, Buckhead Life Restaurant Group and Unsukay.
What about the real estate costs for that landscape? Reinhard said typical rent is between $35-$75 per square foot for their type of casual fine dining restaurants. His landlord, Cousins Properties, has been very generous in adjusting their rental arrangement during the pandemic. He’s also heard other landlords have made all kinds of concessions with their tenants, from rental forgiveness to deferrals to paying a percentage of sales or minimum of rent for a certain amount of time.
“The biggest crisis our industry faces now is our lack of workers,” lamented Bremer. Atlanta restaurant groups are trying to attract talent with $10,000 sign on bonuses. Fifth Group Restaurants are offering incentives like appreciation retention bonuses or recruiting referral bonuses upwards of $5,000.
What about independent, chef-driven restaurants that aren’t that flush with cash? Neal McCarthy, who along with chef Satterfield, owns the highly acclaimed Miller Union in West Midtown, said they have to seat fewer guests because they don’t have enough staff right now to provide the level of service they have always offered their guests. “Everyone is going to have to be paid more. Staffs need to make a livable wage. I think this is something our industry needs to address,” said McCarthy.
The Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) will help with the extra dollars restaurants will need to start shelling out. “The key is all about getting back to a normal level of sales and these funds are critical to keep our restaurants afloat until we get there,” offered Reinhard.
To succeed as a restaurateur today in Atlanta, Reinhard advised, “you need to be flexible and adaptable to the changing culture of our industry.”
Super’s TFS Read on ATLANTA:
Hottest Restaurant neighborhoods: Virginia Highland, Old Fourth Ward, Ponce City Market and Decatur
Restaurateurs that are Cooking: Linton Hopkins, Steven Satterfield and Kevin Gillespie
Key Restaurant Groups: Fifth Group Restaurants, Ford Fry’s Rocket Farm Restaurants, Castellucci Hospitality Group, Buckhead Life Restaurant Group and Unsukay.
