More than 120 of Georgia's most popular restaurants announced this week they won't be reopening

[left-of-center2012]

Owners of more than 120 of Georgia's most popular restaurants announced this week they won't be reopening their doors just yet, despite getting a green light to do so from the governor.

Gov. Brian Kemp said customers could again go to restaurants for dine-in service starting April 27 as long as eateries put in place measures to mitigate staff and guest exposure to coronavirus. The state has, so far, had more than 27,490 infections and at least 1,169 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In a full-page advertisement in a local newspaper, more than 120 restaurateurs said they would hunker down a little longer. Federico Castellucci's name is one of the dozens under the statement. Castellucci, who owns six restaurants including Bar Mercado in Atlanta, says while his restaurants have seen massive reductions in sales, he's trying to think long-term and do his part to help avoid a second or third stay-at-home order.

"We pledge ourselves to act as custodians of the public's trust," the statement reads. "Recognizing that each operator faces incredibly difficult decisions on the path ahead, we affirm the fact that public safety is the top priority as we navigate the challenge."

"I think the thing we all need to be focused on is not just how do we get things moving next week, next month but how do we get things moving for the rest of the year, how do we get things moving until there's a legitimate antiviral or vaccine," Castellucci says.

"In order to have that long-term thinking, it's very challenging to do so, especially when you're losing money or the state is running out of money," he said. "At the same time if we want to avoid further pain down the road my feeling is we have to incur a little bit more pain now."

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/02/us/georgia-restaurant-owners-closed-statement/index.html

[Throck]

1. Waffle House and Biscuit World?

Fond dining memories of my Southern travels.

[left-of-center2012]

5. Waffle House ?

They reopened.

It's been in the news.

So, no.
They are not one of those not opening.

[paleotn]

15. Not in the least surprised.

frequented them back in my undergrad and shortly after days. It's a wonder I'm still alive. Back then they never shut down, so there must have been inches of funk under everything.

[Turbineguy]

3. Dead people don't eat.

But they do vote republican.

[struggle4progress]

9. !

[roamer65]

12. THIS.

[Laelth]

4. Duh.

Anybody could have seen this coming.

It’s not profitable to reopen because people are still staying home. They don’t want to die.

-Laelth

[In It to Win It]

6. I'm thinking...

The eating establishments located in downtown or central locations will remain closed if most people work remotely.

There’s a restaurant right across the street from my office that myself and others in the office go to frequent. It’s basically a “hang out spot” at work. Every business in my office building is working remotely... and I literally mean everyone. The only ones that go to the building are the employees that work for the building owners.

The restaurant across the street from my office building opened for a few days but got minimal foot traffic amounting to a couple hundred dollars in sales. They want to open and be available to the public, and make some money and keep their employees, but it’s just not worth remaining open.

I imagine many restaurants as well as many other non-eating establishments are wrestling with the same thing.

It’s like certain government officials think things will just snap back to normal if they just “reopen.”

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. Georgia restaurateur lays bare real motives of Kemp & Greed Over People

[2naSalit]

8. In a nutshell. ...nt

[SWBTATTReg]

10. Well said. And it figures. nt

[crickets]

11. Yes, indeedy. It's a vile tactic. nt

[roamer65]

13. [phone]

[BootinUp]

14. Sounds about right. Good luck Georgia. Nt