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Downtown Atlanta restaurant operator describes process of reopening and recovery

STATS Brewpub is one of the area's most prominent sports bars.

ATLANTA — The majority of the year, many downtown Atlanta restaurants have been negatively impacted by the pandemic. On top of that, earlier this year looters left some of those businesses damaged.

One business owner told 11Alive's Maura Sirianni about the process of recovery and reopening.

If you're into watching sports and enjoying a beer, you've likely visited STATS Brewpub along Marietta St. NW near Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

"Downtown Atlanta is very derivative of conventions, sporting events, travel - and that all dried up overnight," said STATS operator Brian Bullock.

RELATED: Atlanta sports bars gear up for a cautious NFL Sunday with Falcons game closed to fans

Bullock, the COO of Legacy Ventures, oversees several downtown restaurants - including Twin Smokers BBQ and Max's Pizza next to STATS, which were both also damaged in the looting. He said as the NCAA canceled March Madness due to COVID and the city shut down, they had to make the decision to close all of the group's restaurants.

"Unfortunately we had to lay off about 550 employees," he said.

It was a tough start to the year, but by late spring and early summer, some nearby attractions like the Georgia Aquarium and College Football Hall of Fame had plans to reopen.

At that time Bullock said he felt confident to open up some of their restaurants, too. But on May 29, a night of unrest in downtown Atlanta left many businesses reeling from more than just the pandemic.

"This building, STATS specifically, and Twin Smokers and Max's Pizza, took the most damage out of our restaurants," Bullock said. "It was at first emotional, it was at first - let's make sure everyone's safe. Then it turned into - let's get everything cleaned up. Then it turned into - what does the future look like? Because like I said, we were planning on opening in June, and all of a sudden that’s scrapped because the building's destroyed."

Now it's late September. The glass has been replaced, and while business took a huge hit, STATS was able to to welcome patrons back into the building on opening night of the NFL, with proper precautions in place.

"It was just such a great feeling to have people in the building," Bullock said. "I know everyone that I've talked to is just dying to see the Georgia Bulldogs play, and see the Falcons play, and we're optimistic."

He also said that the restaurant and hospitality group has since been able to hire back some of the employees they had to lay off. 

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