ATLANTA — Like other businesses around the country, Ryan Wilson’s social club in Atlanta, The Gathering Spot has been closed.
“It’s definitely impactful for us and it also looks like that’ll continue for a while,” he said.
But, starting Monday, his business is allowed to reopen, along with movie theaters and restaurants in Georgia.
Wilson, though, said that won’t happen at his business.
“Everything that we’ve done from a data perspective doesn’t suggest that it’s the right time to open yet so we’re not going to do so until there’s better testing available,” he said. “Better guidelines about how to protect the community that we serve.”
He’s not the only one.
Dozens of Atlanta-area restaurants 11Alive called said they will not open on Monday. Restaurant Verde Taqueria in Brookhaven won’t either. Owner Hil Rogers said he’s just not ready.
“We don’t know what the customers want to do,” he said. “Are they going to feel safe? Are they going to feel comfortable?”
He said his staff has been feeding hospital workers and doing carry out and they’re finally getting used to that workflow.
“To have to do half to-go, half dine-in, and not knowing what’s happening with the dine-in side, there’s just so many unknowns of what everybody wants, what’s safe, and what’s legal,” he said. “We’re going to just sit tight and wait for more info to trickle down.”
Other restaurants like rapper 2 Chainz’s Escobar announced they were going to reopen and bringing back furloughed staff - but have since reconsidered.
“What he’s saying is that ‘I’m not going to risk putting my employees in harm’s way because we are opening up too soon’,” Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said.
However, there are some Georgia businesses that plan to get back to business Monday. Georgia-based Waffle House is one of them with plans to reopen that day.
And barbecue restaurant chain “Smoky Bones” plans to reopen three of its Georgia locations by Wednesday, bringing back its furloughed staff under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state guidelines.
But like many others, Wilson said he’s not there yet with The Gathering Spot and he’ll hang tight for now.
“Most of us have the belief that if we can just stay the course and get to a little bit further down the road and reopen safely,” he said.
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