Restaurants across metro Atlanta have been forced to shut their doors because too many employees are getting sick with COVID-19.
Channel 2′s Matt Johnson was at The Third Door in Cobb County, which had to shut down for an entire week. It’s not often that the cocktail bar in Marietta is so quiet. “On a personal level, it’s sad to have to close our doors,” owner Lara Ferreira said. “We’re really about building community and sharing good times.”
Ferreira said several employees tested positive for COVID-19 after Christmas, so she decided it was a good time to not gather in intimate spaces and give each other the time to get healthy and take care of family.
Many restaurants are dealing with staff shortages on the day Georgia recorded the most COVID-19 cases ever in a single day.
Some places are reducing hours, and some are temporarily closing. It’s all happening at a time when restaurants and bars were hoping for strong sales to close the door.
“We just have to tighten up and go lean for a little bit here,” Ferreira said.
Anderby Brewing in Peachtree Corners has been able to avoid closing down because fewer people are hosting big events.
“All of our January bookings pretty much canceled within the last three days,” owner Preston Smelt said.
Smelt said the patio has helped to keep customers coming during the pandemic. But with more people working from home again because of rising cases, the crowds aren’t coming.
“All the little restaurants around, they all existed expecting to have either like a happy hour or lunchtime crowd,” Smelt said. “It’s not there.”
Smelt has a plan if the virus finds his brewery.
“We nip it in the bud as fast as possible. Cycle out everybody who’s been exposed,” Smelt said. “My wife and I will go back to picking up shifts if we have to.”
For the most part, customers Johnson talked to have been very understanding and realize that temporarily shutting down is the right thing to do.
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