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After being shuttered completely for four weeks, The Varsity has reopened in Midtown for drive-in and takeout service only. More Intown restaurants and venues have announced they are following suit  or opening their dining rooms amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Like other restaurants, The Varsity is following state mandated safety and sanitation guidelines and has limited hours – 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

Starting Monday, May 4, The Roof at Ponce City Market will open with restricted operations. Safety precautions will include limiting the number by more than 50 percent, cashless payments, and disposable menus and tableware. Of note, the tower and slide will remain closed until further notice. Also, reservations for 9 Mile Station are strongly encouraged. Visit PonceCityRoof.com for more.

As of today, Landry’s restaurant group has reopened the dining rooms at its chain of concepts, including Del Frisco Grille, Joe’s Crab Shack, Morton’s The Steakhouse, McCormick & Schmick’s, The Oceanaire and The Palm.

Another Atlanta icon, Manuel’s Tavern in Poncey-Highland, has announced it will reopen for takeout only starting May 4. Owner Brian Maloof posted on Facebook: “We will be open if all goes well on Monday, May 4th for to-go service only. We are not allowing guests inside during this to-go only period. The menu will be very limited and very simple. It will be our most popular items and items that travel extremely well. We plan on expanding the items offered as we reacquaint ourselves with the kitchen again. In addition to the food, we will provide beer and wine to-go. We will be taking orders by phone and uber eats. The pick-up and payment area will be outside under the back door awning and the two tents that will be added.”

Other restaurants that have reopened dining rooms and patios include Waffle House locations around the city, Bantam Pub in Old Fourth Ward,Petite Violette near Emory, Char Korean BB!Q in Inman Park (patio only), Park Tavern in Midtown has reopened for drink service and lite bites to-go, and Johnny’s Hideaway in Buckhead has reopened the dining room but not the famed dance floor. Eater Atlanta has a list of more metro restaurants that have reopened in some capacity.

More than 120 Atlanta restaurants – who have banded together as #GAHospitalityTogether – have pledged not to re-open their dining rooms until they believe the COVID-19 crisis has passed.

The post The Varsity reopens for takeout, while Manuel’s Tavern, The Roof at PCM, and more announce plans appeared first on Atlanta INtown Paper.

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It’s been one week since Gov. Brian Kemp’s order allowing certain businesses to reopen went into effect. Many businesses opted to remain closed as the COVID-19 outbreak continues, but others decided to give it a go, including Bad Axe Throwing on the Westside.

The results were less than stellar. In fact, they were a “nightmare,” according to the company’s president and CEO, Mario Zelaya.

The recreational entertainment venue where customers, literally, throw axes at targets while enjoying food and beverages has been a popular destination since it opened in 2017 (read INtown’s feature on Bad Axe in our archive at this link), but customers weren’t ready to get back to having fun just yet.

“We did a lot of marketing. We spent a lot of money letting people know we’re open. It had zero impact. The reopening weekend was a disaster. We had two customers all weekend. This points to a bigger problem the entertainment industry is going to have,” Zelaya said.

Zelaya said Bad Axe took extra safety and sanitation precautions including wiping down the axes with Clorox wipes, cleaning tables and surfaces, limiting capacity, and coaches maintaining social distancing.

Zelaya said Bad Axe’s reopening debacle is a cautionary tale for other businesses planning to follow suit.

“We prepared for the worst, but two customers was something we never imagined. Bars, bowling alleys, movie theaters, axe throwing and any other entertainment concepts are going to have the most difficult time reaching normalcy after the closures. This past weekend showed us that. It’s very worrisome for our Atlanta location.”

Zelaya said Bad Axe would try it again this weekend with limited hours. “We hope this weekend is much better than the last, but we need to keep things alive.’

The company, which has multiple locations around the US and abroad, planned to reopen its Oklahoma City location on May 1 despite the turnout in Atlanta.

The post Intown business describes ‘nightmare’ reopening with only two customers all weekend appeared first on Atlanta INtown Paper.

The AJC Peachtree Road Race, an Independence Day tradition, will be postponed until Thanksgiving Day due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Atlanta Track Club, the race’s organizer, had opened registrations March 15 in the midst of widespread pandemic closures with cautions that cancelation or postponement could happen. The delay is the first in the race’s 51-year history.

The 10K race begins at Buckhead’s Lenox Square mall with a route including Midtown, Piedmont Park and Centennial Olympic Park. It draws tens of thousands of participants.

“As Atlanta and the nation continue to take precautions to slow and stop the spread of COVID-19, we understand that Peachtree participants, volunteers, medical staff and the other first responders who keep them safe need more time to prepare for this year’s race,” said Rich Kenah, executive director of Atlanta Track Club and the race’s director, in a press release. “We are thankful for the opportunity to move forward together with all of Atlanta on Thanksgiving Day in a responsible and safe format.”

Thanksgiving this year is Nov. 26. The Peachtree Road Race will replace another race scheduled for that day that will be canceled, the Invesco QQQ Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon, 5K, Mile and Dash.

More than 45,000 people had registered for the race already, according to the press release. They will remain registered. According to the press release, registrants will also have the option to complete the race “virtually”; move their entry to 2021 at no charge; transfer to a new participant; donate their registration fee to Atlanta Track Club’s community initiatives; or receive a refund.

Registration will reopen on Aug. 31-Sept. 6 for members and Sept. 7-13 for non-members.

The Track Club will seek to do something “special” on July 4 without the race, according to its website.

For more information, see the Track Club’s website here.

The post Peachtree Road Race postponed until Thanksgiving Day due to COVID-19 appeared first on Atlanta INtown Paper.

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In a video statement, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he would allow the shelter-in-place order for most Georgians to expire tonight, April 30, at 11:59 p.m.

Kemp said he would sign an order today requiring medically fragile and elderly Georgians to continue to shelter-in-place through June 12 and would extend the public health state of emergency to the same date.

“Tonight at 11:59 PM, the statewide shelter in place order for most Georgians will expire. However, moving forward, I am urging Georgians to continue to stay home whenever possible,” said in the video and accompanying statement released to the media.  “I want to thank the people of our great state who heeded public health advice, afforded us time to bolster our healthcare infrastructure, and flattened the curve. We were successful in these efforts, but the fight is far from over.”

Kemp’s statement comes as confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 continue to tick up, with the state surpassing 26,000 confirmed cases and more than 1,000 deaths.

Kemp said his decision was “based on data and advice from health officials.”

He said businesses and restaurants that have been allowed to reopen must continue to follow the social distancing and sanitation rules set by the state until May 13.

However, Kemp did not make any announcement about when bars, nightclubs, live music venues, amusement parks or public swimming pools could reopen.

Kemp also ordered long-term care facilities – including nursing homes, personal care homes, assisted living facilities, and similar community living homes – to utilize enhanced infection control protocols, ensure safer living conditions, and protect residents and staff from coronavirus exposure.

Georgia is projected to see its number of daily COVID-19 deaths nearly double by early August, according to an updated model from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The projections for Georgia show the highest uptick in deaths per day will be between May and August.

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