Famous Athens restaurant closing after 30 years

ATHENS, Ga. - A staple Athens restaurant is soon closing its doors for good.

The Grit, which has served vegetarian and vegan meals in Athens for more than three decades, is closing after Oct. 7. The restaurant made the announcement in a Facebook post on Thursday.

The pandemic played a part in the restaurant's closure, the post said.

"Unfortunately, things have changed due to the pandemic and we've had to reevaluate our business goals," the post said. 

In a follow-up post, the restaurant said it would attempt to maintain its regular hours of operation until the closure date. It warned of higher-than-normal wait times and asked for customers' patience.

The restaurant is offer bulk order bakery items — whole cakes and dozens of cupcakes — as long as possible. Customers are asked to contact the bakery by email with requests, thegritbakery@gmail.com, rather than call. 

Puzzles, cookbooks and coffee by the pound are available on the restaurant's website. Shirts are sold out, but restaurant staff plan to re-order. 

"We are still reading our way through all of the posts and messages everyone has been sending. Right now we just can't respond to them all but please know that we appreciate you reaching out to us," the post said

The restaurant is located on the corner of Prince Avenue and Morton Street north of downtown. Its regular hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Friday and 
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. then 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.