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COVID-19 forcing some restaurants to close their doors for good
The coronavirus pandemic is taking its toll on area restaurants. Some owners tell FOX 5 things have gotten so bad that they cannot reopen.
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - Monday afternoon William Turner started taking down pieces of the story he spent nearly 10 years cooking up.
“These tables, man, you know, I worked so hard buying these tables. These are paid for off tacos I sold off the food truck,” Turner explained.
Friday Turner announced his Mexican soul-food inspired restaurant, Blaxican, is permanently closing.
He said the Peachtree Corners business has struggled since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Blaxican in Gwinnett County is just one of several restaurant casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic (Source: FOX 5 Atlanta).
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“Then the governor opened up the state and that shifted the mindset of the creditors and landlord. Everybody then had the mindset of they want the money right now, and we don't have the money right now," Turner told FOX 5.
Other business owners said they lost upwards of around 90 percent of their revenue.
“It’s just one of those situations that the impact was so great that it was hard to recover from,” Todd Hogan, who owns Duke's Bar and Grill in Fulton County, said.
Luckily for Hogan's employees, his two other restaurants won't be closing.
“Our plan is to re-direct our team members that we had at Duke's to our other locations,” Hogan said.
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Turner told FOX 5 he took out loans, fund-raised, tried curbside and takeout, but it just wasn't enough to keep the lights on.
“This was the thing that was going to take care of us in our golden years and all of that is in question and I really don't know,” he said.
While the road ahead is unclear, Turner is trying to remain optimistic.
“I'm looking for a miracle, something miraculous to happen. I'll be able to take these and put them in a new location one day,” Turner said.
Turner has to be out of the building by next week. He does have a food truck and is trying to use that to bring in revenue.
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