How much money did Atlanta restaurants lose because of the water main break?

Atlanta restaurants suffered a major financial setback due to a water main break over the weekend. Many restaurants were forced to close their doors Friday and Saturday in Midtown and Downtown — typically the days when gross profits are highest — and owners say the city’s failures in repairs and communication have cost tens of thousands of dollars in revenue to their businesses. And it’s a bill that restaurants can be forced to pay with, through no fault of their own.

“We probably lost 30,000 (dollars) in sales,” says Craig Richards, executive chef and owner of Lyla Lila in Midtown. “It was a very frustrating and stressful weekend. The dishwasher did not heat up and the toilet did not work. »

Richards closed Lyla Lila on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, it reopened with free bottled water service, which is another added cost for the service. Richards files a claim with the restaurant’s own insurance to recover part of the losses.

“We lost all of our weekend revenue because we’re normally closed on Sundays,” says Devan Knobloch, general manager of Gunshow in Glenwood Park.

Gunshow is only open four days a week (Wednesday through Saturday) and orders its ingredients in advance. Knobloch says the restaurant lost about five thousand dollars in products it will have to throw away, bringing its total losses to almost forty thousand dollars. The restaurant also contacts its insurance company.

“The most frustrating thing about this situation is the complete lack of accessible information,” says Knobloch. “There were many misreports of repairs Saturday morning and they were not true. All we had to do was turn on the tap and figure it out.

The Eleventh Street Pub in Midtown suffered damage when a geyser of water exploded through a window, according to 11Alive. The window is now closed and it is unclear whether the interior of the restaurant was affected.

In addition to the overall losses in the restaurant business, servers have lost income in tips early in the month when bills are due. The Giving Kitchen, an Atlanta-founded organization that provides emergency assistance to food service workers nationwide, received calls from restaurant workers this morning.

“If there is already a crisis in a food service worker’s home and this (the water main break) adds to the crisis, Giving Kitchen can help with financial assistance or network resources stability,” says Jen Hidinger-Kendrick, founder and spokesperson. of the Donnant Kitchen. “To help our restaurants, let’s go out into town, tip a little extra, and lead with gratitude and kindness.”

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens posted a video on Instagram this morning saying repairs were underway at West Peachtree, between 11th and 12th streets. Eater Atlanta reached out to the City of Atlanta to see if it plans to reimburse restaurants and other local businesses for lost revenue; no response yet.