Two longtime downtown restaurants close
June 3rd, 2009 by Cliff Bostock in RestaurantsThe Atlanta Business Chronicle is reporting bad news about two Atlanta institutions:
Landmark downtown Atlanta dining institutions Dailey’s Restaurant Bar and City Grill closed Wednesday.
An e-mail from Harbor Group Management, the firm that oversees the Hurt Building, home of City Grill, said: “It is with great regret that we must inform you that the City Grill and Dailey’s restaurants are closed until further notice.”
The restaurants’ owner, Karen Bremer, president of Great Hospitality Restaurants Inc., confirmed the restaurants are closed.
“Economic conditions, sales have faltered,” Bremer said. “The economics have finally hit me.”
Convention business cratered in the second half of 2008 and has yet to recover. Hotels and restaurants dependent on corporate accounts have struggled as companies cut back on travel, and convention attendance has dwindled.
June 3rd, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Wow, that is too bad. I know Bill Cambell was a crock but he did bring TONS of business to Atlanta. When Shirley took over it was also the end of the HUGE conventions of the ’90’s. Closing down bars and strip clubs on Sundays was a large blow also. People want to do stuff they can’t do in their home towns…not everyone just wants to go to Church.
I mainly don’t go to church because the Holy Water burns my skin…
June 3rd, 2009 at 4:40 pm
I still haven’t forgiven her for closing the Metro.
June 3rd, 2009 at 7:42 pm
reminds me of when i took my parents credit cards without their consent.
http://nymag.com/daily/food/2009/06/oak_room_blames_unpaid_bills_o.html
June 5th, 2009 at 12:33 am
Whoa! Foodieman has the DIRT.
June 14th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Yes, it’s Shirley’s fault the convention business tanked after 9/11 and then, having never fully recovered, was pounded again with the current recession. While there are things she can be criticized for, convention business problems don’t really fit the bill.
June 15th, 2009 at 11:43 am
@ jay,
as mayor, shirley franklin did or did not 1) push for the closing of atlanta’s 24/7 clubs and 2) rolling back the closing time for bars and 3) shutting down buckhead as an nationally known entertainment zone?
if the answer to those questions is yes, then FRANKLIN DID IN FACT CONTRIBUTE TO THE SLOWING OF THE CONVENTION BUSINESS IN ATLANTA.
don’t believe me? ask anyone in the restaurant/hospitality business.
June 15th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Oh yeah, maybe if Freaknic and 4AM Buckhead bar hours were still in effect, the convention business would be booming and these two restaurants would be open!!!
That, or the financial crisis has affected the convention industry in general.
http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/business_travel/story/biz/2324.html
June 15th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
The ordinance restricting 24hr nightclubs began on midnight, December 31, 2003. nonetheless, hotel occupancy rates, numbers of conventions, and daily expenditures by conventioneers managed to rise in 2004 and 2005.
The numbers are all available on the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau site:
—————-
Convention Growth
2003
# of Conventions: 2,825
Average Daily Expenditure: $282.00
2004
# of Conventions: 3,005
Average Daily Expenditure: $283.00
2005
# of Conventions: 3,068
Average Daily Expenditure: $315.00
————–
Metropolitan Atlanta Hotel Market
2003
92,030 hotel rooms at 744 properties
56.2 percent overall occupancy
2004
92,359 hotel rooms at 745 properties
60.4 percent overall occupancy
2005
91,869 hotel rooms at 743 properties
64.7 percent overall occupancy
————
I don’t think the lack of 24hr clubs and nude dancing businesses is hurting Atlanta’s convention traffic. It’s the economy, dude.
June 15th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
What are yall talking about?!?!
i cant wait for rolling bones bbq.
the duck sounds soo good.
June 15th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
of course the economy is taking a toll. nothing to disagree with there.
but if u don’t think that making atlanta less nightlife-friendly has had a negative effect on the convention/tourism business, i strongly disagree. and franklin played a big part in that.
and i wasn’t talking about freaknik, foolio. the city is clearly better of without it, but as a matter of fact, freaknik DID contribute to atl’s convention business.
June 15th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
OHHHHHHHHHH freaknik..2 LEGIT 2 LEGIT 2 QUIT!
June 17th, 2009 at 8:04 am
This city’s lack of nightlife has affected tourists view of the city, newcomers to the city, and people like myself who remember Atlanta as having a diverse and fun nightlife awhile ago. It’s not the over-the-top nightlife that needs to come back, though that was fun. It is not having any sort of nightlife to speak of that has hurt the city more.
Shirley was part of the effort to kill Atlanta’s nightlife. So was the Atlanta City Council, many former suburbanites who moved to the city for an in-town experience, but quickly realized they didn’t want certain aspects of city life, and politically connected people in Buckhead who had a vision of a southern Rodeo Drive to replace the bars there.
Lack of alcohol sales and most bars being closed on Sunday is embarrassing to the city. Our city is known as provincial and boring. This affects convention dollars. There is little to do here. It isn’t just not being able to drink on Sunday. It’s also not nurturing cultural institutions and extracurricular activities that make a city thrive. Atlanta is known as a boring business town. This was not always the case. In the 70s and 80s, Atlanta was truly fun.
The city needs to decide if it wants to keep a conservative southern image and provide a decent place for people to live, but not have things to attract tourists; or if it wants to truly be a destination spot for travelers. If it’s the latter, we need to offer more than fish at an aquarium, a few pieces of art at the one and only major museum in the city, pandas on loan at the zoo, and another option on Sunday besides church.
June 17th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Wow. I agree with all of Jeff’s points above.
Aside from the Aquarium, maaaaybe Centennial Olympic Park, and a few other choice places, Atlanta has never struck me as a place to go vacation. I was always baffled by tourists downtown. And the sad thing was, you could tell they were baffled, too.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
foodieman – have you been to rolling bones w the new menu? They were supposed to roll it out this week, but it kept getting pushed back.
Or was that sarcasm?
June 17th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
rolling bones will have their new menu out on the 19th. i will definitely be there.
check out the menu at todd richards blog :
http://cheftoddrichards.blogspot.com/
this guy has passion
June 18th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Why is it that Rolling Bones is going all froo-froo with their bbq? that new menu is actually a turn off to me – I thought they had a good thing going doing pretty traditional bbq with their own style – now it sounds like an attempt at white tablecloth bbq – will it survive on Edgewood?
June 18th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
i think they will do just fine without you matt.
Cliff can I come with you instead of Wayne?