Eateries close; ‘not all doom, gloom’

Other closings include Nickiemoto’s in Midtown, Sambuca in Buckhead, Eurasia in Decatur and Dynamic Dish in East Atlanta.

The health of metro Atlanta’s restaurants is important to the area’s $11 billion hospitality industry. Restaurants employ thousands and are key to efforts to attract business travelers, tourists and conventioneers.

Noted chef Shaun Doty closed his destination eatery Shaun’s in November, after he said it became evident that the economy was not recovering fast enough to sustain fine dining establishments off the beaten path.

Doty said that, like many who held on during recessionary years 2008 and 2009, he soldiered on hoping the economy would turn around in 2010. He closed the 4-year-old Shaun’s to focus on Yeah Burger, a new fast-casual concept he co-owns in Virginia-Highland and one on Howell Mill Road.

“I’m not going to say that I’m not disappointed by the demise of Shaun’s,” he said. “There’s always going to be an organic shake- out. But there are many new restaurants opening so it’s not all doom and gloom. The spirit of entrepreneurship is alive and well in Atlanta.”

To be sure, the restaurant business is volatile, even in good times. And there are always new concepts ready to fill empty spaces.

Several new eateries are rumored or planned for some of the vacated sites, including Ocean Prime in the Sambuca space; 5 Napkin Burger in Nickiemoto’s building; and a yet-to-benamed establishment at Eurasia to be led by Floataway Cafe chef Drew Belline.

Shumacher said many forces are at play in the closings, with the economy at the top of list. But other factors can include lease disagreements, poor locations, changes in dining tastes, climbing business costs and the natural life cycle of restaurants, he said.

“Historically, there is always a certain number of closings this time of year,” he said.

Some owners decide they don’t want to pay to renew liquor licenses, operating permits and leases, which usually are due in January, industry experts said. Often restaurant owners will look at upcoming fixed costs and evaluate the business landscape. If they two don’t balance, they will pull the plug before those bills are due.

The closings come against a backdrop of signs of a rebound — albeit a mild one — for restaurants. The National Restaurant Association said in November that on a national level, a majority of restaurant operators reported higher same-store sales in October, the first time that’s happened since August 2007. But the association’s chief economist, Bruce Grindy, cautioned that income and spending growth remained sluggish.

Karen Bremer, executive director of the Georgia Restaurant Association, said at the end of September, Atlanta restaurant sales were up 7.4 percent over the same period a year ago.

Laurend Abraham, general manager of Tantra, a new fusion restaurant in Buckhead, said the key to survival is meeting diners on their price level, which is around $20 for entrees instead of $40 and up. In the past that was a more difficult goal to reach because of food costs. But just as the economy is hurting restaurants, it’s also hurting their suppliers, which has brought down costs.

“We’re not shooting for high profit margins,” he said. “We want to make sure we can pay our bills and pay our staff and if we have a little left over, then great.”