Is General Beauregard’s a lost cause?
Two days after the Athens bar was accused of having a version of a margarita called a “N*****ita” on its drink menu, the Confederate-themed bar has been temporarily closed.
Bar owner Daniel Simmons told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday that he was unsure he'd reopen the bar that night. He didn't, nor was the bar open Wednesday night, according to local reports. It's unclear when or whether the bar will reopen.
Simmons did not respond to a phone message or email on Thursday. He denied that his bar served the racist-themed cocktail, and that he was “investigating” the allegations. While allegations the bar did serve the drink continue to blanket social media, the bar’s Facebook and Twitter accounts have been shut down. The bar openly flew just about all versions of the Confederate flag until this summer but removed them after the Charleston church massacre.
Lt. Richard Odom of the Athens Police Department said no extra patrols around the bar have been added since the controversy broke, but “we are aware that there was an uproar over it.” The bar is about a block away from the downtown Athens police precinct.
Pictures of the purported menu circulating on social media appear to show the recipe for a "N*****ita" — tequila, watermelon and a splash of sour. In the pictures the list appears laminated, leading some to suggest that it was not a drink menu for customers but a recipe book for bartenders. The source of the image could not be immediately determined.
Asked whether the picture was of a recipe book in use behind the bar, Simmons said, "Not to my knowledge. I know nothing about this. We are investigating at this time."
Social media posts claimed that an unidentified employee of an Athens printer, Bel-Jean Copy/Print, saw the menu at the print shop, took a photo of it and posted it to a social media account. The post was later removed.
Contacted Tuesday evening, the store’s manager, who would only identify himself as McKenzie, said he was not familiar with such a job. “We didn’t print those,” he said.
