In its pre-pandemic heyday, LLoyd’s Restaurant & Lounge was the sort of place where you could nurse a beer alone on a bar stool, then have a stranger standing next to you, then a whole posse — everybody jostling for drinks and breathing the same air.
A tribute to blue-collar Americana — red-vinyl booths, knotty-pine paneling and fried-bologna sandwiches — LLoyd’s purposefully was designed as a riff on a classic dive. “The idea was to be like a Cheers," said co-owner Ian Jones of Victory Brands, which unveiled LLoyd’s in late 2018.
Thanks to $5 happy-hour drinks, ketchup-glazed meatloaf with all-you-can-eat mashed potatoes, and a faux-snarky attitude, it didn’t take long for LLoyd’s (“Where Nobody Knows Your Name”) to develop a following.
Credit: Wendell Brock
Credit: Wendell Brock
That all changed March 16, when Jones and partner Caleb Wheelus shut down all their restaurants, furloughed about 100 employees, and spent a couple of months plotting a comeback.
One by one, starting with Victory Coffee and Calamity on May 28, and concluding with Little Trouble on Sept. 8, they have relaunched their portfolio, making sure to follow the rules of social distancing while trying hard not to water down the fun.
They’ve had to implement some rules, though.
Credit: Wendell Brock
Credit: Wendell Brock
At all their spots, you must wear a mask, and you can’t hover at the bar. "There are no seats at the bar,” Jones said. “There is no standing around anywhere.”
With this reimagining, the restaurant group studiously has shifted the focus of each of its spaces to the patio, adding creature comforts, such as tables, tents, umbrellas and planters. Though dine-in service is offered at each, people tend to head outside.
Credit: Wendell Brock
Credit: Wendell Brock
Jones, 41, who has an interior-design degree from Georgia State University, created the original vibe of each Victory Brands space: the indoor-outdoor openness of the Beltline-adjacent Victory Sandwich Bar; the apocalyptic glow of Little Trouble; the rummy tropicality of S.O.S. Tiki Bar; the retro tackiness of LLoyd’s.
Credit: Wendell Brock
Credit: Wendell Brock
While the company was shut down, the Victory team took apart each space, scrubbed, painted and decluttered — and put them all back together again. “It feels like the first time we just opened our first store, but we just did it four times in a row," Jones said.
The process has been nostalgic. “It kind of moves you a little bit, because you’ve been out of your space so long you kind of experienced it again for the first time,” he said. “It makes you really want to keep it alive, because it makes you realize how much you missed it.”
Credit: Wendell Brock
Credit: Wendell Brock
One thing that’s new to this team is takeout. A self-described “control freak," Jones never thought Victory’s small sandwiches would travel well. The pandemic changed that. At LLoyd’s, in particular, he’s embraced the carryout life — commissioning takeout boxes and cups with a “Varsity-esque” feel.
And, what of LLoyd’s vintage bar stools? They’re packed into a shipping container outside company headquarters in Avondale Estates, waiting for the pandemic to end — a time when regulars can sidle up and order a Bud.
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LLOYD’S RESTAURANT & LOUNGE
Menu: mostly sandwiches and nightly dinner specials (snow crab, meatloaf, fried chicken, lasagna, fish fry)
Alcohol: yes
What I ordered: shrimp cocktail; fish sandwich with fries; meatloaf; dinner salad. The shrimp cocktail was fresh and delightful; the fish sandwich nicely perked up with both coleslaw and a parsley salad inspired by London’s St. John restaurant. Pretty crazy about the meatloaf and mashed potatoes, too.
Service options: dine-in; takeout; no delivery
Safety protocols: follows standard CDC guidelines
Address, phone: 900 DeKalb Ave, Atlanta; 404-228-7227
Hours: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 5 p.m-11 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays.
Website: lloydsatl.com
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