An Atlanta institution that was in danger of closing before getting financial assistance from patrons has gotten another monetary boost.
Mr. Peanut, the mascot for peanut company Planters, gifted Manuel’s Tavern in Virginia-Highland $130,000, part of its #ANutAbove initiative.
Planter’s cited the community’s efforts to keep the bar’s doors open when owner Brian Maloof announced a closure was imminent in December.
Maloof was prepared to call it quits when a group of longtime patrons approached him about setting up a Go Fund Me campaign. The goal was to raise $75,000, enough to pay the insurance and liquor license fees for 2021 as well as make payroll through February.
Within days, the Go Fund Me had raised nearly $100,000.
The Poncey-Highland bar shared news of the Planters donation on its Facebook page.
Maloof took over the family business 20 years ago. His father, the restaurant’s namesake, opened Manuel’s in 1956. The bar underwent a major renovation just a few years ago, reopening in summer 2016. Manuel’s Tavern is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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