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Southern Belle and Georgia Boy, two restaurants located on Atlanta s Ponce de Leon Avenue, will temporarily close Jan. 1, 2021. (Shutterstock)
ATLANTA, GA Chef Joey Ward will temporarily halt operations at his two restaurants on Ponce de Leon Avenue in Atlanta Southern Belle and Georgia Boy on Jan. 1, 2021, he announced Friday.
The joint restaurant concepts will close indefinitely, dependent on (potential) government aid, COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness and population response, as well as Georgia s notoriously unpredictable winter weather, Ward said in an Instagram post.
Ward said he and his teams opened to critical and customer acclaim in November 2019, building momentum into the 2020 openings. Southern Belle averaged 80 guests per night with wait times up to three hours, while Georgia Boy was getting fully booked a month in advance, Ward said, until the coronavirus forced the closure of Atlanta businesses and restaurants in March and April.