It’s curtains for the Kirkwood restaurant after more than two years of drama.
Kirkwood Bar & Grill is “officially” closed, according to East Atlanta Patch.
The restaurant, at 1963 Hosea L. Williams Dr. NE. (formerly Kirkwood Public House), shuttered sometime around June 2, according to Patch.
This isn’t the first time Kirkwood Bar and Grill has closed its doors.
Since David Johnson took over the space in March 2011, the restaurant created enough drama to star in an Off Broadway play.
Playbill:
- Johnson took over the shuttered Kirkwood Public House in March 2011.
- The neighborhood freaked out when they found out Kirkwood Public House would reopen as “VIP Sports Bar and Lounge,” as reported by the Atlanta Business Chronicle (ABC).
- Johnson blamed one the ABC’s longtime journalists for fabricating his new restaurant’s name.
- Johnson renamed his new concept Kirkwood Bar and Grill before it opened.
- Residents tried to shutter Kirkwood Bar and Grill; Johnson tweeted they’re racist.
- Mayor Kasim Reed denied Kirkwood Bar and Grill’s liquor license application.
- Georgia Superior Court Judge overtuners Reed’s denial of a liquor license to Johnson.
After parting ways with Johnson, site owners John Turpin and business partner Ian Smith Jr. of Southeast Holdings LLC, are using Facebook to market the property.
Developing…
Click here to read the rest of East Atlanta Patch’s thoughtful report.
5 Responses
Yay! Just yay!
Been following this story from afar for a while. When liquor licenses are granted, the owner has no responsibility to tell the truth about things like opening hours, live music, etc. So, the license is granted and then the neighbors have no recourse.
This is just like the problem with have in Virginia Highland with “Loca Luna” (occasional gunfire). Or, a bit further out, there’s “Room Service Lounge” (a couple murders-usually people arguing about who gets to sit in the ‘VIP’ section.
Bar owners need to be accountable for what they tell the liquor board and the other people. Otherwise, there is really no reason for the liquor board to exist. And, we will keep having these very wild places located in areas that don’t want them.
I personally feel that if he had taken to the time to deliver a product that complimented the surrounding area and it’s citizens then he probably wouldn’t have had so many problems as he did. I like Kirkwood, I’ve passed through there quite often to know the residents like certain things. And just from looking at the surrounding area I can tell that this is not the place for a Mansion Elan Annex or what-have-you. I highly doubt the people would have cared that he was black if he had paid attention to what the community expected of his establishment.
Now, did race play in part in some of the resident’s decisions to not want his establishment there? I’m not going to act like there is no truth to that. But to expound on my earlier point, this is not the kind of place for this type of establishment. Even the major night clubs in the metro have a large white/asian/hispanic (i.e. rowdiness knows no color) following, and some of the locals of those particular areas have filed complaints to no avail.
This was ALL about race!
Emma, you’re clearly clueless about the situation, the ‘restaurant’ itself, and the neighborhood.
Le Petite Marche, a minority owned business, thrives on the exact same block.
Sorry to muddy the waters of your reverse racism fantasy, but you just don’t know what you’re talking about.