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dropped out in 2020. Although
some Georgia restaurants did not
make it through intact, those that
did helped lead the rebound that
has followed starting in 2022 and
beyond, says Bierman.
“We’re now in an OK spot,” he
says five years after the onset of
the pandemic. “I think you’ll see
those numbers start to go up.”
After all, government loans and
grants have helped keep restaurants afloat, And, thankfully, technology saved the day as online ordering and delivery services were
able to keep the food going out
to customers.” It probably would
have been a different story had
the pandemic hit 20 years earlier,”
Bierman mused..
“Restaurant owners are a
resilient group,” he continued. “We
have some really great operators in
this state who are intelligent and so
innovative. They look for ways to
be recession proof as best they can.
They find ways to keep themselves
above water. Something is always
out there.”
Georgia is nationally known for
its restaurant industry, with some of
the biggest chains typified by Chickfil-a and Zaxby’s headquartered
here. However, 90 percent of Georgia restaurants are independently
owned, not affiliated with a national
chain.“We’re still a place where independent restaurants can come and
thrive,” says Bierman. In fact, Metro
Atlanta has the most restaurants
due to its size and population but
the restaurant scene also flourishes
in major cities such as Savannah,
Macon, Augusta and Columbus.
Challenging Costs
Inflation remains a challenge as
the cost of almost everything went
up during the Biden administration.
Restaurants and grocery stores still
must struggle to keep their prices
reasonable.
In some cases restaurants can
be competitive with home cooking
because of the economies of scale
in buying larger quantities of food.
items.“We’re trying to take those
costs and not pass them along to
the customers,” Bierman says. “You
can’t charge too much for a burger
or a taco or people will stop coming
to your restaurant.”
Yet there is only so much that
restaurants can absorb. The average independent restaurant only
had a profit margin of between 3 to
5 percent, Bierman stresses.That
can be knocked even lower with
events such as bad weather or a
worldwide pandemic.
“In January when we had
weekends back-to-back of really
cold rain and some icing, restaurateurs tell me they lost two
weekends of sales,” Bierman says.
“When you lose two weekends of
sales, that kills your month.” And
add that to insurance costs that
have also been rising. There are,
however, ways to help. Lowering
credit card processing fees that
restaurants have to pay is one of
them. There has also been a push
to exempt sales taxes in a customer’s tab from those fees.
No Tax on Tips
Finally, President Donald
Trump signed into law “no tax on
tips” legislation for service workers— especially helping those in the
restaurant and hospitality industry.
It allows workers to deduct up to
$25,000 in qualified, voluntary cash
tips from federal income tax from
2025 through 2028.
Basically, it provides an average
$1,300–$1,370 tax cut for millions of
service workers in all 50 states. In
Georgia, early 2026 reports indicate
this law has increased interest in
service and tourism jobs, thus easing staffing shortages.
For more specific information,
workers should log on to the Internal Revenue Service website.
David Beasley is a freelance writer living in
Atlanta.
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