After multiple reports online, it looks like 2 Chainz will not reopen his Escobar Restaurant and Tapas locations in Atlanta, according to local television station CBS 46.
TMZ reported on April 24 that the rapper and his business partner and co-owner, Mychel “Snoop” Dillard, were planning to open Escobar for dine-in service and intended to make public safety a top priority.
The report came just days after Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms urged city residents to stay home, a contrast to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s orders to reopen the state.
Escobar Restaurant and Tapas is located in Atlanta’s Castleberry Hills area, just minutes away from the Georgia Dome, Phillips Arena, and the new Mercedes Benz Stadium. Their recently-opened second location, Escobar Restaurant & Tapas Southside, is located in the southside Clayton County area of Morrow, GA.
Like many restaurant owners across the country, Escobar has had to restrict dine-in services and pivot to take-out only in order to adapt to the changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of April 24, Georgia became one of the first states allowing businesses such as barbershops, gyms, restaurants, tattoo parlors, and salons, to reopen despite growing concerns from scientists.
Dillard reportedly told TMZ that the reason behind the re-opening is that sales at both locations have been down 95% during the shutdown, and the restaurants were forced to furlough around 80% of its staff. Opening back up will allow the co-owners to bring at least 80 people back to work.
Dillard added that there are some mitigation efforts in place for staff at the restaurants including temperature checks when they clock in, mandatory gloves for all employees, masks for the cooks, and single-use paper menus.
Many other entrepreneurs are choosing to remain closed. Rapper Killer Mike recently announced that it’s too soon to re-open his Atlanta barbershop chain The Swag Shop.
RELATED: Rapper Killer Mike Refuses To Reopen His Atlanta Barbershops Just Yet
“We’re going to wait a while before we reopen because in our community […] there are more of us that are dying,” he said.
Recently, 2 Chainz and Dillard donated meals to hundreds of healthcare workers at Southern Regional Medical Center in Riverdale, GA. 2 Chainz, who grew up in nearby College Park, chose the Clayton County area hospital because it’s where his father died and one of his daughters was born.