Save Manuel's Tavern
Donation protected
Manuel’s Tavern, Jimmy Carter’s favorite bar, needs our help.
For the better half of a century Manuel’s has been part of Atlanta’s beating heart, the living room for many Georgians, and a welcoming watering hole and meeting hall for artists, lawyers, carpenters, academics, police, actors and activists. Manuel himself created an environment where folks from any walk of life could comfortably sit together and enjoy a beer or a burger.
While Manuel’s has met many challenges over the years, those challenges primarily were changes to the business environment, as in the Great Recession of 2008-2009, for instance. In every case they have risen to the challenge and emerged resilient and successful.
This time is different. This is no normal business cycle. This year the coronavirus threatens everything that Manuel’s has meant to Atlanta and particularly to its nearby neighborhoods. Like many small businesses and family-owned restaurants during this pandemic, Manuel’s is facing the sad reality that within the next few weeks its doors may have to close forever.
Despite taking every step recommended to keep Manuel’s safe, to upgrade the takeout business, lower all costs while taking care of employees, and judicially use Payroll Protection Plan funding, sales dropped 62%, and so the PPP and cash reserves dried up completely.
Congressional infighting has delayed further funding for small businesses, and vaccines that would eliminate the disease are finally on the horizon but a few months away. Manuel’s needs our help to find a way to make it to that next source of funding and then to normal market conditions returning after vaccinations.
With this Go Fund Me effort we are asking for donations from everyone for whom Manuel’s has been home for important moments in their lives…meeting the love of your life, celebrating a marriage (or a divorce), a new job, a winning political campaign, a birthday, a retirement party, or the heartfelt memorials for those lost and mourned.
If you can donate to this fund, please know that every dollar will go to help Manuel’s survive. Please contribute as generously as you can. An Atlanta without Manuel’s Tavern is a loss to the heart of our city and personally to the thousands who have come through its doors for over 64 years. We must keep those doors open.
For the better half of a century Manuel’s has been part of Atlanta’s beating heart, the living room for many Georgians, and a welcoming watering hole and meeting hall for artists, lawyers, carpenters, academics, police, actors and activists. Manuel himself created an environment where folks from any walk of life could comfortably sit together and enjoy a beer or a burger.
While Manuel’s has met many challenges over the years, those challenges primarily were changes to the business environment, as in the Great Recession of 2008-2009, for instance. In every case they have risen to the challenge and emerged resilient and successful.
This time is different. This is no normal business cycle. This year the coronavirus threatens everything that Manuel’s has meant to Atlanta and particularly to its nearby neighborhoods. Like many small businesses and family-owned restaurants during this pandemic, Manuel’s is facing the sad reality that within the next few weeks its doors may have to close forever.
Despite taking every step recommended to keep Manuel’s safe, to upgrade the takeout business, lower all costs while taking care of employees, and judicially use Payroll Protection Plan funding, sales dropped 62%, and so the PPP and cash reserves dried up completely.
Congressional infighting has delayed further funding for small businesses, and vaccines that would eliminate the disease are finally on the horizon but a few months away. Manuel’s needs our help to find a way to make it to that next source of funding and then to normal market conditions returning after vaccinations.
With this Go Fund Me effort we are asking for donations from everyone for whom Manuel’s has been home for important moments in their lives…meeting the love of your life, celebrating a marriage (or a divorce), a new job, a winning political campaign, a birthday, a retirement party, or the heartfelt memorials for those lost and mourned.
If you can donate to this fund, please know that every dollar will go to help Manuel’s survive. Please contribute as generously as you can. An Atlanta without Manuel’s Tavern is a loss to the heart of our city and personally to the thousands who have come through its doors for over 64 years. We must keep those doors open.
Organizer and beneficiary
Angelo Fuster
Organizer
Atlanta, GA
Brian Maloof
Beneficiary