Last week began with Atlanta restaurants voluntarily closing dining rooms and pivoting to takeout and delivery in hopes of slowing the spread of COVID-19. By Thursday, March 19, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms mandated the closure of bars across the city, and limited restaurants to takeout and delivery only. Then, on Friday, Bottoms signed an order allowing the city’s restaurants to temporarily offer beer and wine to-go for off-premises consumption for the next 60 days.

As restaurants became takeout and delivery joints overnight and laid off or furloughed hundreds of employees, spring descended upon Atlanta.

Eater Atlanta photographer Ryan Fleisher set out on Saturday, March 21, to capture life along the Eastside Beltline and at a few restaurants around town on the first weekend of spring in Atlanta.

The burgeoning dining district along Georgia Avenue in Summerhill was quiet on Saturday evening, as people grabbed six-packs from Halfway Crooks Beer to-go or dinner from chef Jarrett Stieber’s Little Bear across the street. Little Bear opened on February 26 and was only open for full-service dining for a little over two weeks before the mandatory shutdown imposed on restaurants and bars last week by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

Photos by Photos by Ryan Fleisher

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by Beth McKibben, Eater Atlanta

Full article with more photos