Peachtree Corners Seafood Restaurant Noble Fin Closes Its Doors on Saturday

Peachtree Corners seafood restaurant Noble Fin is closing permanently after four years on Peachtree Parkway. The restaurant, which announced the closure on Friday in an email to subscribers and on Facebook, closes after dinner on Saturday, June 27.

“As you know, during this national crisis, we have tried many things to sustain our sales,” owner Cliff Bramble writes in the statement. “While they were a temporary fix to this Covid-19 issue, several of those were not sustainable in the short or long term and do not fit within our business model.”

Like fellow Peachtree Corners restaurant Blaxican, much of Noble Fin’s business came from the Gwinnett County city’s weekday workforce from neighboring offices and business travelers at nearby hotels. Owner Will Turner closed the restaurant in early May after determining that the costs to continue operating Blaxican, including rehiring staff, wouldn’t add up.

Bramble says with area hotels at less than 15 percent occupied, and most people working from home now, sales at the restaurant have dropped sharply since March. Coupled with lack of support from the landlord on Noble Fin’s rent, Bramble says they “cannot maintain a profitable company.”

Noble Fin plans to serve its regular menu on Friday and Saturday evening, along with half-off bottles of wine. The restaurant’s equipment, tables, and chairs will be on sale to the public on Sunday, June 28, with items listed on the Noble Fin’s website that morning.

“From the beginning of Covid-19, we have been very open with our staff about the opportunities and the consequences of this virus and the toll that it may take on our company, and while closing the restaurant seems like a turn of the key, it has actually been a very difficult decision,” Bramble continues in the statement. “Our first decision was to close for eight weeks, and during that time, we raised close to $10,000 for our employees and now, we are simply having to do what is logical but difficult for the business.”

It’s been a rough week for restaurants. On Tuesday, the owners of Mother announced they were closing the Edgewood Avenue bar after eight years, crippled by the financial effects caused by the health crisis. Sports bar and restaurant Dantanna’s also permanently closed this week after more than a decade inside the CNN Center in downtown Atlanta. Zinburger wine and burger chain closed multiple locations in mid-June, including two Atlanta outposts at Lenox Square and Perimeter malls.

Adding to the growing financial pressures already being felt by Atlanta restaurant and bar owners, several establishments are choosing to temporarily close after learning employees have tested positive for the virus. Two Urban Licks in Old Fourth Ward, Cafe Intermezzo in Midtown, Sugo in Johns Creek, and Redbird on Howell Mill Road are among the restaurants temporarily closed this week after reporting employees tested positive for COVID-19.

Stay home if sick. Check the Georgia Department of Public Health website for guidance and updates on the latest number of reported COVID-19 cases.

• Keep Track of How the Coronavirus Is Impacting Atlanta’s Food Scene [EATL]
• These Atlanta Restaurants Have Chosen to Close Following Employees Testing Positive for COVID-19 [EATL]