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Iconic Little Five Points dive bar Euclid Avenue Yacht Club could reopen as soon as this spring, and it’s under new ownership, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports. After temporarily closing the 33-year-old bar on Euclid Avenue last March due to the pandemic, Donald “Hippie” Hinamon sold the business to Manuel “Manny” Maloof this past fall.
Maloof also owns Grant Park bar Manny’s on Woodward Avenue. Hinamon and Maloof were discussing the deal prior to the health crisis, with Maloof possibly becoming a major investor in the bar. The pandemic altered those plans.
Don’t expect much to change in terms of the Yacht Club’s layout or quirky decor. Maloof will make a few necessary updates to the bar’s plumbing, grease traps, and toilets in the restrooms to make those Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant. The black ceiling over the bar will be repainted white for “cleaning purposes” because the area is used for prepping food and beverages. A few new dishes could be added to the menu. Fingers crossed Maloof keeps the bar’s Brunswick stew, barbecue pork egg rolls, and Yacht tots.
Hinamon opened the Yacht Club in 1987 inside a former jewelry store along Euclid Avenue. Over the years, the bar has built up a very loyal band of regulars who come to shoot the breeze over cheap canned beer or dive bar classics like a Jack and Coke and $5 hurricanes. Hinamon closed the bar in mid-March right as the health crisis began in Georgia and as Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms prepared to close bars and restaurants across the city. A GoFundMe continues to accept donations for the Yacht Club’s staff.
Under Georgia’s current coronavirus order, restaurants no longer carry capacity limits in the dining room and on patios. Dining room, bar, and patio seating must allow for at least six feet between tables and other diners or install physical barriers between tables or seating arrangements. Bars in Georgia are limited to no more than 50 people or 35-percent total capacity.
A citywide mask mandate remains in place for Atlanta. However, owners of restaurants and other private businesses can choose to opt out of enforcing a local mask mandate on their property, per the latest statewide coronavirus order.
Update, Jan. 9, 7:45 a.m.: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Manuel “Manny” Maloof was the son of Manuel’s Tavern owner Brian Maloof and has been updated.
