Popular metro Atlanta barbecue restaurant vandalized along with other businesses
College Park police are investigating after a man was seen on surveillance video vandalizing several Main Street businesses.
Channel 2′s Ashli Lincoln learned from police that surveillance video showed a man throwing a chair into the window of multiple businesses, including Hattie Marie’s Texas BBQ & Cajun Kitchen.
The eatery touts itself as serving Atlanta’s best barbecue.
“The support is overwhelming,” said Ramona Griggie, co-owner of Hattie Marie’s.
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With nearly half a million followers on Instagram, Hattie Marie’s pivoted from cooking to cleaning after their front window was shattered in the early hours of Sunday morning.
“Just shocking, and not what we want to do on a Sunday,” Ramona Griggie said.
“It was glass everywhere. First thing I did was walk through and make sure everything was intact,” said Willie Griggie III, co-owner.
Police said the video showed a man dressed in black walking down Main Street in College Park, destroying storefronts.
“It’s just a lot because right now everything is expensive,” Ramona Griggie said. “Everything is sky high and now we have to deal with damages from somebody who just threw a chair through our window.”
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Owners and staff of Virgil’s Gullah Kitchen, Bar The Noodle Company and a coffee shop also spent the morning making repairs.
In exclusive video, seen only on Channel 2 Action News, the man picks up a yellow chair hitting the window at Hattie Marie’s several times before successfully breaking through. He then appears to walk away, calmly.
The owners said the outpouring from the community has been endearing.
“Customers are offering to pay for the damages,” Willie Griggie said.
Hattie Marie’s was one of the first to help revitalize the district in 2017, ushering in several new businesses that now fill Main Street.
“Now the whole street is all Black-owned, amazing businesses,” Ramona Griggie said.
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The owners said while this incident is unfortunate, they do not want it to distract from the success area businesses have provided for the area.
“We’ve never had an issue all of this time. We’ve never had an issue. This is just something random,” the owners said.
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