Carl writes on Twitter…

Amaryn’s Thai Bowl in #DecaturGA closing soon. Interested in taking over the space? Contact Selig Enterprises at 404.870.1503.

Photo courtesy of Active Diner

Jill writes in…

Litte Azio in Decatur is closing. The last night is Sunday, 27 Sept. We had dinner there tonight and Terrence the GM let us know. Another victim of not enough business to keep the lights on. Gift cards and coupons will be honored by all of the other locations.

A one sentence post in the “Closed Atlanta Restaurants” thread on the AtlantaCuisine.com forums has indicated that Zocalo’s Decatur location is now closed.   Anyone want to confirm?

If this is true, it will be the latest restaurant to first lose its liquor license and then subsequently close.

That side of the Square is clearing out.  First Square Roots, now Zocalo.

It should be telling to see how fast these places get taken over and reopened.

It seems that we’ve got the AtlantaCuisine.com forums talking about the Liquor License Non-Renewal too. And these are some knowledgeable folks!

Read the thread here or at least check out the comment below from the thread that gives the best explanation I’ve seen on how one could potentially get tripped up by the endlessly bureaucratic liquor license process.

“For those unaware, it takes two alcohol permits to be in business: a state license in order to purchase from a wholeslaer and a city (or county if you are in an unincorporated area) to sell to customers. Plus, the local license is wortheless unles you also have the state permit.

Well, lets see here. Most companies with more than a handfull of employees use a payroll service and they automatically take out state payroll taxes each pay period. The cost to renew the STATE permit is $200 (L,B,&W) and could be done online this year and paid with a credit card. So if the state is refusing to renew permits because these businesses owe money to the state, it almost certainly has to be because they are not remitting the sales and use tax due the 20th of each month for the previous month.

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That’s what Karen @ The Chocolate Bar was told when she inquired about the availability of the building, according to the intrepid Rus.

This news after Carl informed us a few days back that both Hand in Hand and Fox and Hounds had reopened.

So perhaps Derek Lawford Pubs will indeed come back from the brink and in the end Prince of Wales will be the only victim.

But then why put a sign on the door that says “closed indefinitely”?  Why not use a slightly less daunting word like, say “temporarily”?  Maybe its just a British English vs. American English thing?

Carl reports that Benedetti’s in the Fed Ex/Kinkos Plaza at the corner of Clairmont and N. Decatur is closed.

Whether this closing preceded the recent liquor license crackdown or the old school Italian joint is just the latest victim of a Dept. of Revenue sweep through the Decatur area is yet to be determined.  Can anyone help pinpoint a date?

If you like old-fashioned Italian dining, your closest option might now be Alfredo’s on Cheshire Bridge.

I’m getting a bit worried about what this rash of closings is saying about the local economy.

An inside source from the Dekalb County Office of Economic Development tells Decatur Metro poster, Rus, that “the Georgia Department of Revenue made a “sweep” through Decatur targeting restaurants and bars who were behind in paying their sales taxes.”

He goes on to say “My source said there would be more businesses to lose their licenses but didn’t know yet which ones.”

See this post for the list of Decatur restaurants currently on “the list”.

This is going to hurt a lot of area restaurants in 2008. Who will be able to keep their heads above water and who will not?

Pasta Please and the Angel might just be the first victims.

Stay tuned. I’ll have it all here.

Thanks Rus!