Piedmont Brewery & Kitchen temporarily closes its dining room due to COVID-19

A popular brewery and eatery in downtown Macon has temporarily closed its dining room due to COVID-19 concerns.

Piedmont Brewery & Kitchen at 450-B Third St. announced on Facebook that four of its staff members had tested positive for COVID-19.

“We didn’t have enough employees to work and we just thought it was the better way to go; to be better safe than sorry,” said co-owner Richie Jones.

Three of the employees were asymptomatic, while one employee had mild symptoms of a headache for a couple of days and didn’t have taste and smell, Jones said.

Hours of operation have temporarily changed to 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

Curbside delivery is available, while there’s also meal delivery through services like Grubhub and DoorDash, Jones said.

Piedmont’s canned beer can also be picked up curbside.

The establishment is expected to reopen Friday, according to its Facebook post. But Jones said they’ll have to wait and see.

“Too early to tell,” Jones said Monday. “We just need to see later in the week and make sure everybody tests negative and there’s no symptoms or anything going on.”

Also, the reopening of the dining room is expected to include two key changes:

▪ Patrons are asked to wear face coverings upon entry into the restaurant, while waiting for a table and while walking through the restaurant.

“We realize that it is not possible to wear a mask while eating/drinking at your table, but please wear your mask when interacting with your server,” the post said.

▪ Groups larger than 10 persons cannot be accommodated.

The brewery and restaurant received some positive reactions on its Facebook page for its actions.

Jones said he appreciates the community’s backing.

“(We) just thank everybody for their support,” Jones said. “We’re a small business trying to make it in this hard time.”