Nothing like snow, ice and being stranded in a car for endless hours to work up an appetite.
Volume at Atlanta restaurants was up 5.9 percent in the first quarter of 2014 compared to the same period last year, according to industry observer NetFinancials. That beat national restaurant estimates, which saw sales revenues fall 0.2 percent and same-store traffic sink 2.2 percent.
The numbers rose despite the deep freeze the city found itself in earlier in the year, including an ice storm that paralyzed commuters on metro Atlanta streets and interstates in late January.
NetFinancials, which provides tax and accounting services for the industry, said Friday that 65 percent of the 93 independent Atlanta restaurants the company surveys reported positive sales gains for the quarter, which ended in March.
“Q1 2014 results were better than expected,” said Robert Wagner, president of NetFinancials. “Mother Nature threw a lot of snow and ice at the Atlanta market in January and February. Many Atlanta restaurant operators experienced challenging, even scary, weather-related sales declines in January and February.
“However, remarkably strong March 2014 Atlanta restaurant sales growth ‘saved the day,’” he said.
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