The Daily in Inman Park had a steady crowd Tuesday morning after closing for part of Friday and all day Saturday due to water main breaks in Atlanta. Barista Darcy Pierce was scheduled to work the opening shift Saturday morning, but she was only at the cafe for an hour before it became obvious there would be no water to make coffee or bread. To reopen Sunday and Monday, Pierce said they had been constantly boiling pots of water.
“It’s incredibly frustrating,” Pierce said. “Especially on Saturday, we felt so in the dark.”
Pierce, an hourly employee who heavily relies on tips for her income, estimated she lost between $175 and $200 in tips and hourly wages combined by not working.
Atlanta’s water woes lasted more than four days. Although water service was fully restored Wednesday morning, parts of the city are still under boil advisories.
Many eateries across Little Five Points, Downtown, Grant Park, Old Fourth Ward, West End, East Atlanta, Midtown, Inman Park and Candler Park were forced to close for several days this past weekend, and owners said they’ve lost tens of thousands of dollars in revenue. But many service workers also ended the weekend with empty pockets.
Kavonda Byrd, a server at Sun in My Belly in Kirkwood, said the staff turned customers away once the toilets stopped flushing at the restaurant. Byrd was hopeful she’d be able to work Saturday, but she received a text that morning that the eatery was closed for another day. She estimated she lost more than $200 in tips, about a third of her weekly income. She also did not earn any hourly pay while the restaurant was closed, but she said most of her income is from tips. Byrd’s hourly wage is $2.15, which is 2 cents above Georgia’s minimum wage for tipped workers.
To make matters worse, the outage occurred the weekend before the first of the month, when many people owe rent, including Byrd.
“Most of us wait for the weekend, because that’s when we make all our money,” she said. “That was a major blow.”
While many residents voiced their frustrations with the city, Ayanna Fields, a server at Che Butter Jonez, came away from the water crisis feeling more concerned than angry. She was told not to report to her two service jobs on Friday and Saturday because of the water issues.
She was supposed to work at Che Butter Jonez Saturday morning, then head to her second job. Having both shifts canceled equated to about $500 in lost income, she said.
As a service worker, Fields’ day-to-day always looks different, with some days resulting in more customers and better tips than others. While it’s normal for her tips to fluctuate, the water outages in particular scared her, she said.
She’s watched the city take on more building projects and grow larger as it prepares to host big events including the 2026 World Cup, but she’s concerned that another crisis like this might occur “as fast as the city is building.”
It reminded her of a situation in January when sewage started backing up into the hotel where she was working.
“This isn’t the first time that I’ve seen something with the city affect businesses; however, this is the first time it’s affected my income,” she said.
After COVID-19, when Fields lost her job, she learned to be better prepared for worst-case scenarios by saving money as she makes it. Fields said she’ll be able to handle the financial hit, but she knows other service workers who won’t fare as well.
“It’s going to take them a while to catch back up,” she said.
Even Fields’ brother, who has a degree in hospitality, isn’t sure if he wants to remain in the industry after this week’s water woes. The lack of job security concerns him — service workers are rarely offered health insurance through their jobs, and there’s no paid time off or compensation for unforeseen circumstances like the water outage.
Mayor Andre Dickens announced Monday that the city will create a financial relief program for businesses that lost revenue during the water outage. The proposed legislation will go through the committee process next week, during which council members will iron out the details, but Fields said she doesn’t know if that money will trickle down to restaurant employees.
Detric Fox-Quinlan, co-owner of Che Butter Jonez, said she isn’t sure how much of that financial relief will get into employees’ hands, especially if it takes months to be distributed. Although her restaurant is only open three days a week, she said she’ll try to give Fields some extra hours before and after service to help her.
Jennifer Hidinger-Kendrick, founder of Giving Kitchen, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that helps restaurant workers in crisis across the country, said several workers impacted by the water outage reached out for assistance.
“When you’re already in crisis, little additional things can pile up,” Hidinger said.
Staff reporter Yvonne Zusel contributed to this report.
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