Atlanta breakfast restaurant West Egg Cafe will close on Dec. 29 after 20 years.

The closure was confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution by co-owners Jennifer and Ben Johnson.

The restaurant has been a staple on Atlanta’s Westside since 2004. Located in the White Provision Residences building at 1100 Howell Mill Road NW, the eatery, which is named after the fictional town in “The Great Gatsby,” has attracted crowds of breakfast lovers seeking popular dishes like shrimp and grits, sour cream pancakes and black bean cakes and eggs.

With the end of their lease approaching, the Johnsons and partner Shelley Sweet began considering the future of West Egg. Foot traffic at the eatery declined during the pandemic and never fully recovered, Ben Johnson said. The increase in people working from home and the rise in third-party deliveries also dealt a blow to the business.

Jennifer Johnson said they searched for ways to increase business and continued hoping that behaviors would revert back to pre-pandemic levels.

“Things seem like they’re back to normal, but there are those ripple effects that continue,” Ben Johnson said.

They decided that it would be best for them to shutter the restaurant and focus on the other concepts in the Rye Hospitality group, including the General Muir, TGM Bread, Fred’s Meat & Bread, Yalla and Wood’s Chapel BBQ, all of which they own with chef Todd Ginsberg and Sweet.

It was a difficult decision, they said, since West Egg Cafe was the first eatery they opened after leaving their law careers.

“West Egg holds this incredibly special place,” she said. “I mean, I probably made a million mistakes but learned so much ... which is what makes this all the more heartbreaking.”

She hopes to find positions for West Egg staff members — some of whom have been with the restaurant for 14 years — at other Rye Hospitality concepts, or other restaurants where she knows they’ll be treated well.

There wasn’t much on Atlanta’s Westside when the Johnsons opened West Egg Cafe — it was mostly warehouses and parking lots, Ben Johnson said. People were craving a feeling of community there, he said, and the restaurant took off “from day one.”

The neighborhood has grown over the years and is now home to restaurants like Maple Street Biscuit Company, Marcel, O-Ku, Ormsby’s and Saint Germain Bakery.

“It has been extremely gratifying to have been a part of that community back then and just to watch it grow into what it is today,” Ben Johnson said.

The Johnsons hope West Egg’s final month of service will be a busy one as customers say farewell to the breakfast spot, and they plan to go out with a bang with a final Sunday brunch on Dec. 29.

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