johnny has left the building!

Whatever am I going on about in that title?
This.

Johnny Harris Restaurant is closing.
First established a little better than ninety years ago, the joint has served barbeque to Savannahians. That was more than thirty-five years before Carey Hilliard's came on the scene.


These days, a restaurant closing its doors is not generally regarded as news. Many would-be entrepreneurs in the food business think all they need is a location and a dream and folks will come running to fill their coffers. They fail to plan to have a two-year business plan, and a minimum two-year financial support in place, to allow for word of mouth to generate a consistent flow of traffic through their doors.
Sad, but certainly not news.
There are also places that close because of life issues for their owners. Leoci's Trattoria, for example, is a recent example of the price of divorce to the food business. That's unfortunate, as I have enjoyed their food at several events at the Lucas and elsewhere.
However, when a long-established restaurant closes its doors to diners, that does, and should, make headlines. One of my long-time favorites, Juarez Mexican Restaurant, closed up shop right before the end of the year. Located just two blocks east of the Trustees Theatre, I enjoyed bouncing down there during a long day of film-watching.
However, their business has been off for the past few years. Even though they are downtown and just two blocks from the ice cream shop, they seem to be off the beaten path for the tourist dollars that feed many of the downtown establishments. A lack of boutiques in those two blocks, coupled with a construction project that forced would-be diners into the street as they wended their way in an easterly direction, led to a serious decline in business for too long.
That's too bad, really. The only other Mexican restaurant downtown is all the way down on the westside.

Back to the business at hand,
shall we?
This is the building that Johnny designed back in 1936.
What a beauty, right?
But it is to be demolished.
When the new developers move in to construct their multi-store space, this iconic structure will be gone.

Because the new buyers have opted to demolish it?
Oh, no.
The long-time owners of the Johnny Harris brand have decreed that the building will be destroyed at their command, rather than be incorporated into a new shopping complex.
Perhaps they don't want this beautiful star-lit dome to be utilized by others.
For seventy-nine years, generations of locals have dined and danced in that beautiful, old-fashioned space.
My stepdad and Mama enjoyed going there for a night made special with dinner and dancing.
I have even dined and danced to jazz there a time or two as recently as last year!
But soon, no one will ever do so again under that night sky.
Despite a grass-roots movement on social media to preserve the landmark, it will be razed to the bare ground.

Enjoy it while you can, folks.
This party is drawing to a close.