Colonnade

Issue date: 9/29/06 Section: Campus News

Barberitos, located in downtown Milledgeville,has extended their hours to feed the after-midnight crowd.

Barberitos, the downtown restaurant known for their burritos and convenient service, stayed open past 2 a.m. for the last few Thursday nights in order to feed the patrons who were still hungry after the bars closed down.
Though originally wanting to keep its doors open until 2 a.m. on Friday, the influx of customers was so immense that the restaurant stayed open until 2:30 a.m., closing its doors with people still in line inside.
“The place was packed out,” said Taylor Cox, who was dining at Barberitos during the rush.  “I ordered chips and dip so it didn’t take that long, but everything went pretty fast, even with all the people.”
Benjamin Smith, a burrito maker at Barberitos, was dubious of the idea at first.
 “At first, I didn’t think it was going to be a good idea because I wasn’t so sure that many people were going to show up, or that it would be worth the labor costs,” Smith said.  “But after the success Thursday night, I do believe it was a good idea.”
In Athens, restaurants like the Pita Pit, Jimmy John’s and The Grill stay open late hours to reap the rewards of the bar-going
crowds.  Until now, Thursday nights in Milledgeville meant walking to the Golden Pantry or Huddle House or calling a designated driver.
“We found out that students only had a couple options for eating downtown late at night,” said Al Autry, regional director for the Barberitos restaurant chain.  “We wanted to give them the option of a place within walking distance to keep people (who have been drinking) from behind the wheel.”
For now, Barberitos is planning to continue operating until 2:30 a.m. on Friday mornings.
“Right now we’re taking baby steps, just to see the nights where the students would benefit the most,” Autry said. 
The restaurant is planning to expand the extended hours to other days of the week, and used the Thursday nights in September as a testing sample.  One of the main problems with operating at such a late hour is the fact that all of the employees at Barberitos are students. 
“We’re going to be able to have enough people to work,” said Charis Williams general manager of the Milledgeville location.  “I recently hired one person who said they would work late every Thursday night, but with the success of last Thursday, some of our employees have decided to step up and work the late hours.”
Williams, a student herself, worked until 4 a.m. the night the restaurant stayed open, and then proceeded to go to work at 8 a.m. the same morning to start the day shift.
Autry believes that keeping the restaurant open will be a boon to the late-night population.
“We are really doing this for the students,” Autry said.  “Most of our business comes from repeat visitors, and the only comments we had on Thursday were positive, so we plan to continue this as long as the students keep coming.”

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