Woofs Sports Bar – Georgia Voice – Gay and LGBT news from Atlanta

This month, Woofs Sports Bar is the LGBTQ business spotlight. We caught up with owner Gregory Hughes to talk about the ins and outs of his business.

When was Woofs founded and how long have you been in business?

November 2002. We have been in business for (almost) 22 years.

Why was the company founded?

From 1993 to 2002, I always hosted a Super Bowl party, and the party got bigger every year until on Super Bowl Sunday, over 400 people came to my house. So (me) and a few other people decided that maybe it would be a good time to find or open a bar. We used our Super Bowl email list to let everyone know, and we’ve been successful ever since.

How is business now compared to before the pandemic?

We moved in 2019 and right after we moved we saw an increase in business. Business was down from 2020 to 2021, maybe 2022, but we’ve recovered since then and are probably a little better off now than we were in 2019. COVID messed everything up for a while, but we’ve held firm, in my opinion. One reason we survived COVID was our kitchen, because we have a full restaurant and a full kitchen, and that (helped) us when things got tight during COVID.

What are the biggest challenges in running your business?

The biggest challenge is landlords. Of course, COVID has been a challenge. Right now, our expenses on everything have gone up since post-COVID. We’re paying more for food, alcohol, maintenance, labor. Everyone is charging a commute fee just to look at the problem… If you talk to any restaurant owner right now, they’ll tell you the biggest challenge is that all of their expenses on everything have gone up… Unfortunately, we’re losing more and more of our gay bars and restaurants or gay-friendly bars and restaurants. That’s largely because rents have gone up so high that it’s just not feasible to be here anymore. We’ve lost things like Henry’s. We’ve lost Joe’s on Juniper to development. (We’ve) lost places that gay people used to go and just have a good time in a better atmosphere. That’s why I say (having a) landlord is one of the big challenges in real estate. Real estate in the city of Atlanta is just getting really, really unaffordable.

What are the biggest rewards?

The biggest reward for me is giving back to the community. We try to support and sponsor a lot of gay sports leagues. We are usually open to fundraisers for LGBTQ businesses and nonprofits. The best thing we can do is give back to the community, help them, and create a place where people can feel comfortable and be themselves in a beautiful environment.

Is there anything you would like to share with the readers?

We have Music Bingo and a trivia variation called Family Feud. We try to stay true to our sports heritage but are open to anyone who wants to come and enjoy the restaurant.

Business information:

Woof’s Sports Bar

494 Plasters Ave NE, Ste. 200

woofsatlanta.com

(404) 869-9422