Let's do lunch: Business down at some eateries

March 3rd, 2003
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Randy Southerland
Contributing Writer

Atlanta's fabled business lunch isn't what it used to be. Business people are still breaking bread with their clients and potential clients because there's still no better environment for making deals. Squeezed for time and money, however, more and more business people are finding alternatives to the corner table at Bones.

Many people are finding they get a jump on their day by doing business at breakfast, said Ricky Steele, a Client Partner at Korn/Ferry International.

"You can get there at 7 a.m. and be through by 8 or 8:30 and still get to the office at a reasonable time," he said. "If you're really industrious, you can have two breakfast meetings at the same restaurant."

Steele has been known to dine with one client at 7 a.m. and have the waitress clear the table for the second round at 8:30.

"The last three or four months, I've had five breakfast meetings for every lunch," Steele said.

No long lines

He recalls that at the height of the technology boom, establishments such as the OK Café were regular haunts for venture capitalists making deals with startups, and waits for a table could be an hour or more. Today, there's much less business being done under the money tree, and the lines are not nearly as long.