Tucker, GA — Since 1985 the Blue Ribbon Grill has been a long standing restaurant in Tucker. A place where people go for good food and get to know their neighbors.

“Everybody says this is the ‘Cheers’ bar of Tucker,” owner Jennifer Greene said. “It’s like where everybody knows your name.”

Greene and her husband, Eric, have been the owners since Feb. 1 and are looking forward to keeping the restaurant going.

The pair, who are new to the restaurant industry, wanted to open their own restaurant but those plans were hampered due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“My husband and I are both huge foodies. We love food, we love drinks, we love cooking together. Ever since we got married every once in a while he would say something like, ‘we should start a restaurant,’” Greene said.

At the beginning of 2020, Eric was looking for a career change from operations management so the couple jumped on the idea of owning a restaurant.

Greene and her husband don’t plan to change anything about the restaurant, which offers a dark, homey feeling and serves comfort food.

It’s also a restaurant where the servers go out of their way for their customers.

On Valentine’s Day a server brought chocolate to hand out to customers on the way into the restaurant. Another bartender also bought an LED magnifying glass for a customer with vision problems who couldn’t read the menu, Greene said.

“We have a group that comes in every week and they sit outside even when it’s cold because they don’t want to come inside,” Green said. “So the server knows [when] they’re coming so she brings blankets on that day.”

Blue Ribbon Grill is known for their specialities like meatloaf, pot roast, prime rib and a reuben sandwich.

“People will come in every week on that night just to get that special,” Greene said.

They also offer Sunday brunch and have a full bar, Greene said.

“We also are really well known for our burgers,” Greene added.

She described the meatloaf burger as huge, saying she could barely keep the sandwich together in one hand while taking an Instagram photo.

“It’s probably one of the best things we have on the menu but we’re also well known for the blue cheese burger and the bison burger,” Greene said.

Blue Ribbon Grill will offer a special St. Patrick’s Day menu in March that will focus on a few Irish dishes as the main specialties for the day, which will include corned beef and cabbage, an Irish stew, a corned beef sandwich and the reuben sandwich.

They will also serve Bud Light green beer, Yuengling black and tan, Guinness and whiskey shots.

The restaurant has implemented various COVID-19 safety measures. They have an outdoor, dog-friendly patio. Inside the tables are spread apart and the booths have partitions in between them. There is also limited seating at the bar.

The staff also wears masks and cleans regularly. They also wipe down all condiment bottles between each customer. A cleaning company additionally comes to the restaurant once a week to do a virus spray to clean the space of any germs.

Customers can order takeout from the restaurant and can pick up curbside when requested. There is currently not an option for delivery, although one of Greene’s goals is to add that.

The owners are focused on being involved in the community and doing good for their neighbors.

On Wednesday, Feb. 24, Greene is hosting a Zoom event to bring customers together. She encourages those interested in participating to order takeout from the restaurant and have an opportunity to meet the restaurant staff.

“We’re hosting it for people that are still anxious about going out to eat because a lot of people are isolated and lonely right now because they haven’t been out in so long,” Greene said. “I thought a Zoom meeting would be a good way for people to catch up with each other.”

She said some customers have come into the restaurant the day they got their second COVID-19 vaccine shot and were excited to dine in again.

“So that made me think well, you know, there’s a lot of people that don’t have that yet,” Greene said. “So it’ll just be a way for everybody to catch up with each other that lives in Tucker.”

Blue Ribbon Grill is located at 4006 Lavista Road in Tucker. Here are the restaurant’s hours:

Monday- Friday  – 11:30 a.m. untill 9 p.m.

Saturday – 11:30 a.m. until 9p.m.

Sunday 11 a.m. -9 p.m.

Brunch: Sunday Only: 11 a.m. -3 p.m.

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