Orbital Grill closes its doors

WAYNESBORO — A “closed for renovations” sign hung on Orbital Grill’s door Tuesday.

As of Sunday, the burger and shake joint closed to the public, according to owner Brett Hayes.

Hayes broke ground on his the $1.5 million restaurant in May 2014 and opened it in December.

“I’ve had nothing but resistance from this community,” he said. “So I’m done with it. It’s not something people should be happy about. It’s unfortunate because we had a lot of people making a living off of this.”

Hayes said he held a two-hour meeting on Sunday with employees to inform them what was going on. He had already decided on closing the restaurant.

“They had known about it. We had given it to that date, I set it as a make or break,” Hayes said. “One of things I didn’t want to do is run through the fall and then have to shut it down after Christmas for the employees. I have seen that done before and that wasn’t the way to do things.”

“I gave all the employees personal letters of recommendation and additional money,” Hayes added. “Everybody left on good terms.”

Hayes had employed his 20-year-old son, John, to be the general manager of the new restaurant.

Hayes believes the people of Waynesboro didn’t support a locally owned business and that only a chain restaurant could succeed in the area.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with the place,” he said. “They want to tear down everything we are trying to create.”

Hayes said he’ll take four months to renovate the restaurant and change it over, which still is yet to be determined. Employees who had worked there will have first shot to come back, but he hopes they will be gainfully employed.

“We were doing revenue certainly, but not the numbers that would be sustainable long-term,” he said. “Lots of these people have been with us from the very beginning. That’s why I’m touchy.”

Follow Laura Peters @peterslaura and @peterpants . You can reach her at lpeters@newsleader.com or 213-9125.