Jamaican restaurant hit by courthouse Fulton Co. security measures

Located at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Pryor Street, Jamrock Jamaican Style Restaurant has long thrived on the foot traffic generated nearby.

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — The bustling streets surrounding the Fulton County Courthouse have transformed into a maze of barricades and road closures, and one local business is feeling the pinch. 

For nearly two decades, Jamrock Jamaican Style Restaurant has been a hub of flavors and community, catering to a loyal customer base that includes courthouse employees, county residents and visitors from nearby areas. However, the recent surge in security measures due to the grand jury proceedings for District Attorney Fani Willis' Trump investigation has cast a shadow on the restaurant's usual vibrancy.

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"I first saw the barricades go up, and then I realized that something's going to happen," Dexter Goodhall, the owner, said. "It's hurting the business, and I'm really worried about that." 

Located at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Pryor Street, Jamrock Jamaican Style Restaurant has long thrived on the foot traffic generated by nearby courthouse activities. But, with street parking off-limits and road closures diverting the usual flow of patrons, Goodhall's business has encountered a noticeable slowdown. Lunchtime, typically a bustling period for the restaurant, has seen a significant decline in customers.

"Most of the people that we get are from the courthouse, the county and other places around the way," Goodhall said, adding that now, "Around lunchtime, around 11, there was nobody here."

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The Fulton County Sheriff's Office has confirmed that these security measures will remain in place until August 18, coinciding with the anticipated announcement from Willis regarding potential indictments of former President Trump and his allies. This high-stakes decision has global implications, but for Goodhall and his restaurant, the immediate concern is the restoration of normalcy.

"We hope this doesn't take long, and we can get back to reality because we have to pay; we have suppliers to pay," Goodhall said.