The restaurant and event venue the Green Room is making steady progress toward opening day. The day has not yet been announced, but the equipment is in place, the tables and chairs have been set up, and the last inspections are winding up.

The Green Room is located at 391 Veterans Memorial Highway SW, Suite 114, in Mableton.

The Courier spoke with owners Linda and Ben Brackner, and took a tour of the features that have been installed since our article of about a year ago.

When that article was written piles of drywall and uninstalled equipment still festooned the space.

The Brackners have been working on their restaurant for about three years, and are nearly ready to open, with the final round of inspections and licensing either completed or scheduled.

Linda talked a bit about the decisions necessary with the COVID-19 pandemic continuing.

“We have the place set up for the pandemic situation … all the tables are about six feet apart,” Linda said. “So we’re just waiting. We’re gonna go by the feel of our community.”

“We’ll see where their comfort is. If their comfort is we could open for people to come in and sit like this: great! If not, we’re gonna do curbside takeout delivery.”

The term “Green Room” is a reference to the backstage lounge area in a theater or music venue where actors or musicians hang out before and after a performance.

When the Courier recently visited, the stage had been set up for a benefit concert held the previous weekend.

Significant progress has been made on the interior space since the Courier’s visit of a year ago.

Linda said that the bar and a tree sculpture behind the bar were crafted by local artist Jeremy Boynton.

“He did all the artwork in here. Pretty much the woodworking and everything,” she said.

The kitchen and bar equipment is installed, chairs and tables are in place, the stage is ready for performances, and the menu is also taking shape.

“We’ve been practicing,” she said. “I’ve been making soups for people that have been working here with us, and feeding them.”

Linda said they’ve started the fire in their woodburning pizza oven. During the Courier’s first visit to the Green Room, Linda described it as a “4,000 pound Italian oven.”

“Ben started the fire in there to condition the inside, to get it ready,” she said. “So we’re ready now to actually make some dough and make some pies.

“It’s really beautiful with the fire in it,” she said. “We got our pizza table so people can sit there and watch.”

Linda conducted a tour and pointed out the handmade details throughout the space.

“Everything is handmade. The cabinets were handmade, the bar, the wine rack is handmade, the glasses … this is all handmade,” she said.

“A lot of the tables we have were local,” she said. “So people are saying stuff like ‘We want to be able to come and sit at our table.'”

One of the tables was donated by a woman who had been saving it for a friend, who unfortunately passed away, Linda said.

“When she brought it to us, she said that she and her husband would just like to know that when they come here, they could sit at their table, which will be fine,” Brackner said. “It’s very heartwarming, heartfelt.”

Most of the furniture at the Green Room is for sale, including the impressive table pictured below with finish work by local artist Megan Lamon.

Some of the work, however, is not for sale, including this other table by Lamon. This particular table will be a permanent fixture in the “green room of the Green Room,” the lounge area where performers hang out before and between sets.

Fifi and Roz

One of the most charming touches onstage in the Green Room is a pair known as Fifi and Roz.

Fifi is the min-dressed, mask-wearing mannequin pictured below, and Roz is the giraffe, named after Linda Brackner’s mother, Rosalind.

Another fun and unique touch onstage is the sound-activated Green Room logo embedded in a window adjacent to the stage, pictured below.

Opening soon

The enthusiasm and hard work the Brackners have put into the Green Room is obvious.

On their Facebook page they’ve celebrated each landmark event, including the connection of running water last August, the natural gas hookup, the first espresso cappuccino created at their bar, and the passing of their fire and electrical inspections.

The Brackners have their beer and wine license, but are holding off on getting their liquor license until they can justify the expense.

They will serve locally produced craft beer, and a wine selection that “is as local as possible.”

Their coffee will be supplied by Drogo Coffee, a Mableton roaster.

The Green Room also has a mission to support local artists.

“We want to help the community through benefits,” Bracker said. “We want to help give back to the art community.”

“They’re suffering a lot,” she said. “We’re all suffering a lot. But they’re having a really hard time because they can’t do gigs.”

She said another mission of the Green Room will be to host benefits to help Mableton’s growing homeless population.

The Green Room seems destined to be a great addition to the food, music and art scene of Mableton and Austell.

Be sure to follow their very active Facebook page so that you don’t miss the announcement of their opening date.