SERVING UP HOPE FOR SURVIVAL
Pandemic restrictions: Some measures might endure at establishments
Hoping to capitalize on one of the few good things to come out of the pandemic, the owner of Butter Run Saloon in St. Clair Shores was expected to receive approval Monday for a year-round permanent outdoor seating.
David Harden is working to add a series of picnic benches and igloos to his patio to buttress the currently reduced indoor capacity of the popular neighborhood tavern at Harper Avenue and 11 Mile Road. It will give Butter Run outside seating year-round.
“Basically, we’re trying to make up for the revenue we lost in the last year,” Harden said Friday.
Harden, who has owned Butter Run for the last eight years, said the impact hit his industry harder than other businesses.
“It’s a shame,” he said “This was so costly. We went from regular menus to paper menus. We went from glass to plasticware. So there was a lot of added costs we incurred, but we’re not getting a lot of help to pay for it.”
The St. Clair Shores City Council was expected to approve the patio expansion, one in the latest requests of bars, restaurants and breweries to seek the outdoor seating. Being outside gives the fresh air a chance to circulate and not allow the COVID-19 droplets to hang around.
Most Macomb County communities have moved to expedite and relax regulations for businesses to expand their operations in an effort to recoup money lost during the pandemic emergency closure, which has since been lifted. Establishments currently are allowed to operate at 50% capacity.
“It’s a shame. This was so costly. We went from regular menus to paper menus. We went from glass to plasticware. So there was a lot of added costs we incurred, but we’re not getting a lot of help to pay for it.”
— David Harden, owner of Butter Run
The state’s push-pull series of building capacity limits, social distancing and curfews is an effort to slow or eliminate the spread of the COVID-19 threat.
But for business proprietors impacted by the executive orders, it’s a bitter pill to swallow. Although owners were happy to reopen their business after weeks of being closed or restricted to solely outdoor service, the governor’s orders prevents them from boosting lost profits.
That’s a threat to their long-term viability and survival.
Shutdowns, partial reopenings
Few industries have been as hard hit by the pandemic as restaurants and bars.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services have twice shut down indoor dining over the past year.
The first took place March 16, 2020, although eateries were allowed to provide take-out and delivery orders, but no customers could eat indoors.
The shutdowns initially were intended to last two weeks, but a series of extensions extended them much longer. As COVID infections trended downward, restaurants and bars were allowed to open June 8. A second shutdown was implemented Nov. 18 as Michigan saw its COVID numbers spike. With in excess of 9,000 new cases reported on multiple days, the MDHHS issued a “pause.” Carry-out and delivery were allowed, but indoor dining was again banned. Some bars offered outdoor dining, but most found that wasn’t a realistic option.
In late January, the governor allowed restaurants to open but with only 25% of their capacity, or 100 people total. Tables had to be six feet apart, with six people allowed at each table. A 10 p.m. curfew was ordered, but that has since moved to 11 p.m.
The capacity limit was later allowed to go to 50%
Changes here for good?
Even as vaccinations surge, there may be doubt over whether a restaurant is safe or not.
Hospitality venue owners now say the extra requirements — sanitizing counters and equipment, keeping your distance indoors, frequent hand washing — has become accepted as the cost of doing business.
Those extra precautionary steps are not likely to disappear from the landscape anytime soon, especially as owners fear social media outrage if they are not present.
“My guess from talking with the health department is we will continue to see these types of requirements until 2022,” said Anthony Jekielek, owner of Vintage House & Catering on Utica Road in Fraser.
“We have a plan being implemented that includes plexi-glass at all our bars, sanitization facilities inside and outside our bathrooms, and our employees wear masks and undergo thermometer checks. But even when the restrictions are lifted, it may be in the best interest of our customers to retain them a little longer.”
Frank Sgroi Jr., co-owner of Dooleys Irish Tavern on Gratiot Avenue in Roseville, agreed.
“Even though our people are wearing masks and we have free hand sanitizers, and we keep our doors propped open when we can, more than half of our normal clientele has disappeared,” he said. “Will they eventually feel it’s safe to come back? Hopefully.”
Revenue shortfall
The number of restaurants that have closed during the pandemic are estimated to be 3,000.
Among those in Macomb County are:
• Two Denny’s locations, one in Roseville and one in Sterling Heights
• Andiamo in Sterling
Heights
• Major Magic in Clinton Township
• Ruby Tuesday in Roseville
Owners say with the current limits on business, they are barely able to keep operating.
Restaurateur Joe Vicari, whose family owns the Andiamo location, also closed his Dearborn property. In a farewell note, he said the restaurant lost $3 million during the shutdown. He didn’t give a dollar figure on how much the Sterling Heights store lost, but chances are it’s in that same range. Vicari is part of a newly-formed Macomb County restaurant group that has sued Michigan officials over COVID-19 state shutdowns and restrictions. The Macomb County Restaurant, Bar and Banquet Association alleges under the state’s constitution the restaurant industry has been taken away without “just compensation.”
They’re asking for $25 million.
“We filed this lawsuit on a simple legal premise that we think is strong, and one that has not been decided by any court yet,” association attorney Al Addis said. “That premise is the Michigan constitution does not allow the government by fiat to take away people’s property and businesses without just compensation.”
Many restaurants received some cash from the federal economic stimulus plans, but say that wasn’t enough to pay rent, employees, stock and other costs.
Harden, owner of the Butter Run Saloon, doesn’t fall into that category. He says he is getting by with his staff on duty, although he did have to close another restaurant just down the street, Tequileria y Cocina.
“On a typical Friday or Saturday night, we are normally full when we’re at full capacity,” he said. “Now, with 25% or 50%, that makes it hard to make ends meet. We can’t be as busy as we normally were on the busiest nights of the week.”