Restaurants, Bars React To State Closing Their Doors
March 17, 2020 at 3:28 a.m.
Restaurants, Bars React To State Closing Their Doors
By Amanda [email protected]
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Monday that bars, restaurants and nightclubs are required to close their doors, but may provide takeout and delivery services, through the end of March.
Indiana joined neighboring Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio in making the decision in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus, or COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends no in-person events of more than 50 people.
The effects are being felt locally by bar and restaurant owners in Kosciusko County.
The Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce is trying to help support local businesses during this time by creating a new COVID-19 Local Business Updates page on its website. The website will list information on local restaurants and businesses and what they are currently offering. Any business who wants to be included on that list should contact the Chamber.
Robin Watters, who’s owned Rex’s Rendezvous for the last 43 years at 204 S. Buffalo St. in downtown Warsaw, said Monday afternoon operating his bar is his livelihood and that’s all up in the air now.
“If I have to close, I have to close,” Watters said. “It’s gonna be hard on my livelihood. My bills continue.”
He said his bar employs about eight people and that he’s not sure what will happen over the next two weeks.
“If we can stop the virus so people don’t die, that’s the important thing. If you’re stubborn, you’re gonna kill everybody and your help,” he said. It wasn’t clear to Watters who would directly notify him about what he has to do, or who would enforce it, but all the entertainment has been canceled and the doors will be shut.
Jared Pagan, owner of Bar 13, 131 N. First St. in Pierceton, said Bar 13 would be closing its doors at 10 p.m. Monday.
While Bar 13 does offer food, and has a carry-out liquor license, those options aren’t that viable for Pagan, he said.
“Being open for carry-out only would be tough, because I’m not really set up for carry-out orders. I’ve got a small little grill, and to be open for food only is tough because I’m not a restaurant,” he said, adding that he’s going to try selling carry-out lunch today and see how it goes. As far as selling carry-out liquor, “I’d have to raise prices to pay for it since I’m not paying my electric bill with my in-house sales anymore,” he said. “It means everything’s gotta go up, so to me, it kind of doesn’t make sense to do that, or just bite the bullet and keep the prices the same and choke down the losses. I’m gonna lose a lot in two weeks. I’m gonna lose product and I’m gonna lose money.”
Pagan said today and this Saturday are usually two of the busiest times for his establishment. Not anymore. “It sucks, but there’s really not much we can do,” he said.
Other places like the Frog Tavern in Syracuse closed down completely at 4 p.m. Monday, halting any food or liquor carry-out and sending their roughly 20 employees home for the next two weeks. Nick Carpenter, an employee there, said he’s not worried.
Zales Luncheonette, located inside Hometown Pharmacy on East Center Street, Warsaw, completely shut down its food service Monday, too, and will not be doing carry-out orders.
Jason Brown, owner of One Ten Craft Meatery at 110 N. Buffalo St. in downtown Warsaw, said he and the owners of Rua, Cerulean and Noa Noa got together to take action together. Brown said they’re now associated with Local Food Forum, a northern Indiana restaurant group, that has requested Holcomb make assistance available to staff affected by the order.
One Ten is transitioning to carry-out, curbside and delivery, Brown said. The business will be operating 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and customers can start placing orders at noon for pick-up for delivery between 4 and 8 p.m. Delivery will be available within a 20-mile radius, Brown said, with a $5 charge within a 5-mile radius, $10 within a 10-mile radius and so forth up to 20 miles.
“As far as internally, we will make sure that our staff is taken care of,” Brown said. “whether the government steps in and assists or if we handle it ourselves.”
Brown said the group of local restaurant owners have all known each other for decades and been cooking alongside each other as they’ve grown up.
“At the end of the day, even though we are local competitors, we’re still humans, we’re still adults, we’re still respectful, and we want the other person to make a living and survive,” Brown said. “So we said we need to sit down and talk about what we can do, and Gov. Holcomb and the state of Indiana, we would like them to step up to the plate. This is not an industry concern, this is an economic concern. This is way past just us serving food. This is an economic impact of us not serving food. When push comes to shove, they are not our enemies. We’re trying to adhere to the rules, we’re trying to adhere to the requests, all while trying to survive and maintain our economic business. Everybody should take a deep breath and we should support each other,” Brown said.
Downtown Eatery & Spirits at 205 W. Center St., Warsaw, had locked their doors at 2 p.m. on Monday and changed their policies to carry-out food, excluding dinner menu items, but including local delivery to businesses. Around 30 employees work there, Shannon Doyle, an employee, said, half of which are waitstaff. She said the owners of the business will still give work to the waitstaff, whether that means they come in and do some deep cleaning, or something else, but that they won’t be without a paycheck for the next two weeks.
The Bowling Alley on Detroit Street in Warsaw also announced it was obligated to close through March and will be suspending operations. Anyone who needs to get personal items from the bowling alley should contact them directly to make plans for pick-up. Also, in a statement from The Bowling Alley, anyone who had birthday party of event reservations will be contacted by bowling alley staff to discuss options.
What the impact will be from this is yet to be seen, and for how long restaurants and bars will be forced to remain closed, is also up in the air.
Holcomb also outlined other steps Monday to slow the spread of COVID-19. That includes:
• 273 public school districts are closed and that the Indiana Department of Education is working with the remaining 16 school corporations to determine their next steps and needs.
• Hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers should cancel and/or postpone elective and non-urgent surgical procedures immediately. Holcomb said that action will help the health care system conserve resources and personnel necessary to meet emerging health needs.
• The state’s Emergency Operations Center has been raised to a Level 1 status and will work in conjunction with the incident command center at the Indiana State Department of Health for planning, coordination, predictive analysis and other functions.
• State employees will maximize the use of remote work and meet virtually whenever possible while maintaining operations. Non-essential in-person meetings will be limited to 10 persons or less and should meet virtually whenever possible. High-risk individuals should not attend meetings in person, including state employees over the age of 60 with underlying health conditions.
• The Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites will close to the public beginning today.
• Indiana State Parks and recreation centers remain open.
• The Department of Workforce Development (DWD) has suspended rules requiring certain unemployment insurance claimants to physically appear at a WorkOne location to engage in re-employment services for the next four weeks to ensure that individuals who may be symptomatic do not have to physically appear to continue their unemployment insurance eligibility. The DWD will also request flexibility under federal and state law to expand eligibility for claimants and ease burdens on employers.
• The Indiana Economic Development Corporation will postpone the inaugural Indiana Global Economic Summit, scheduled for April 26-28.
Holcomb also said communities are encouraged to work together to provide child care options for all who need assistance and delivery services of meals and other necessities for senior citizens. Hoosiers who can donate blood are encouraged to visit local blood centers. Blood supplies are low. More guidance for that can be found at www.redcross.org.
More information, including daily updates, can be found at the ISDH website at on.in.gov/COVID19 and the CDC website at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Monday that bars, restaurants and nightclubs are required to close their doors, but may provide takeout and delivery services, through the end of March.
Indiana joined neighboring Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio in making the decision in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus, or COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends no in-person events of more than 50 people.
The effects are being felt locally by bar and restaurant owners in Kosciusko County.
The Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce is trying to help support local businesses during this time by creating a new COVID-19 Local Business Updates page on its website. The website will list information on local restaurants and businesses and what they are currently offering. Any business who wants to be included on that list should contact the Chamber.
Robin Watters, who’s owned Rex’s Rendezvous for the last 43 years at 204 S. Buffalo St. in downtown Warsaw, said Monday afternoon operating his bar is his livelihood and that’s all up in the air now.
“If I have to close, I have to close,” Watters said. “It’s gonna be hard on my livelihood. My bills continue.”
He said his bar employs about eight people and that he’s not sure what will happen over the next two weeks.
“If we can stop the virus so people don’t die, that’s the important thing. If you’re stubborn, you’re gonna kill everybody and your help,” he said. It wasn’t clear to Watters who would directly notify him about what he has to do, or who would enforce it, but all the entertainment has been canceled and the doors will be shut.
Jared Pagan, owner of Bar 13, 131 N. First St. in Pierceton, said Bar 13 would be closing its doors at 10 p.m. Monday.
While Bar 13 does offer food, and has a carry-out liquor license, those options aren’t that viable for Pagan, he said.
“Being open for carry-out only would be tough, because I’m not really set up for carry-out orders. I’ve got a small little grill, and to be open for food only is tough because I’m not a restaurant,” he said, adding that he’s going to try selling carry-out lunch today and see how it goes. As far as selling carry-out liquor, “I’d have to raise prices to pay for it since I’m not paying my electric bill with my in-house sales anymore,” he said. “It means everything’s gotta go up, so to me, it kind of doesn’t make sense to do that, or just bite the bullet and keep the prices the same and choke down the losses. I’m gonna lose a lot in two weeks. I’m gonna lose product and I’m gonna lose money.”
Pagan said today and this Saturday are usually two of the busiest times for his establishment. Not anymore. “It sucks, but there’s really not much we can do,” he said.
Other places like the Frog Tavern in Syracuse closed down completely at 4 p.m. Monday, halting any food or liquor carry-out and sending their roughly 20 employees home for the next two weeks. Nick Carpenter, an employee there, said he’s not worried.
Zales Luncheonette, located inside Hometown Pharmacy on East Center Street, Warsaw, completely shut down its food service Monday, too, and will not be doing carry-out orders.
Jason Brown, owner of One Ten Craft Meatery at 110 N. Buffalo St. in downtown Warsaw, said he and the owners of Rua, Cerulean and Noa Noa got together to take action together. Brown said they’re now associated with Local Food Forum, a northern Indiana restaurant group, that has requested Holcomb make assistance available to staff affected by the order.
One Ten is transitioning to carry-out, curbside and delivery, Brown said. The business will be operating 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and customers can start placing orders at noon for pick-up for delivery between 4 and 8 p.m. Delivery will be available within a 20-mile radius, Brown said, with a $5 charge within a 5-mile radius, $10 within a 10-mile radius and so forth up to 20 miles.
“As far as internally, we will make sure that our staff is taken care of,” Brown said. “whether the government steps in and assists or if we handle it ourselves.”
Brown said the group of local restaurant owners have all known each other for decades and been cooking alongside each other as they’ve grown up.
“At the end of the day, even though we are local competitors, we’re still humans, we’re still adults, we’re still respectful, and we want the other person to make a living and survive,” Brown said. “So we said we need to sit down and talk about what we can do, and Gov. Holcomb and the state of Indiana, we would like them to step up to the plate. This is not an industry concern, this is an economic concern. This is way past just us serving food. This is an economic impact of us not serving food. When push comes to shove, they are not our enemies. We’re trying to adhere to the rules, we’re trying to adhere to the requests, all while trying to survive and maintain our economic business. Everybody should take a deep breath and we should support each other,” Brown said.
Downtown Eatery & Spirits at 205 W. Center St., Warsaw, had locked their doors at 2 p.m. on Monday and changed their policies to carry-out food, excluding dinner menu items, but including local delivery to businesses. Around 30 employees work there, Shannon Doyle, an employee, said, half of which are waitstaff. She said the owners of the business will still give work to the waitstaff, whether that means they come in and do some deep cleaning, or something else, but that they won’t be without a paycheck for the next two weeks.
The Bowling Alley on Detroit Street in Warsaw also announced it was obligated to close through March and will be suspending operations. Anyone who needs to get personal items from the bowling alley should contact them directly to make plans for pick-up. Also, in a statement from The Bowling Alley, anyone who had birthday party of event reservations will be contacted by bowling alley staff to discuss options.
What the impact will be from this is yet to be seen, and for how long restaurants and bars will be forced to remain closed, is also up in the air.
Holcomb also outlined other steps Monday to slow the spread of COVID-19. That includes:
• 273 public school districts are closed and that the Indiana Department of Education is working with the remaining 16 school corporations to determine their next steps and needs.
• Hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers should cancel and/or postpone elective and non-urgent surgical procedures immediately. Holcomb said that action will help the health care system conserve resources and personnel necessary to meet emerging health needs.
• The state’s Emergency Operations Center has been raised to a Level 1 status and will work in conjunction with the incident command center at the Indiana State Department of Health for planning, coordination, predictive analysis and other functions.
• State employees will maximize the use of remote work and meet virtually whenever possible while maintaining operations. Non-essential in-person meetings will be limited to 10 persons or less and should meet virtually whenever possible. High-risk individuals should not attend meetings in person, including state employees over the age of 60 with underlying health conditions.
• The Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites will close to the public beginning today.
• Indiana State Parks and recreation centers remain open.
• The Department of Workforce Development (DWD) has suspended rules requiring certain unemployment insurance claimants to physically appear at a WorkOne location to engage in re-employment services for the next four weeks to ensure that individuals who may be symptomatic do not have to physically appear to continue their unemployment insurance eligibility. The DWD will also request flexibility under federal and state law to expand eligibility for claimants and ease burdens on employers.
• The Indiana Economic Development Corporation will postpone the inaugural Indiana Global Economic Summit, scheduled for April 26-28.
Holcomb also said communities are encouraged to work together to provide child care options for all who need assistance and delivery services of meals and other necessities for senior citizens. Hoosiers who can donate blood are encouraged to visit local blood centers. Blood supplies are low. More guidance for that can be found at www.redcross.org.
More information, including daily updates, can be found at the ISDH website at on.in.gov/COVID19 and the CDC website at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092