Minnesota | KRG Hospitality

Operators Remain Caught in Vortex of Open-Close-Open Cycle

by David Klemt

Another week, another round of changes for restaurant and bar operators in different states.

It has become all too familiar for those in the hospitality industry: Orders governing capacities, party sizes, bar seating, capacities, and operating hours are issued, and within weeks or days, new orders are issued.

The result is a costly high-wire act forcing restaurant, bar and nightclub owners, operators, managers and workers to deal with an inordinate amount of stress. Every cost-incurring change threatens the longevity of each affected business and the livelihoods of those they employ.

That includes reopening. What officials likely view in a positive light isn’t that cut and dry for the business owners. Whether its ignorance or indifference, governors and other officials don’t seem to realize that permitting people to resume operation isn’t as simple as turning on lights and unlocking doors. Even a small bar is a machine with many moving parts.

As anyone who has been involved in mandated close-reopen cycles knows, there are myriad operational elements that must be aligned before throwing open the doors once again. Product must be secured, a workforce must be contacted and assembled, equipment must be checked, required health and safety protocols must be reviewed and shared with staff, the word must go out to potential guests… Those challenges and more must be overcome quickly while the threat of another closure or more restrictions loom not far in the distance.

Just a week ago, we shared the story of a Minnesota operator facing a five-year liquor license suspension for defying the order issued in November of last year that banned indoor dining. On Monday, January 11, Governor Tim Walz announced restaurants and bars will be able to open again—with restrictions, of course. Indoor event and entertainment venues will also be permitted to open.

Gov. Walz’s order allows restaurants and bars to resume indoor service at 50-percent capacity, with overall capacity maxed out at 150 people. Reservations will be required, parties may not exceed six guests and must be socially distanced six feet from other parties, bar seating will be restricted to parties of two, and dine-in service must cease at by 10:00 PM.

Indoor event venues such as bowling alleys are also limited to a maximum capacity of 150 people but are restricted to 25 percent capacity. Foodservice is required to stop by 10:00 PM if the venue serves food. Gov. Walz’s orders are, reportedly, a response to infection rates falling from 13 percent to six percent.

In another (partial) reversal, bars that don’t serve food have been ordered to close in some counties in Texas. The state’s 254 counties have been separated into 22 Trauma Service Areas (TSA). Per an order from Gov. Greg Abbott, if a TSA’s hospital capacity consists of 15 percent or more of Covid-19 patients for seven consecutive days, specific restrictions are triggered. Those restrictions are only lifted when the TSA falls beneath the 15-percent threshold for seven days straight.

TSA Q, which includes Houston, restaurants are now required to restrict capacity from 75 percent to 50 percent. Bars—businesses with gross sales of alcohol of 51 percent or greater—must close. A judge overseeing Coryell County has reportedly defended the three bars in his county, stating that he sees “no reason why our three establishments should be penalized.” Judge Roger Miller doesn’t think the bars have contributed significantly to increased infections in the county and is said to be asking for an exemption so they can remain open.

For bar owners unable or unwilling to make the transition to restaurant designation, the restriction is a lethal blow. Facing reduced traffic and rising costs, even a week-long closure can spell disaster. It’s no wonder more than 3,000 Texas bars have maneuvered to offer food and increase food sales in order to be categorized as restaurants—it’s a viable means of survival. At least restaurants in Texas are able to operate 50-percent capacity rather than the 25 percent other states have mandated should they operate in a TSA that triggers Gov. Abbott’s enhanced restrictions.

The ever-shifting rules and regulations operators face across the country make it more important than ever that they receive significant, targeted aid. Yes, vaccines have been approved. Yes, foodservice workers have been recommended for the third stage of vaccine rollout. That’s not enough. A new meeting of Congress was sworn in January 3 and the pressure campaign to demand the passage and signing into law of the RESTAURANTS Act or a similar bill must continue.

This is not meant in any way to diminish the appalling chaos and terroristic violence visited upon our Capitol Building two days ago. That reprehensible act of insurrection was an attack on us all and our elected officials must reckon with that appalling assault.

However, what occurred on January 6, a date that will certainly live on in infamy throughout our great nation’s history, does not absolve Congress from their duty to save our industry and the millions of workers it employs. If anything, it highlights their responsibility to help rather than harm all Americans.

Image: Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Defiance of Sweeping Restaurant and Bar Restrictions is Growing

by David Klemt

Defiance of Covid-19-related bar and restaurant restrictions is growing.

Operators across the United States are showing their willingness to refuse to comply with orders they feel are unjust. From being restricted to delivery and takeout only to crippling capacity limits, restaurant and bar owners are making it clear they have no intention to quietly let their employees and businesses suffer.

The pushback has taken various forms so far, from civil disobedience to organized, peaceful protests.

There’s the #OPENSAFE movement in Orange County, California, to which several dozen operators have committed. These business owners have pledged to operate safely and responsibly but have refused to comply with Governor Gavin Newsom’s orders that banned in-person dining.

86 Politicians, a grassroots movement coming out of Los Angeles County in California, was created as a response to the sweeping orders kneecapping the hospitality industry. If politicians are going to hurt rather than help operators and their employees, 86 Politicians supports recalling and removing them from office.

In New York City, the Latino Restaurant Bar and Lounge Association of New York State and New York City Hospitality Alliance organized a peaceful protest just over two weeks ago. Several hundred restaurant and bar owners, operators and workers gathered and marched against Governor Andrew Cuomo’s ban on indoor dining. Gov. Cuomo’s order was itself defiant: it defied logic and went against the state’s own contact-tracing data.

Now, an operator in Minnesota is facing a five-year suspension of her bar and bistro’s liquor license for defying orders. Lisa Hanson, owner of the Interchange Wine and Coffee Bistro in Albert Lea, roughly 90 minutes south of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, refuses to comply with Governor Tim Walz’s executive order banning indoor service. Hanson has been engaged in this fight since at least December of last year.

Hanson organized a protest—a reportedly peaceful one—of around 200 people yesterday. Protestors marched and chanted from city hall to the courthouse, walking past the Interchange at one point.

The bar and bistro, which has been hit with a temporary restraining order and had its license revoked by the Minnesota Department of Health, has a sign up declaring it a “Constitutionally Compliant Business.” That sign, which appeared in a WCCO 4 News clip and bears the logo, phone number and weblink for the Constitutional Law Group, states that the Interchange doesn’t follow any government official or agency’s “orders or suggestions” for face masks or social distancing.

According to a news report, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety is moving forward with a 60-day suspension of the Interchange’s liquor license. Hanson told reporter David Schuman that she had two choices: “Either I closed permanently or I opened fully.”

Hanson chose the latter. The Interchange’s owner is entitled to a court hearing before her suspension goes into effect. A tip jar at the bar and bistro has been transformed into a legal fund collection.

Whether one agrees with Hanson’s decision to make a stand and risk her liquor license and therefore business is somewhat beside the point. The #OPENSAFE and 86 Politicians movements, the protests in New York City, the story of the Interchange (which has yet to reach its conclusion), all point to increasing tensions.

Many restaurant and bar owners and operators don’t feel as though their voices are being heard. They feel like politicians at all levels of government are targeting them, using the businesses as scapegoats. More and more, the words “arbitrary” and “unfair” are coming up in conversations about rules that are crippling—if not outright killing—the hospitality industry.

Well over 100,000 restaurants and bars in the US have closed permanently since the start of the pandemic in March of last year. Unless officials listen to operators and at least gain a cursory understanding of their needs and challenges, more closures and job losses are imminent.

To be clear, we at KRG Hospitality aren’t against logical, common sense health and safety protocols aimed halting the spread of Covid-19. One of the cornerstones of hospitality is ensuring the safety of guests and employees. However, government officials and agencies are implementing and executing orders that are, quite clearly, uninformed and severely harmful. What works for retail and other industries doesn’t work for our industry.

It’s crucial that pressure be kept on Congress and Senate to vote on the RESTAURANTS Act and ensure it’s signed into law. The 117th Congress was sworn in yesterday and we must continue to demand they do their jobs and save our industry. We’ve been targeted as scapegoats—it’s beyond time we receive targeted relief.

Politicians can expect more protests and less faith in their abilities to govern if restaurant and bar owners and professionals continue to be harmed by their orders. Perhaps the only way to persuade them to help the industry and, in turn, keep their constituents employed, is to imperil their political influence and careers. Eighty-six ignorant and harmful politicians, indeed.

Image of Minnesota State Capitol: Bao Chau on Unsplash