Aug 6, 2020 4 min read

Gov. Tom Wolf’s second round of restaurant/bar restrictions is getting resistance in this corner of the commonwealth.

The newly formed Southwestern Pennsylvania Restaurant and Tavern Association, made up of restaurateurs and bar owners, contends that the restrictions – aimed at mitigating a resurgence in COVID-19 cases across the state – are too severe and are threatening their livelihoods. The 25% indoor dining capacity order, especially, rankles many operators.

In response, the group has scheduled a rally for 9 a.m. Thursday at Al’s Cafe in Bethel Park.

This comes two weeks after 42 state legislators, representing both major parties, sent letters to Wolf and state Health Secretary Rachel Levine, urging that the guidelines Wolf established July 15 be scaled back. The letters were written on the owners’ behalf, following a meeting among association members and lawmakers. One letter was signed by 37 representatives, the other by five Democratic senators.

“We haven’t gotten an answer from the governor,” said Rod Ambrogi, association president and the owner of Al’s Cafe. “We’re hoping to meet with the governor over the next week.

“Bar and restaurant owners are near the end of their rope. We’re looking for some kind of relief. They don’t have restrictions like this with Lowe’s, with Walmart, with Giant Eagle.”

Lyndsay Kensinger, a spokeswoman for the governor’s office, said, however: “To date, we have not received a request to meet with the governor from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Restaurant and Tavern Association, but the administration is open to having a conversation to discuss the current targeted mitigation tactics.”

The representatives’ letter reads in part: “This industry has been singled out because of the actions of a few bad actors. We do not advocate for those actors, but rather ask for this consideration to be made to an industry on its last leg. An industry that shares in every special occasion and defines communities across the commonwealth and across America. An industry that represents the third-largest sector of the Pennsylvania economy.”

The letter from the Senate Democratic caucus outlines the proposed modifications, while adhering to the order to wear masks. The senators say “we respectfully request that you consider modifying your July 15th guidance as follows:

• ”Eliminate the 25% occupancy requirement and replace it with only a six-foot social distancing or physical barrier requirement. This will reduce occupancy well below 100%, provide flexibility to business owners and reduce community spread;
• ”Modify the requirement that food be purchased to receive on-premise service of alcohol … We have seen no evidence linking food consumption with the reduced spread of COVID-19;
• ”Permit limited meals accompanied by alcohol service while sitting at a bar, providing that six-foot social distancing and/or use of physical barriers is observed;
• ”Dispatch specially trained health inspectors to bars and restaurants, and provide for substantial penalties and fines for any owner or operator violating and flaunting these rules;
• ”Return to your policy of crafting restrictions by county or region. Every part of the state is different and should be treated as such;
• ”Enact these changes immediately.”

Michael Passalacqua, owner of Angelo’s Restaurant in North Franklin Township, is a member of the association, which has been operating for two or three weeks. He believes most of the owners who are involved are from Allegheny and Washington counties, but members come from elsewhere in this region.

Passalacqua was a vocal opponent of the 50% indoor capacity edict that had previously been in force, and is not enamored of the reduction. He said recently: “Restaurants at 50% are not profitable, and 25% borders on bankruptcy.”

“What we are asking for is quite reasonable,” he said. “Restaurants are closing left and right, and the ramifications go so far and so deep through the supply chain.”

Ambrogi’s ambition is to operate Al’s Cafe at 100% indoor capacity, which – with the required six feet of social distancing – does not translate to 100% in his view.

“I think we can do that and keep scratching,” he said. “I also can’t see bars shutting down totally if people are wearing masks.”