Handful of local restaurants defying Gov. Wolf’s COVID-19 restrictions
The vast majority of restaurants and bars are complying with new COVID-19 restrictions temporarily halting indoor dining, but a handful of eateries in the area remain open in defiance of Gov. Tom Wolf’s order.
“Right now we’re staying open,” said Rod Ambrogi, who owns Al’s Café in Bethel Park. “There’s a number of (restaurants) staying open defending our rights and employees’ wages.”
Wolf announced an order Thursday closing indoor dining until Jan. 4 to limit the spread of the coronavirus as new cases have surged across the state in recent weeks. Takeout and outdoor dining are still available, with many restaurants offering one or both options.
But Ambrogi, who launched the Southwestern Pennsylvania Restaurant and Tavern Association over the summer to fight the state’s COVID restrictions, said the governor has unfairly targeted his industry. Ambrogi is organizing a rally at his restaurant this Monday with support from local leaders and state legislators to protest the state’s three-week restrictions on indoor dining.
“It’s affecting all of us in the area. It affects the whole industry,” Ambrogi said. “We understand the virus is out there and we’re doing all we can with masks and social distancing.”
A Facebook page called “Eat Free PA” on Sunday posted the names of more than 200 restaurants and bars across the state that have vowed to remain open despite the governor’s order, including several in this area.
A large sign outside of Rough Cut Tavern & Hotel on Route 18 north of Hickory welcomed diners: “Yes! We are OPEN (for) indoor dining.” More than a dozen people were eating at tables or seated at the bar around lunchtime Monday. No one was available to discuss the restaurant’s decision to remain open, but a Facebook post Friday afternoon said “suspending indoor dining would devastate our employees.”
“Closing at this time would be devastating to not only our employees but our business as a whole,” the post reads. “Our bills simply do not stop, just because we are to close our indoor dining. We cannot afford to close, and outdoor dining in December is not an option (for the restaurant).”
Last Call in Canonsburg was also on Eat Free PA’s list, although a bartender who answered the phone Monday afternoon said they reconsidered over concerns about the restaurant possibly losing its liquor license and instead is now only offering takeout food. A Facebook post Monday announced some of their takeout specials for customers.
Uncle KoKo’s Woodfired Pizzaria near Belle Vernon also was listed as being open for indoor dining, but a worker who answered the phone Monday said they were mainly offering takeout options.
The Italian Oven in Connellsville posted on its Facebook page Friday that it would continue offering dine-in service through the rest of the Monday.
“Our employees have bore the brunt of this pandemic with loss of hours and wages,” the post stated. “We in all good conscience will not honor this current shutdown just weeks before Christmas and deny our employees work at this time.”
But a subsequent post Sunday noted that the restaurant was struggling to have enough workers “due to no-shows and call-offs” to offer in-person dining. The restaurant said it would “revisit our options” when it was expected to reopen Thursday.
Piacquadio’s in Castle Shannon posted on its Facebook page Friday night that it would be open for bar service and dine-in meals through the holidays. But another post Sunday night announced that the restaurant was closed Monday for cleaning and maintenance, but planned to reopen Tuesday.
Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine said Monday that the state Department of Agriculture and Liquor Control Board have been enforcing bar and restaurant mitigation orders throughout the pandemic and their inspections will continue. She said the Wolf administration is trying to stop the spread of COVID-19, and that Pennsylvanians need to work together and “show personal and collective responsibility” to fight the virus until a vaccine is widely available.
“You can’t eat with a mask on,” Levine said.
The Pennsylvania State Police’s Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement performed 526 compliance checks statewide this weekend to enforce COVID-19 restrictions, issuing 24 warnings and 14 violations. Only one of those warnings occurred in the Pittsburgh region, although it was not known what establishment received it.
Glen Titler, a supervisor and liquor enforcement officer in the Pittsburgh region, said that initial report from the weekend showed that most restaurants and bars complied with the governor’s order.
“It didn’t look like it was widespread,” Titler said.
Businesses that violate COVID-19 restrictions face escalating punishment for repeated violations, beginning with a warning and then increasing to fines and possible liquor license suspension.
“We respond to all complaints about bars and we do roving patrols. If it’s important to the governor, it’s important to us,” he said.
State Rep. Natalie Mihalek, R-Upper St. Clair, said she supports restaurants that wish to remain open during the shutdown, but she also understands why more are complying with the governor’s order.
“They have too much to lose. Those licenses could be their life savings,” Mihalek said.
She said many in the restaurant industry need Congress to pass a federal stimulus bill to keep afloat during the crisis. While Mihalek isn’t sure what financial help can come from the state, she said many legislators are passing along to Wolf the stories from local-owned businesses in their districts that are struggling.
“We’ve been doing all we can to communicate with the administration about the severe impact this has been having on the industry,” Mihalek said. “I get there is a balance between the public safety aspect, but there’s also this economic damage that we can’t just hit a switch when the virus lets up. These places won’t be around in January.”
Staff writer Scott Beveridge contributed to this report.