'What's the difference between sitting in a restaurant versus sitting in a bar?' frustrated bar owner asks
After initially being included in the second stage of the state's three-part plan to resume business and social activities during the coronavirus pandemic, bars were tapped out when Gov. Roy Cooper announced the move to Phase 2 on Wednesday, leaving owners confused and frustrated.
"What is the difference between sitting in a restaurant versus sitting in a bar?" Amanda LaRoque, the owner of The Goat in Raleigh, asked Thursday.
Restaurants will be allowed to open at half capacity as early as Friday evening, provided they also adhere to strict cleaning protocols and implement social distancing rules for workers and customers. Meanwhile, bars must remain closed for at least five more weeks.
State law defines restaurants as establishments that generate at least 30 percent of their sales from food and non-alcoholic beverages. So, bars within restaurants can operate, while standalone bars cannot, for now.
"At least let us open up outside,” LaRoque said. “We were prepared to do all the same social distancing and requirements that the restaurants had."
The Goat has plexiglass shields installed and hand sanitizer and social distancing signs at the ready, she said.
"We even have thermometers. We didn’t know what they were going to make us do, so we just prepared for everything,” she said.
But instead of getting ready to serve pints to and mix drinks for thirsty customers this weekend, LaRoque said she is trying to figure out how to survive.
"Bars and gyms and any business cannot afford to come back being closed 100 days and then have restrictions," she said.
Cooper and Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, said Thursday that eating at restaurants and drinking at bars are higher-risk activities for the virus to spread and that they wanted to move slowly and not resume too many of these activities at once in case a spike in new infections forces the state to pull back.
"If we move too far, too fast, we could cause a spike that could overwhelm our medical system and could cause us to have to go backward and reinstate the stay-at-home order," Cooper said.
"We're a total of 8,300 square feet. We can social distance better than the Applebee's can," said Tony Basford, owner of owner of Plus Dueling Piano Bar in the Glenwood South neighborhood.
Basford said he and other bar owners on Glenwood Avenue are looking into their legal options and have started a GoFundMe account to raise money for legal fees, arguing that, if restaurants can operate with restrictions, then they should be allowed to as well.
"I don’t want anything that’s not deserved, but treat us the way you do other industries that do basically the same thing," he said. "I’ll follow all the rules, [and] so will all the others. Just give us an opportunity, that’s all."
Wake County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Eric Curry said the office will monitor any violations and address them as needed.
"Our deputies will respond to any calls of possible violations of the order and deal with them accordingly," Curry said. "Our primary option is to educate – in this instance, bar owners – about the order and how they can avoid further enforcement."
He said he doesn’t believe enforcement will be necessary, however, because businesses and residents across the county have been cooperative so far with stay-at-home rules.
“Since the orders were implemented, Wake County residents have worked with our agency to ensure that the orders are being followed," he said. "We anticipate continued cooperation as we work together through this historic pandemic."
