Can Lexington restaurants survive a COVID winter? Here’s what to expect dining out
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Winter is coming, COVID is surging and Lexington restaurants are trying to fend of a long, slow financial starvation.
Those that made it through the spring shutdown and summer on the sidewalk are pinning their hopes on a mild winter and lots of takeout orders.
And even that might not be enough, said Mamadou “Sav” Savane, owner of Sav’s on East Main.
“This is the thing: I just don’t know how honestly we are going to survive,” Sav said.
About 30 local restaurant owners met recently to talk about what is working, what isn’t and brainstorm ways to make it, even as Gov. Andy Beshear urged Kentuckians in particularly hard-hit areas to limit potential contacts.
Kentucky restaurants have worked hard to meet the existing state requirements for restaurants and bars, while coping with pushback from customers on mask mandates and curfews.
All were worried, said Merrick Inn and Josie’s owners Bobby and Jennifer Murray, who organized the meeting.
If there is one single thing that people can do to help, the restaurant owners say, it’s this: Eat out on a weekday.
“We have a lot of great customers, and some busy nights,” Bobby Murray said. But an empty restaurant on a Monday or Tuesday might cost them what you made on a Friday or Saturday, he said.
And with restaurants and bars restricted to 50 percent capacity, with tables at least six feet apart, there are only so many people that can fit in on busy times.
“We are turning people away on UK gamedays and NFL Sundays,” said Heather Trump, who owns The Cellar Bar and Grille on Lansdowne and the Shamrock bars in Patchen and in Hartland, in an email.
But that’s only part of the story. Questions that will determine if local restaurants and bars make it include whether to add tents and heaters; will diners feel safe inside; will they get a break on alcohol license fees; and will they get more federal aid.
“It’s scary right now,” said Mark Fichtner, owner of Carson’s Food & Drink on East Main in downtown Lexington. The message that restaurant owners want to get out right now?
“By the time this winter is over there will be favorite restaurants that won’t be here,” he said. “Restaurants are hurting right now already, and going into winter will be really tough.”
What will make the difference between surviving the pandemic or becoming another COVID casualty?
Bundle up, patio season is now year-round
A year ago Sav moved his popular West African restaurant into a new building that he bought and renovated on West Main, next door to the A&W burger chain that closed in September. But since March, Sav’s has been closed to indoor dining. Savane says he has not felt safe opening up, even though he could.
During the summer he put up a tent in the parking. But now that’s gone.
“I’m giving up my parking lot to build an arbor for outside seating and create some greenspace,” he said. He has planned “Jake’s Garden,” in honor of his friend, the late city councilman Jake Gibbs. Gibbs’ wife, Anita Courtney, has organized a Go Fund Me account to help defray the costs and Sav’s hoping the city will grant a permit in time to get the seating built before it gets too cold to use it.
Because he is blunt: “Right now we are living day by day.”
Many restaurants are adding tents, or if they already had a tent, adding tent walls and heaters.
Goodfellas Pizzeria has a fantastic patio in the Distillery District on Manchester but owners Alex Coats and Eric Boggs felt they had no choice to be add a tent and heaters for winter.
“We’re a late-night pizza-by-the-slice joint and we can’t sell drinks past 11 p.m.,” Coats said. He and Boggs thought, “How are we going to do this in the winter? We’ve barely been breaking even with our nice patios?”
So they’re getting the tent. “It’s $17,000. That’s the tent, side walls, heaters, everything, to keep it comfortable for our guests,” Coats said. “It’s hard to make up that kind of dollars in three months but we have to try.”
How you can support local restaurants during COVID
Beginning this spring, many restaurants pivoted to curbside pickup. And that decision proved to be a big winner for both diners and for businesses.
But for a lot of restaurants, it’s dropped off. Now they need customers back but with a few changes:
▪ Most restaurants are getting a lot of orders on the weekends, said Kevin Heathcoat, co-owner of Bourbon n’ Toulouse on Euclid. But business on the average weekday lunch or dinner is soft. So spread those orders out.
▪ One thing to keep in mind: Takeout is more expensive than dining in for the restaurant, Heathcoat said. So if you don’t need utensils, say so. Those savings add up.
▪ And when possible order through the restaurant directly for curbside pickup or delivery, rather than through a third-party app. The margins are so slim on restaurant profits that that may make all the difference.
Will people return to dining in restaurants?
That’s the big question. As the weather gets colder, will diners and bar patrons, who have been sitting outside all summer and fall, feel safe enough to go inside?
Many restaurants are taking extra care to keep customers and employees safe and they hope those precautions will be rewarded in repeat business.
Fichtner said Carson’s has reconfigured its space to give customers as much room as possible and is adding dividers between seating areas.
But, he said, the limits on capacity and the social distancing requirements mean that smaller restaurants can only hold a few customers at a time. That’s not sustainable for many.
“Some so small only allowed to have 20 people at a time and they can’t make money,” Fichtner said. “They’ve got some tables on the sidewalk now, but you can’t put a tent on the sidewalk.”
Relief on alcohol fees?
As bad as it has been for restaurants, bars may have had it worse.
The state Alcohol Beverage Control commission has extended the licenses for restaurants and bars through the end of the year. But then what happens?
Most will be on the hook for thousands of dollars in fees even though they have been making, at best, 50 percent of their usual revenue because of reduce capacity.
Murray said Merrick Inn would owe $6,150 for state and local alcohol licenses.
“If the license was at 50 percent like the mandate from the governor, it would save us $3,075.00. That’s a lot of money,” he said. “It’s just disheartening.
Restaurants and bars are lobbying for the state to reduce the fees they have to pay to renew their annual licenses.
“We have three restaurants — Shamrock Patchen, Shamrock Hartland and The Cellar — and we are in a fight for our lives to stay afloat,” Trump said. “Our rent is the same, our bills our the same, payroll is the same and our sales our down 50 percent. ... The state government is taking things away but they haven’t helped us much. For instance, at The Cellar I have to pay an additional $1,000 each for my patio bar and pool bar. Neither were open due to state mandates and yet I still have to pay for these when I renew my liquor license for the upcoming year.”
Lisa and Jon Cox, who own Sidebar Grill on North Limestone and the Break Room on the Pepper Campus on Manchester, say they are deeply unhappy bar owners.
“While Sidebar was allowed to open, it’s been at a greatly reduced rate for alcohol sales. Breakroom was closed completely for about five months,” they said in an email.
“In all fairness, all liquor license holders should be offered either a reduced rate or a comparable deferment to renew these licenses,” they said. “It will be a massive hardship for all of us to have to pay the regular renewal fees in this most unprecedented year. We have all suffered a crippling reduction in sales and are seriously worried about the continued existence of our life’s work.”
Will Washington come through with aid?
And if so, will it come in time?
It doesn’t look like any new relief package will be coming before the election on Nov. 2. Who knows what the political climate will be like afterward.
Earlier this year, restaurant owners including Ouita Michel and Ed Lee beseeched Congress to come through with an aid package that included direct grants to the hospitality industry. While the House passed a bill that included it, the Senate proposal only included another round of PPP loans.
Debbie Long, owner of Dudley’s on Short, said that the uncertainty “is paralyzing” for restaurants.
“We are hesitant to make long-range plans because of the daily changes of this pandemic. Our government can’t continue to shut us down, reduce our percentage of seating and close us early,” Long said in an email. “They have now publicly advised people to not go out to eat or to bars and to avoid all social events and gatherings and expect us to survive. I have never run my business for 40 years expecting a hand out but with the above mandates the government has to help.
“Small and large privately owned businesses are the fabric of our community and we will not make it though the winter months if there is not PPP money made available,” she said.
This story was originally published October 30, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
