Restaurant owners still miss late-night crowds
GREENWICH — Many in the restaurant industry called Gov. Ned Lamont’s easing of COVID-related restrictions an encouraging next step toward normalcy.
Lamont announced his plan Thursday to end capacity requirements at restaurants and allow indoor commercial gatherings of up to 100 people and outdoor gatherings of up to 200 as of March 19.
The changes earned praise from Scott Dolch, executive director of the Connecticut Restaurant Association, a trade group.
“Today marks another important step in Connecticut’s nation-leading efforts to defeat COVID-19,” Dolch said in a statement.
“Throughout the pandemic, Connecticut restaurants have proven that it’s possible to serve customers safely and responsibly. They’ve shown they are ready to take this next step, and to help drive local communities and local economies across Connecticut as they work to return to a new normal.”
But according to Dolch and restaurant owners, there’s more steps to take before restaurants can return to a sense of prepandemic normalcy.
Perhaps most important is the removal of the 11 p.m. curfew, several restaurant owners said.
“Coming out of these slower months, the venue capacity wasn’t a real limitation,” said Jed Simon, owner of the Old Greenwich Social Club. “It’s the curfew that’s a real killer.”
Simon characterized his club as more of a restaurant than a bar, but drinks are certainty a draw. Before the outset of the pandemic, weekend nights were typically busy, lucrative hours, he said.
Scott Sievwright, owner of MacDuff’s Public House, said similarly that his business is losing out on two fronts. According to Sievwright, his restaurant generally served an older clientele, which has all but vanished during the pandemic. In addition, the late night crowd has suffered.
“We’re still obviously paying rent for the two to three hours that they’re making us close early,” Sievwright said. “You’re missing out on the late night crowd. If you’re shooing 30 people out the door, that’s 30 cocktails. At $12 a cocktail, that’s a lot of money.”
Other late night attractions have also been a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic — most notably live music.
Often, Simon said, there was live music and, on occasion, karaoke at Old Greenwich Social Club. Greenwich town ordinance prohibits Simon from booking outdoor music. Currently, according to state regulations, live music is allowed indoors but with no vocals. On top of everything else that’s contributed to decreased business — fear of the virus, regulations that force restaurant-goers to order a meal along with a drink, the curfew — the loss of music is significant, Simon said.
“That’s for sure been the big change that we’re looking for — is to be able to do live music in doors, with vocals,” Simon said.
For those patrons who come out, Sievwright said, the 11 p.m. close comes quick. The MacDuff owner said he and his staff often struggle to usher customers out the door at curfew time.
Even still, Simon and Sievwright are in a better spot now than they were earlier on in the pandemic, the early months of which brought massive closures. And though outdoor dining thrived in the summer and through the early fall, the winter months have proved exceptionally difficult for many restaurateurs.
But even if Lamont’s announcement falls short of a full-scale return to normalcy, it is an improvement, restaurant owners say.
Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo said that most business owners are enthusiastic about Lamont’s scaling back of regulations.
“The ones I’ve spoken to are very excited,” Camillo said. “We’re not eliminating restrictions, we’re easing into them. It’s the right thing to do, and we know that by doing this we’ll be able to keep going toward the norm, but in a safe manner.”
But at least in the shortterm, restaurants must still contend with some restrictive regulations.
That’s true even across the state border, in Port Chester, N.Y., where Dennis Schatz, owner of Sam’s Bar and Grill, said the impact of the pandemic has been “brutal.”
In New York, the same 11 p.m. curfew on restaurants is in effect, though, because bars are normally open later, the effects may cut even deeper.
Especially with Sam’s location — only the Byram River separates the restaurant from Connecticut — before the pandemic the bar would often fill with Greenwich residents after Connecticut closed down, said Schatz, a Greenwich resident.
His restaurant also largely caters to service workers, Schatz said, who go to Sam’s for a drink and a bite to eat after they had finished their shifts. The curfew limits both groups and has hurt business, he said.
Even still, in a year that has seen periods of full closure and unprecedented volatility, Schatz and other restaurant owners feel the end may be in sight.
“I always try to feel optimistic,” Schatz said. “I always hope there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”