Milwaukee bars near suburbs watch neighbors reopen
When coronavirus began to spread across the country, communities began to close and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers issued a “safer-at-home” order.
When the state Supreme Court overturned the order, the state began to reopen in a fragmented way.
Milwaukee County said it would stay closed for another week, but that came to an end Friday for every municipality except the city of Milwaukee.
Now, restaurants on the border of the city will watch neighbors open.
“It's good for the bars that can open, but pretty much giving death sentences to businesses based off an address that's on the front of their store,” said Kelly's Bleachers owner Anthony Luchini.
“If we were just a few blocks west, we could be open,” he said about his bar at 5218 W. Blue Mound Road.
Luchini had just started curbside sales two weeks ago and thinks those orders will go down as people can go to a bar in person.
The owner of Liquid Johnny's, 540 S. 76th St., will have a similar problem. West Allis will be fully open just across the street from the bar, and owner Brian James is hoping it won't affect his curbside sales, which have been somewhat steady and good on Friday for fish fries.
“Literally, you go one block south and everything will be open,” he said. “We're losing money almost every single week and this next week makes me very nervous.”
He said he has enough savings to make it through the year but has kept curbside sales open for his staff and to try to break even some days.
“The unfortunate part is that there's no date for us to look forward to, and this weekend will be the true test of what will happen,” James said. “Waukesha is already open. Customers are just going to go outside of Milwaukee.”
The varying messages from the Tavern League of Wisconsin and local officials have made it hard to know what he is allowed to do or when he is allowed to open.
“I called the mayor said, ‘It'd just be nice if you guys could have some clear communication with us business owners,' “James said.
Meanwhile, breweries like Gathering Place, 811 E. Vienna Ave., won't be able to open themselves but will benefit from their neighbors across the river in Shorewood being open.
Gathering Place founder Joe Yeado said he has been very busy with keg sales this week, and isn't too concerned about his taproom not being able to open yet.
“I don't think we're at a point where we are ready to open,” he said. “On Saturday, we're hosting a virtual beer festival. So if Milwaukee would have opened restrictions on Friday, I don't think we would have opened.
“The feedback that we've had from our customers is that they want to come back but they want us to take our time doing it,” Yeado said. “That feedback is certainly helpful for us. The last thing we want to do is rush it.”
The tricky part is figuring out the Health Department guidelines for the more than 100 bars he sends his beer to.
“From a business owner perspective, it has been hard to keep up with the changes,” Yeado said.
Gary Tiedke, owner of Scotty's Bar & Pizza at 3921 S. Clement Ave., said even though St. Francis will be open across the street from his bar, he isn't concerned.
“I'm not worried because ... we have some really damn good food,” he said.
The bar put in place a delivery system when the pandemic hit and has been able to profitable with to-go sales. The time off has allowed Tiedke's grandson to remodel the inside of the bar.
“I can't wait to reopen, and we have a good-sized patio, which will help,” he said.
But for now, he'll wait.
“We're just going to continue for a while and watch everybody open around us,” Tiedke said.