‘It was a level of dread that I’ve never experienced in my life’
He bought a bar just months before pandemic
It’s been a tough year for the restaurant industry. To learn about the economic and emotional toll of COVID-19, we talked to five people who devoted their professional lives to serving us.
Today, a bar owner who hopes to hang on.
At local restaurants and bars:
Service in the face of the pandemic
One day in East Liberty some years ago, Caleb Cornell walked beneath a weathered neon sign that read “Kelly’s Bar and Lounge” and entered a dimly lit place with an ancient back bar. No televisions. No blaring music. A person could have a conversation here. It was, he said, “kind of surly.” He loved it.
Mr. Cornell had worked as a line cook, a busser and a server before finding his niche as a bartender. He longed to work at Kelly’s and lobbied for a job. He was hired in 2013.
Six years later he made a casual comment to the owner. If you ever want to sell this place, I’d be interested. Within months he once again stood behind Kelly’s original Formica bar top, only now he had a new sense of mission as the joint’s owner.
That was in October 2019, and for nearly five months, business was great. Then came the pandemic and restrictions limiting restaurants to takeout-only dining. Mr. Cornell closed Kelly’s — he couldn’t make money on food sales alone.
“It was a level of dread that I’ve never experienced in my life — just thinking about what my career had finally culminated into, and that it could so quickly be taken away,” he said. “The idea of losing everything so rapidly — it was emotionally devastating. I tried keeping myself positive. I’m very lucky to have the staff that I do. Very hardworking, dedicated and loyal people. So I just tried to cloak my own concern and fear, even to myself.
“I was so accustomed to
working all the time and always having an itinerary, something to do. After a few weeks of just being at home and watching TV, watching these numbers just continue to rise and rise and rise ... it was frightening, it still is frightening. Just the uncertainty of it all.”
Mr. Cornell, 38, kept in touch with his staff and “did everything I could to make sure that everyone’s unemployment benefits came through because a couple of people were having a lot of trouble
“This place has survived everything, every economic development or hardship that the city or neighborhood has gone through over the generations. ... I’m not gonna let anything take that away.”
— Caleb Cornell, owner,
Kelly’s Bar & Lounge
getting them initially,” he said. “I tried to reassure everybody that we weren’t in danger of closing permanently.”
In May, Kelly’s offered mixed drinks for takeout after Pennsylvania relaxed some of its alcohol restrictions. Weeks later, the state allowed eating and drinking establishments to reopen — with restrictions. Gov. Tom Wolf ordered another restaurant shutdown a few weeks ago. This one, part of an effort to contain a recent COVID-19 surge, is scheduled to lift Jan. 4.
Mr. Cornell finds hope in recent news reports about vaccines. Perhaps life will begin a return to normalcy by late spring or early summer, he said.
“Even with the doom and gloom scenarios, with places closing left and right, I have no choice but to stay as positive as I can and try to be optimistic that this will pass at some point. We’re all willing to buckle down and do what needs to be done if the end result is what we need.
“We’re just trying to stay busy enough to carry on. This bar has been here since 1947. Even though we’re just a simple small bar, this place is iconic, especially for the East Liberty neighborhood. That’s one of the reasons why I’m so determined to stick this out at whatever personal loss I may incur.
“The loss of Kelly’s to this neighborhood would be really devastating. We have customers that come in and say they met their spouses here 35 years ago. This is where they had their first date. This place has survived everything, every economic development or hardship that the city or neighborhood has gone through over the generations. This bar has always been maintained. I’m not gonna let anything take that away.”