Curfew: Bars and restaurants close earlier under new restrictions in wake of coronavirus surge.
Restaurants empty out as curfew kicks in around state
Bars and restaurants around the Bay Area closed earlier than usual this weekend as a 10 p. m. to 5 a. m. curfew took effect across much of California.
The monthlong curfew is impacting every county in the state’s most restrictive tier for reopening, the purple tier. That includes Contra Costa, Alameda, Napa, Sonoma, Solano and Santa Clara counties; San Francisco is expected to join the purple tier this week, causing a curfew.
At the Old Wagon Saloon & Grill in downtown San Jose, a bell rang out at 8: 37 p. m. Saturday, the first night of the curfew, alerting customers of last call. A short time later, saloon officials warned socially distanced patrons still nursing their beers that the bar was closing. Customers picked at their fries and took final sips of their beverages before pulling masks on and emptying the outdoor patio space spotted with heat lamps.
The saloon wanted all customers out by 9: 30, a half hour before the curfew’s official start.
Rene Ramirez, 28, said he would pre-Photos
“Sometimes we get here a little late and you don’t wanna just drink very fast. I don’t think ( the curfew) affects me personally, but I don’t like feeling that rush that we are feeling right now.”
Rene Ramirez, patron at the Old Wagon Saloon & Grill in San Jose
fer the night to end a bit later. He was at the saloon with two friends, and they wanted to unwind after another long week of work. “Sometimes we get here a little late and you don’t wanna just drink very fast,” Ramirez said.
“I don’t think ( the curfew) affects me personally, but I don’t like feeling that rush that we are feeling right now,” he said.
Sabrina Urias, general manager of the Old Wagon, said she had mentally prepared for the possibility of a curfew after observing soaring coronavirus cases locally.
She said the curfew will probably impact the busiest hours in the late evening. Before the curfew, the saloon — which currently offers only outdoor seating in accordance with state rules — closed at 10 p. m. Monday through Thursday, and at 11 p. m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Urias said she thinks the new mandate may have caused uncertainty and fear in some patrons.
“We’re probably going to have to rely on togo orders again to get a little bit more business,” she said.
In Oakland, Mad Oak Bar N Yard coowner Daniel Cukierman told The Chronicle that the curfew is “not terribly significant” because the bar decided back in August to close at 10 p. m. Even though sales are high in the latenight hours, he said the bar “found that as it got later, we found people got less careful.”
Cukierman said Mad Oak closes its outdoor patio gate at 9 p. m., which he said gives patrons an hour to finish their drinks and food at socially distanced picnic tables and chairs, pay their tabs and leave. As of late, he said, there has been a “pretty sharp drop in sales over the last couple weeks anyway.”
He said it appears customers have been “taking heed a little bit more,” which has resulted in a decline in attendance at the Oakland bar. He said the bar typically reaches its modified capacity of 60 to 80 people outdoors by 6 or 7 p. m., but now expects “less of a line, and it won’t be at capacity.”
“So, you know, ( the curfew) is adding to that hardship. But you know, we’re all for it if it helps get it under control,” Cukierman said, referring to the coronavirus pandemic.
The curfew did draw protests. About two dozen people gathered down the street from San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo’s house after 10 p. m. Saturday to air their objections to the curfew, KPIX reported. Most of the crowd dispersed about an hour later.
In Huntington Beach ( Orange County), more than 100 protesters took to the streets for a nighttime rally in defiance of the curfew, according to news reports. Videos posted to Twitter showed many of the protesters were unmasked.