Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Would a later last call help local bars?

Not likely, some say

- By Ed Blazina

To state Rep. Jordan Harris, DPhiladelp­hia, extending last call from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. is the lifeline that bars and restaurant­s need to help them recover from losses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But some Pittsburgh-area owners say finding staff to cover extra hours could be more of an anchor than a lifeline.

Mr. Harris said last week that he would introduce a bill that would allow municipali­ties to authorize bars and restaurant­s to serve alcohol for two more hours every day. Each municipali­ty would have to opt in to allow extra hours in their community.

Spencer Warren, owner of The Warren Bar & Burrow, Downtown, said he might have favored extended hours 20 years ago, when he operated a nightclub. But he questioned whether now, with pandemic restrictio­ns starting to ease again, is the right time to extend hours.

“People are just adjusting to 2 a.m. after a year of 11 p.m. [for last call],” he said. “It just doesn’t feel like this would be the best time to try it.”

Additional­ly, Mr. Warren cited difficulti­es many bars and restaurant­s are having in finding employees to staff current hours. He predicted that would become more difficult if staff has to work after 4 a.m.

“We have such trouble finding staff as it is and they won’t be interested in working that late,” he said.

Cecil Usher, co-owner of St. Clair Social in Friendship with Cat Cannon, agreed. The two also own Mindful Hospitalit­y, which advises other bars and restaurant­s on best practices.

Mr. Usher, a native of New York City, where 4 a.m. has been closing time for several decades, said he understand­s the attraction of staying open later. But with the region in what he called “a weird gray area,” where a 2 a.m. closing is allowed but many businesses don’t have the staff to allow that, this may not be the time to extend hours further.

“It’s probably going to be more trouble than it’s worth,” he said.

“Most people can’t get enough staff to stay open for normal hours.”

Both owners said they would benefit more from other changes such as extended hours for selling takeout wine and beer and making the temporary approval for selling cocktails to go a permanent procedure.

“There are so many other things we could be pushing for that would help more than [extending hours],” Mr. Warren said. “If we could continue to sell cocktails to go, that would help everybody, including the state that benefits from everything we sell.”

A spokesman for Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said the mayor would review the proposal. State Rep. Jessica Benham, D -South Side, said she would want to discuss the proposal with residents on the South Side, one of the city’s busiest neighborho­ods for nightlife.

“I know the concerns we hear from people who live there,” she said. “I’m certainly looking forward to hearing what they would have to say about that idea because they have to live with it.”

Mr. Warren said he doesn’t think extending last call is the best idea right now.

“You’ll probably find people who are for it, and when I was a nightclub owner that probably would have been me. But not now,” he said.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States