‘Bethel institution’ to close
O’Neil’s Sandwich and Coffee Bar will serve its last egg sandwich on Sunday
BETHEL — Patrick “P.J.” O’Neil had been determined to get his restaurant through the turmoil the coronavirus pandemic has wrought on local businesses.
He repainted and installed new ceilings at his O’Neil’s Sandwich and
Coffee Bar a few months ago.
Then Tropical Storm Isaias knocked out his power for seven days.
“It made me stop and think, ‘What are you doing?’ ” O’Neil said.
He was facing a $50,000 to $60,000 financial hole over the last seven months and could not afford to pay his rent or federal taxes. He worked 90 hours a week and had three weekends off over 30 years, O’Neil said.
“Where is the end game?” he said.
On Sunday, after 211⁄2 years on Greenwood Avenue, the breakfast-andlunch eatery will close permanently.
“I’m not having second doubts because I really did think long and hard about this,” O’Neil said. “It’s tough. I didn’t think it was going to be as hard as it is.”
The closure has devastated residents, who rallied behind the restaurant on social media and have come in for a last egg sand
wich.
First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker described O’Neil’s as a “Bethel institution.” He said he was furious the power outage helped push the restaurant to closure.
“My anger is just renewed all over again, that a businessman who has been in business for so long and felt he could still hang on was put out of reach by Eversource,” Knickerbocker said.
Challenges for businesses
O’Neil’s is one of a few Bethel businesses to close since the pandemic. Bethel Cinema shut down in April, while Cream and Sugar Cafe never reopened. The owners of the ice cream shop could not be reached for comment.
Local businesses have been fairing better than Knickerbocker feared, he said. He has not heard of any business on the brink of closure.
But he is worried about the winter, when outdoor dining will not be possible. He said he hopes the federal government will provide more relief packages to help.
“We have so many great restaurants and retailers here in town,” Knickerbocker said. “I don’t want to see them go away.”
Famous Pizza, which is next door to Cream and Sugar and owns the building, plans to move into the ice cream shop’s space next year.
The idea is to focus on delivery and takeout, which has helped keep the pizza place afloat, and offer limited seating, owner Perry Anastasakis said. The existing space would then be rented to a restaurant, he said.
“We’re using this time to pivot for the future and hopefully it will allow us to concentrate on what we do best,” he said.
Anastasakis said he went to O’Neil’s every day for breakfast or coffee.
“It’s a big loss for the community,” Anastasakis said.
Where everybody knows your name
When he opened, O’Neil envisioned creating a place where community members could meet each other as they made their coffee. He did not want a typical sit-down diner where people ordered, ate and left.
“How do you get people to know each other like ‘Cheers?’ he said.
About four years in, O’Neil was catering a graduation party when a customer said he met half the people at the party at the restaurant.
“That’s really what I wanted to do was to become part of the town,” O’Neil said. “When he said that, it was like a tearjerker.”
O’Neil said he has regular customers that he will miss. Some customers grew up going to the restaurant and now take their kids there. Customers have called him crying over the closure.
“It’s tough to walk away from that after you build something up,” he said.
He has paid his vendors and his staff. One of his employees has been there since the business opened, while another has been there about 19 years and another a dozen, he said.
“I’m leaving them hanging,” O’Neil said. “It’s tough.”
The business was struggling before the pandemic, he said. Overhead was
$63,000 a month, and the cost of paper products rose
40 percent two years ago, O’Neil said.
The uncertainty of the pandemic made this harder.
“When is the end?” he said. :When is it going to stop? Is it going to stop in March? Is it going to stop in August? And August is too far away.”
O’Neil said he is not sure what he will do next. He said he could cook elsewhere or become an electrician or do anything.
“I haven’t thought enough about it,” he said. “I’m just trying to get through the hardest moment of my life.”
He said he appreciates the “love and care” the community has shown him since announcing the closure.
“That just tells you you’re part of the town,” O’Neil said.