Pennsylvania restaurants and bars have been financially hard hit since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

Many bars and eating establishments blame the indoor capacity limits and insist the capacity limits simply do not provide enough revenue to keep their doors open.

An unofficial survey taken in October by the Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association reported the industry is facing a significant loss of small businesses due to state-mandated COVID-19 orders.

On Nov. 18, the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association hosted a rally at Barley Creek Brewing Company in Tannersville

Local restaurant and business owners along with owners from Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia gathered to speak with state Sens. Mario Scavello, R-Monroe/Northampton and Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne/Pike/Susquehanna/Wayne/Wyoming; as well as state Reps. Jonathan Fritz, R-Wayne/Susquehanna and Kurt Masser, R-Columbia/Montour/Northumberland to heed their pleas for financial assistance and stability as the winter months approach and make outside dining impossible.

“Winter is coming, COVID cases are rising and more and more people are staying home,” said Trip Ruvane, owner of Barley Creek Brewing Company and PRLA Northeastern Chapter President.

“Without financial relief, as many as 60 percent of restaurants and other businesses statewide will be forced to close by the end 2021,” said Chris Barrett, CEO of the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau.

Owner makes his case

It hasn’t been easy, according to Eric Noone, PRLA Northeastern Chapter VP and co-owner of The Frogtown Chophouse in Cresco.

“Nine months ago, our lives changed overnight because of the pandemic. As Americans we proved our ability to adapt. We acted and implemented the changes that were needed,” he said.

Yet despite the fact that restaurant owners like him also met the challenges in making changes to guarantee a safe environment, the requirements keep changing, making everything uncertain, Noone said. “All we are asking is for some stability. Our industry is dying. I am standing here as a restaurant owner. I am not here to complain about loss of revenue, but to represent everyone.”

Struggling to keep his composure, Noone explained that it isn’t just the restaurant or bar owner that loses revenue, it impacts the dishwasher with four children who has to go home and tell his wife he was laid off again, the bartender who can’t make her mortgage because her hours are cut, or the college student who can’t pay her college tuition because she was laid off.

What needs to change

During the rally, Pennsylvania restaurant owners, employees and local lawmakers called on the state to loosen restrictions on the hospitality industry.

“We still can’t get data as to how much of the COVID-19 cases is related to our industry. I can say that we haven’t seen any of that in the Poconos generated from any of our operations because they are committed on a day-by day basis to meet and exceed CDC guidelines when hosting guests,” Barrett said.

Holding up nine pages of rules and regulations put in place by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, bar manager Steve Ertle, said the regulations are unsustainable, especially during the winter season when outdoor seating is near impossible.

“The timing of the closing is wrong. We have someone who has never worked in the industry calling the time, which is actually a liquor code issue, not a health department issue. We have seen an explosion of bars at homes and after-dorm, because 11 p.m. is still too early,” he said.

Other regulations include not being able to sit at the bar, but tables pushed up against the bar are allowed. Also the 25 percent indoor capacity restriction put in place makes it impossible to make a profit, according to the restaurant and bar owners attending the rally.

“The restaurant industry is heavily regulated, and quite frankly, we know what we are doing,” Ruvane said.

Outside dining

The ever-changing mandates have owners becoming innovators in ways to stay open while keeping their patrons and employees safe.

One way is to add a deck, outdoor patio or eating tents.

These things all come with a price. Commercial outdoor patio heaters range from around $800 to $2,000 a heater. This is not an expense most places can afford, Barrett said.

Blue Mountain Resort in Palmerton has found a way to allow all their eating venues to stay open by making a few changes.

“We have made some changes, but because we already have outside seating for skiers, we were in a better place than many businesses that never had outside dining before,” said Ashley Seier, marketing manager for the resort.

Changes

The resort’s Slopeside Bar and Grill offers outside eating on their deck even during their ski and snowboard season.

“We were fortunate we already had outside heaters, so we just had to add a few more, so it wasn’t as costly as it was for some restaurants that were offering outside seating for the first time,” she said.

Besides the Slopeside Bar and Grill, the resort has three other food venues at the resort. To keep those eateries open, the resort has call-in-takeout at the other venues, and once the order is picked up, they are allowed to sit on the heated deck at Slopeside and enjoy their food.

“We are also lining up food trucks to come to the resort and sell their food as a way to offer another alternative to inside dining,” Seier said.

However, she is quick to say if your choice is to eat inside, the management enforces all the rules required.

“You can’t get in if you are not wearing a mask, and we strictly enforce social distancing and we have table watchers who make sure that as soon as the guests leave the table, it is immediately wiped down before another party is seated,” she said.

She admits it requires a lot of work and planning to make it work, but it is better than the alternative of having someone comedown with the coronavirus, and so far no infections have been traced back to their resort.