Open sign on a restaurant door
UPDATE: Since publishing this article on Friday morning, the Governor has moved his restrictions update from Monday to Wednesday, Dec. 16.
Plenty of people in the industry have heard the rumors going around: That there are a significant number of restaurants that intend to open up their indoor dining again next week, even if Governor Walz extends the current shutdown past its initial end date of Dec. 18.
The Governor had intended on announcing by the end of this week, whether or not he would continue the restrictions, which closed indoor dining at bars and restaurants (and fitness centers, bowling alleys, etc.), but has since moved that announcement to Monday. Given the fear of rising case counts in Minnesota due to Thanksgiving numbers still yet to fully be seen and taxed hospitals, the consensus is that the shutdown will be extended through the new year. At least.
This shutdown has hit restaurants much harder than the first one last March. Not only have they lost an important time of year which commonly makes up for slower months, with holiday gatherings and gift card sales, but they are coming into this with no cushion, no wiggle room after a year of limited sales, sudden closures for infection, and cut staff. Hospitality Minnesota, the local restaurant association, recently sent a letter to the state pleading for certain measures of relief in order to keep what remains of their industry afloat.
But for some, they feel like it's too little, too late.
But outstate, right? Like the woman in East Grand Forks who re-opened her bar and grill this week? Or the one down in Marshall, who lost her license, kept operating, and then got it back? We tend to think that this is a one-off act by defiant rural restaurants, but it's not.
There was a meeting this last week in which I'm told some 130 small businesses discussed joining the ReOpen Minnesota Coalition to defy an extension of the shutdown orders. While that number is statewide, and includes some fitness centers and other affected small businesses, I was told by one of the coalition's organizers, Darius Teichroew, that there are dozens of restaurants in the metro area that have signed on.
Teichroew, not a restaurant or small business owner but a mechanical engineer from Maple Grove, started the Facebook group earlier this year, during the first shut down. They had planned this same kind of act of "civil disobedience" this summer, but backed down when restrictions were lifted by the Governor in June. "Now we're just back to square one," Teichroew told me on the phone last night. "We are trying to appeal to people to stand up against the capricious and arbitrary whims of our leaders."
The ReOpen Minnesota Coalition has a two-phase plan. "On Wednesday next week, businesses in rural areas will open first. And then on Friday, restaurants and businesses in the metro will follow suit. We've seen that people and law enforcement tend to be more friendly to us in the rural areas so we wanted to start there, we know it could be more hostile in the metro."
Teichroew asserts that they are not mandating anything in terms of how the restaurants need to re-open, they are just providing support and numbers with social media. Restaurants who sign on to re-open can do it whenever and however they want, "they can choose to continue with some restrictions or no restrictions, some may want to ditch masks while others will keep the masks and limits to seating. It will depend on their own safety protocols and what they feel is best for their employees and guests. We think they should be treated like adults and allowed to run their business. If people don't want to come, because they feel unsafe, that's the restaurant's issue to deal with."
I asked if one of the metro area restaurants would speak with me and lay out their case, but no one would go on record. Teichroew plans to publish a list of the restaurants and small businesses "quietly" before the phases launch. He's aware, as are his members, that this is an illegal action, one that might jeopardize the stimulus monies that are said to be coming. There is a push to get direct payments to restaurants based on 2019 sales tax numbers, but restaurants need to be "in good standing" to receive.
I asked him if he thought it was worth it to take this stand, if he thought there was enough business out there (given current case counts) to support this action and make it worth losing possible funding, "I think the business is there, just look at Hudson, packed with Minnesotans. We've seen people clamor to support restaurants, some even drove to East Grand Forks this week to support that lady. But we put that question to the restaurants, they have to make that decision, if it's worth it. It's their choice." Teichroew compared the possible relief package to a bribe to businesses to stay in line and said that no matter what kind of financial package is held out in front of them, they intend to stay the course.
Others, who have been supportive of the coalition and its goals, have weighed the options and changed directions. Korey Bannerman (who owns Willy McCoy's, Stella's, and Copper Pint) has been a very vocal part of the group. But he told me yesterday that it has basically split into two groups, "we won't be re-opening this week, we have decided to take another route, which is filing a lawsuit. Depending on what the Governor announces on Monday, maybe the lawsuit gets put in a side pocket and we wait and see. But we're cautious and nervous, because we've been promised so many things that change and don't work out. We are definitely going the more expensive route, but if we do file, it's because we have to."
Bannerman believes that part of the reason the restaurant industry is targeted is because they are a disparate collection of businesses, which makes them weak when confronted by "a bully" which is how he sees Governor Walz. "We have to do this to show resistance and unity, so that the government is less likely to do this to us again. We've seen that the data shows restaurants are linked to a very small percentage of outbreaks, like 1.7%, and yet we are shut down while big box stores continue to be open." Despite the fact that studies have shown a link to covid transmission in a restaurant dining scenario, they remain resolute that the majority of restaurants are safer and cleaner than Home Depot or Target.
Both Bannerman and Teichroew have wide-ranging beliefs about the virus, how it should be handled, and how the constitution factors in all of this. But they hope that everyone understands that in the end, this is about supporting families who are about to lose everything. "It's about the basics," Teichroew said, "keeping food on the table, keeping a roof over your family's head, that's what we are fighting for."
I've heard that the email list for this group is some 300 strong, and includes all the names you'd recognize in the food world, from the top tier of finer dining to the solo owners and first-timers (though many have said that they don't know who added them, that they don't consider themselves part of the group). Most of them are watching what happens, seeing how this plays out, and how it plays out in places like Michigan. Lawsuits are being filed all across the country.
More than a few have confirmed that they will not be re-opening in defiance, that this is not the path they see as beneficial to their business, their guests or employees. But others have simply not answered me.
So I guess we'll see next week.
