Chicago bars and restaurants are ready to reopen for indoor service. Mostly.
With Friday’s announcement that such businesses may be able to seat and serve customers inside as soon as Saturday, many business owners and their employees said the looser restrictions will inevitably help an industry crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
But such optimism is also tempered with concern: about health and safety, about whether the cost of reopening is worth the business it will bring and about the possibility of another shutdown as the COVID-19 pandemic persists, new strains emerge and vaccinations trickle forth slowly.
“As a bartender at a place that has stayed open with outdoor seating, this will be a big help,” Nick Bondi, bar manager at Jerry’s Sandwiches in Lincoln Square and Fiya in Andersonville, said of a return to indoor seating.
However, he added: “As a bartender at a place that has stayed open, I will feel less comfortable going to work. As a patron, (I’m) not going near a bar or restaurant any time soon.”
State officials said Friday that Chicago and suburban Cook County are on track to reopen for indoor business for the first time since late October at 25% capacity or 25 people per space, whichever is less. Bars and restaurants opening for indoor service will also be beholden to a raft of other restrictions.
Among them: Tables will be limited to no more than four people indoors or six people outdoors; face coverings must be worn at all times except when seated and “actively eating or drinking;” tables must be spaced 6 feet apart; indoor service will be limited to a maximum of two hours; and bars and restaurants must close by 11 p.m.
In a statement Friday afternoon, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she is “thrilled that Chicago has made sufficient progress in the ongoing fight against the deadly COVID-19 virus to allow indoor service at bars and restaurants in the very near future.”
The decision to reopen indoor eating and drinking is ultimately up to the state, she said.
Both Jerry’s and Fiya have been open through much of the pandemic with outdoor, to-go and delivery service. Adding indoor seating will “absolutely” help, Bondi said.
“We’ve taken advantage of every chance for more business we’ve gotten,” he said. “Any extra revenue is great.”
Jason Klein, co-founder of Spiteful Brewing, said he senses the industry stirring back to life.
“I’ve had more keg inquires the last two days than I have the last two months,” he said.
Spiteful will reopen the 84-seat taproom at its Bowmanville brewery as soon as it is able for a maximum of 21 patrons at a time, Klein said. The bar has been open throughout winter with five indoor tables next to open garage doors and two outdoor tables.
Being able to be open for indoor service with the garage doors closed will make for a far more inviting experience, he said. But Klein is particularly excited for the reopening because it “should have a huge impact on our distribution, which for us is really our primary business.”
Many other bars and restaurants won’t reopen after deciding this fall to shutter until spring. Andersonville’s Hopleaf won’t reopen because the restrictions wouldn’t allow enough business to cover the costs of reopening, Hopleaf owner Michael Roper said.
“We can’t be profitable with 25% (occupancy) and we can’t be Hopleaf,” Roper said. “A distanced, enforced antisocial space for eating and drinking with no mingling, no bar stools, no sharing, time limits and a complete lack of serendipity is not our businesses. This will help places where feeding people is the main concept. We are offering conviviality and a social environment where friends and strangers eat, drink, meet and talk.”
Roper said he wouldn’t open until the city returns to at least 50% capacity.
Others, including Lula Cafe and Superkhana International in Logan Square, Edzo’s Burger Shop in Evanston, West Loop bar Kaiser Tiger and Near North Side brewery Off Color have said they will not reopen simply because they can, but only once they believe it is time.
“We don’t think it’s safe and we don’t think it’s a fair ask of our team members to put them in that position,” said Zoe Schor, chef and owner of Split-Rail in Humboldt Park and Dorothy, a basement cocktail lounge below the restaurant.
Neither business has reopened for indoor or outdoor dining since March 15, when the first coronavirus closures were announced.
“We did consider reopening for outdoor dining when that was allowed, but we started talking it through,” said Schor. “That first drink lowers your inhibitions. What happens if somebody walks in the door to use the restroom without a mask on? And a server or host or manager gets hassled? And potentially COVID? It’s just not worth it.”
Some restaurants opening for sit-down business will be doing so for the first time.
“We set up the entire business to dine in so we were prepared from the start,” said Jackson Chiu, founder and co-owner of 312 Fish Market. The Japanese restaurant opened about six weeks ago at 88 Marketplace, the new Chinese supermarket in East Pilsen, just outside of Chinatown. “If 20 people come right now, we’re ready.”
Offset BBQ, which opened two weeks ago in Logan Square, planned to order plateware Friday in anticipation of a reopening. “We’ve been living off to-go boxes and packaging,” said co-owner Doug Pompa. “Probably next weekend we’ll be open for indoor dining.”
Co-owner Carlo Carani said they would allow diners to sit down with their takeout as soon as the government allows it.
“It’s so counterintuitive to say ‘Here’s your takeout packaging, but grab a table,'” he said. “But it’s weird times, so let’s go with it.”
Tribune reporter Gregory Pratt contributed.