Restaurants back down from ultimatum, request meeting with Gov. Wolf
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The president of a group of restaurant and bar owners on Thursday shied away from threatening to reopen establishments at full capacity.
Instead, board members of the newly formed Southwestern Pennsylvania Restaurant and Tavern Association will wait for a sit-down meeting with Gov. Tom Wolf.
“If we go on the wrong foot, threatening, I don’t think we’re gonna get anywhere,” said Rod Ambrogi, president of the association and owner of Al’s Café in Bethel Park.
But he hopes Wolf is listening.
“We need some relief. And if not, we don’t have a choice. We have to survive,” he said, adding some restaurant and bar owners might wait only until Aug. 14 to meet with Wolf before they take matters into their own hands.
Is it the association’s deadline?
“I don’t exactly know where we’re at with that,” Ambrogi said.
On Tuesday, Ambrogi said he and other establishments would band together to return to full capacity, a move that would be in defiance of Wolf’s July 15 order that allows outdoor seating but limits eateries to 25% of indoor capacity.
During a rally that began Thursday morning outside his restaurant, Ambrogi cited news reports that referenced Wolf’s willingness to meet and talk with the group.
Pittsburgh lawyer Gary Scoulos, who represents the association, said he hopes that is the case. If members meet with Wolf, he said, the association’s message would be simple.
“We want reasonable measures to allow us to continue our business … at the same time preserving public health,” he said to the crowd gathered.
Wolf’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
The association, Scoulos said, has asked for three changes. Instead of imposing a 25% indoor capacity rule, he said the governor should allow full capacity with a 6-foot distancing rule. Secondly, establishments should be able to operate bar services with a 6-foot distancing rule and barriers. The third request is to eliminate the rule requiring food to be ordered before alcohol is served.
“That is what our objective is: to change the (covid-19) order reasonably,” Scoulos said.
The association touts attracting 200 bar and restaurant owners in the region to “to take our rights back.” It urges owners to sign a petition on Change.org that purports to have garnered 7,400 signatures.
The association did not respond to a request to obtain a list of its members.
A crowd of about 100 people — some masked, others not — cheered and applauded Ambrogi, Scoulos and others who shared sentiments that reflect a food industry struggling to keep its doors open.
Bob Steffl, 62, of Collier Township owns Napoli’s Restaurant and Lounge, which has locations in Bridgeville and Washington, Pa.
“You’re allowed to put 500 people in stores but can’t put 50 people in a restaurant? It’s frustrating that if we do things right, we still get punished,” he said.
Steffl said he would prefer restaurants operating at full capacity but would be fine with a 50% capacity rule.
“I can’t do the 25% (rule),” he said.
Sens. Camera Bartolotta, R-Washington, and Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport, and state Rep. Bud Cook, R-Bentleyville, offered their support while addressing the crowd.
Bartolotta repeated a phrase she heard from a restaurant owner recently because she said it brilliantly reflects the industry’s plight.
“ ‘Give us 6 feet, not 6 feet under.’ Don’t close these places down forever,” she said. “They’re the lifeblood of your community. This is where people meet.”
Allegheny County Health Department Director Debra Bogen on Wednesday addressed the association’s threat to return to full capacity. She said she supports the governor’s orders on restaurants and bars.
“From a public health perspective, the mitigation strategies we put in place have worked. And I want to continue to see that they continue to work and bring those numbers down,” she said.
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald also tackled the issue during the weekly briefing. He said he’s not convinced the 25% capacity rule is a limiting factor.
“It’s not about the governor, it’s not about the health department or anybody else limiting people to go there — people are making their own decisions because they realize this is a very risky behavior, a very risky activity,” he said.
He encouraged people to continue to patronize their favorite local food joints by ordering takeout.
“We understand that it’s challenging and, again, we encourage people to continue to patronize their restaurants. But do it in a safer way that’s been done in the past,” Fitzgerald said.
Amie Downs, an Allegheny County spokeswoman, said there is no expiration date on the county’s restrictions to bars and restaurants, which falls in line with Gov. Wolf’s July 15 order. She provided information that reflected 1,225 complaints against bars and restaurants since June 29.
As a response, the county developed the Covid Field Response Team. Since July 23, the team has assessed 837 food places within Allegheny County to see if they are in line with guidelines like social distancing, mask-wearing and the 25% capacity rule.
Al’s Cafe, the one Ambrogi owns, had zero violations. It was assessed July 24. To search for other places, visit the website.
William Debnar, 64, of Chartiers Township said it would take him a while to grow comfortable enough to return to a restaurant. Nevertheless, he was present at the rally Thursday to show support.
“These people are trying to survive,” he said.
Joe Tambellini, the association’s vice president, mentioned Aug. 14 as a possible date when restaurant and bar owners could begin defying the governor’s orders.
In an emotional speech directed to Wolf during the rally, he said he has been in the restaurant business for 41 years.
“Forty-one years — that’s two life sentences, governor. What? You going to throw me in jail? We can’t do it. We can’t do this. So people are talking about opening up, governor, they’re talking about just opening up. You want to have them open up on their own, or you do want to tweak this mandate and let us do it responsibly?” he said.
For bars or restaurants that serve alcohol, defying Wolf’s orders could mean losing their licenses or being charged with misdemeanors.
Seven establishments across the state had their licenses suspended for a time before counties went into the green phase of Wolf’s reopening plan, according to Shawn Kelly, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.
The liquor licenses at Rusty’s Pittsburgh Sports Bar in Castle Shannon and Puzzlers Restaurant and Lounge in McKeesport were suspended in May. Grapeville Station in Westmoreland County had its license suspended in April.
He said complaints can be reported online or by calling the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement at 1-800-932-0602.
Complaints to the Allegheny County Health Department can be made by calling 412-350-4636 or online.