Fort Worth-area bar owners ‘heartbroken’ as they are again left out of COVID-19 reopening
Fort Worth-area bar owners were once again disappointed and frustrated after Thursday’s announcement that Texas bars would be excluded from the plan to reopen most businesses to 75% capacity.
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday that most of the state’s businesses, including restaurants, retail stores, gyms and office buildings currently open at 50% capacity, would be able to open to 75% capacity beginning Monday.
Three regions excluded from this 75% capacity measure are the Rio Grande Valley, Laredo, and Victoria.
In a statement, the Texas Bar and Nightclub Alliance president said Thursday’s decision “has destroyed the lives of generations of hard-working Texans.”
”Governor Abbott’s actions today are unacceptable,” Michael Klein said in the statement. “At his hand alone, bar owners are having their livelihoods destroyed and are losing everything without being given a chance at reopening in a safe and responsible manner. By his own admission, different regions of the state should be treated differently based on their current battle against COVID-19, yet bars are shut down everywhere regardless of the local data.”
Tara Worley, owner of Cooter Brown’s in Burleson, said she and other bars owners are “feeling more targeted than ever.”
“We’re holding onto hope with every announcement he makes, we thought he would say 25% and he’s not even giving us that option,” she said. “It’s a real slap in the face that he’s allowing 75% for the restaurants and nothing for us.”
Worley made the decision last week to reopen her bar in direct violation of Abbott’s mandate. She said employees were “literally starving” and they financially could not survive staying closed any longer. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission visited the bar Friday and asked if they were willing to comply with the mandate — Worley told them, “absolutely not.”
“We expect a suspension of our liquor license any day now,” she said. “And honestly, that’s a useless piece of paper right now.”
If the bar’s liquor license is suspended, the bar would not be able to purchase alcohol from its vendor. But Worley said reopening is still worth it. Social distancing is enforced inside the bar and the tables are 6 feet apart from one another. Mask-wearing is optional.
“We’re just letting adults be adults and make their own decisions,” she said.
‘How much longer can it go on?’
Carrie Thompson, owner of G Willickers Pub in Arlington, and Sonia Fennel, the pub’s manager of 21 years, said they want to remain in compliance with the governor’s mandate, but they are becoming increasingly frustrated.
As the year started, 2020 was already proving to be a difficult time for G Willickers. Thompson’s father and stepmother owned the pub for about 13 years, but Thompson’s father died last year, and her stepmother died right as COVID-19 hit the U.S.
“This has gone on longer than I thought it would go on,” Thompson said. “How much longer can it go on? How much longer can our employees go on?”
For months, Thompson and her family have fought to keep their father’s legacy alive. Fortunately, they have been able to pay rent, but they worry about all the employees. Fennel had to put her house up for sale — in a previous interview, she estimated G Willickers had lost about $83,000 in income since the shutdown.
“It’s been 21 years of my life,” Fennel said. “A very dedicated 21 years. And the last year and a half has been heartbreak.”
Abbott said at a press conference Thursday afternoon that bars were not allowed to open “because bars are nationally recognized as COVID-spreading locations.”
Fennel and Thompson disagree that bars cause COVID-19 surges.
“I know it’s a tough situation, and maybe if some things had been different, (the shutdown) would have been lifted,” Fennel said. “Bars are obviously not what’s causing COVID.”
Fennel said most of the spikes in coronavirus cases happened while bars were closed. The largest spike in cases in Texas occurred on July 6 and 7, according to data from the Houston Chronicle. Cases on those days were the peak of a surge that started at the end of June. Bars had been allowed to reopen at 50% capacity on May 18, but as cases started to rise around June 25, Abbott ordered they shut down on June 26.
G Willickers was among hundreds of Dallas-Fort Worth bars that reopened on July 25 for “Freedom Fest,” which was organized by Fort Worth bar owner Chris Polone. Thompson and Fennel said their safety precautions that night proved they could reopen safely. Most bar patrons were kept outside on the bar’s large patio and parking lot. Tables were spaced 8 feet apart, temperatures were checked at the door and sanitation stations were set up every few feet.
“We were hoping that the 25th would prove that the 51% bars were willing to take any extreme to make our bars safe and we would prove we could operate them safely,” Fennel said. “I know there have been a few bad apples that have been above capacity, and I think that’s what (Abbott) is looking at.”
Worley said her bar is safer than many places that Abbott permitted to reopen, such as chain restaurants and crowded grocery stores. She’s especially frustrated by the 51% rule, which allows places to reopen if they earn 51% or more of their revenue from selling food.
“A hot dog is not going to change whether COVID is going to be transmitted or not,” Worley said.
In the Texas Bar and Nightclub press release, Klein also scoffed at the 51% rule.
“It is absolutely ridiculous that a bar that serves ‘enough’ food is now allowed to open to 75% capacity, but regular neighborhood bars without the means to obtain new government permits or offer food items cannot open their doors at all,” he said in the statement.
This story was originally published September 17, 2020 at 8:02 PM.
