Photo courtesy of Tavolino
For the owners of the new Tavolino restaurant near the corner of North and Murray avenues, it was both good and bad that they hadn’t yet officially opened their doors when the coronavirus outbreak shut down Wisconsin’s economy in mid-March.
On one hand, it helped that they didn't have a large staff they’d have to continue paying while limited to a carry-out business. On the other, it hurt that they had eventually to open at a time when social-distancing restrictions have prevented them from making full use of their restaurant.
“Since we've never been an existing restaurant, we don’t really have a presence or a following,” says Peter Dietrich, an owner of Tavolino. “We have to showcase our brand. We want people to start talking about the atmosphere and food and service and wine and the entire experience.”
Tavolino is just one of many businesses struggling to find ways to stay afloat amid continuing restrictions meant to slow the spread of the deadly virus. Starting on Wednesday, July 1, restaurants and bars could begin filling their establishments to 50% of their capacity, up from the previous limit of 25%. Yet even with that increase, making enough money to pay staff and rent and keep the lights on has been a struggle. Then there’s the looming threat that too quick a relaxation of the rules will result in yet another outbreak and another government-mandated shutdown.
Dietrich says he and his partner, Derek Nackers, had originally intended to open Tavolino on April 9. That plan was dashed St. Patrick’s Day weekend, when Gov. Tony Evers announced he was closing all but “essential” businesses to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Restaurants and bars did not make the list.
Meeting Expenses
In the beginning, Tavolino’s newness was a blessing. Although the restaurant had taken over its space from an established business—the former Divino Wine & Dine—it had yet to hire and train the staff needed for its grand opening. Dietrich was able to use money secured from a federal Payroll Protection Program loan to meet basic expenses while eking out some business by running a carry-out and curbside service for its neighboring establishment Izzy Hops.
Dietrich says he initially thought the shutdown would only last a couple of weeks. That hope quickly floundered.
“From the end of April to the beginning of May, you would just come in and see that nothing in the restaurant had changed,” he says. “And you’re just trying to be mindful that you are not spending money unnecessarily because the cash flow just wasn’t there. So there were some long days.”
Following its official opening in late June, Tavolino has become one among a myriad of businesses that are struggling to find ways to both serve customers and keep them safe. For Dietrich, the precautions have included taking temperatures before allowing employees to set foot on the premises, distributing bottles of hand sanitizer throughout the restaurant, buying single-use food and cocktail menus, instituting strict cleaning policies and insisting that staff wear masks at all times. The capacity limits are being adhered to in part through a reservation system that implicitly asks guests to make room for others by leaving after a reasonable amount of time. Walk-ins will still be seated but only if the restaurant hasn’t exceeded its capacity limit.
Another Shutdown?
Most of these policies follow guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and other federal agencies. Still, according to some observers, they don’t go far enough. Milwaukee officials are now considering requiring the use of masks in public places. Then there’s the increasingly strong chance that the recent rise in new coronavirus cases will lead to another broad shutdown.
For many business owners and operators, the best way to prevent such an outcome is simply to do everything in their power to keep customers safe. KC Swan, manager of the Swingin’ Door Exchange restaurant and bar in downtown Milwaukee’s Grain Exchange building, says the precautions he has helped put in place include putting out bottles of hand sanitizer and setting up an in-and-out system that ensures all condiments and menus are taken into the back and cleaned between uses. Unlike Tavolino, the Swingin’ Door is not insisting on reservations. Instead, Swan asks guests who show up when the restaurant is at capacity to either wait outside or in the Grain Exchange building’s lobby.
With an official capacity of 80, the initial 25% limit left room for only 20 guests at a time. Swan says that constraint led to some awkward moments when he had to ask lingering patrons to consider moving to make way for others.
“It’s hard to do,” he says. “But especially when there’s another customer who’s been waiting, sometimes you have to make that hard, polite ask.”
As Swan and his wife, Shelly Sincere—the owner of the Swingin’ Door—slowly reopen their business, he says he couldn’t have made it through the pandemic with his experienced staff without aid from the federal government. True, he says, the Swingin’ Door began doing a better-than-expected carryout business once the strictest limits on restaurants and bars were lifted. But that in no way would have been enough to keep his staff of nearly 35 employed if he had not received help from the federal Payroll Protection Program. In the end, he lost only two employees to other employers.
“I can’t imagine what it’s like for those bars and restaurants that didn’t get it,” Swan says. “How do you pay your rent? How do you pay your utilities? It’s got to be difficult.”
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