After weeks of restaurants and other businesses lobbying for it, the city of Milwaukee finally passed and put into effect a mask mandate.
MKE Cares was signed by Mayor Barrett in the Bay View district of Marina Dimitrijevic, the alderwoman who introduced the mask mandate proposal. Appropriately, the signing took place in front of Goodkind, an independent gem of a restaurant and bar. They’ve been selling bandana masks from early on in the pandemic, have chosen not to open for dine-in yet, and were one of the signers on the letter to the Mayor supporting a mask mandate.
The mandate requires anyone over the age of 3 to wear a mask in any indoor public spaces, as well as outdoors within 6 feet of someone not in their household. While the regulation affects all businesses open to the public, it is most welcomed by restaurants, where mask wearing has been a flashpoint. Now, customers will be fully aware of what;’s expected of them before they go to a restaurant, hopefully avoiding hostility.
The mandate puts the onus on businesses to enforce the rules. Instead of law enforcement policing the mandate, the Milwaukee Health Department is in charge of enforcement. Businesses that don’t comply with the ordinance can face fines up to $500, or even license revocation. So now if a customer refuses to wear a mask, they could be harming the business itself, not just the health of its employees and other customers.
Reasonable Safeguards
Hopefully that will be enough to convince anti-maskers to put one on.
Customers will need to have a mask on from the time they step inside until they’re seated at their table. Anytime they get up from their table, like to use the restroom, grab something from their car, or place an order at the bar, or leave after their meal, they’ll need to put it back on. Some restaurants are requesting that customers also use their mask when they’re speaking to their server, which is a reasonable and easy way to safeguard their health. Though, speaking from experience on my first restaurant experience since March, it’s easy to forget to put it back on when your server approaches your table, so try and be mindful and remind your group.
Outdoor patios of restaurants are considered by the city to be part of indoor businesses, so the mask mandate applies there as well. Once you are seated on a patio, then you can remove your mask.
It will be interesting to see how enforcement is handled as weeks progress. Will we see that BIPOC-owned restaurants are warned or fined by the health department more than white-owned businesses? Will there be discrepancies because of mask access or location? Are there any repeat offenders that refuse to comply, and how are they handled? Time will tell, but the mandate is a step in the right direction.
More Restaurants Close
There has been a recent flurry in temporary restaurant and bar closings as employees and customers have tested positive for COVID-19. When an employee tests positive, the health department does not require the restaurant to shut down. However, most restaurant owners are taking the situation seriously and choosing to close for various lengths of time to deep clean the restaurant and get employees tested. Places that are temporarily closed include: Barnacle Bud’s, Snack Boys, Boone & Crockett, Stubby’s, Sabatic and the Zocalo Food Park.
Other spots have decided to close indefinitely and face an uncertain future. Both Comet Cafe and Fuel Cafe in Riverwest have closed for the foreseeable future, citing economic conditions due to the pandemic. Burnhearts is now closed “until this virus is under control.”
And finally there are more restaurants that have closed permanently. Samano's in Cudahy, Walt's Sandwich Place in Wauwatosa and Asian Papayoyo are all closed. Joining them is Fauntleroy, the rockstar-by-way-of-France concept from Dan Jacobs and Dan Van Rite, which only opened two years ago and was known for its burger special and modern takes on French classics. Posting on Fauntleroy's Facebook page, Dan Jacobs stated, “I never imagined having to make this announcement anytime soon and it's truly devastating to do so, but Dan and I will be closing the doors to Fauntleroy for good on Saturday [July 18th], after service. While we will be moving on to the next chapter, we are really proud of what we were able to accomplish over the last two years.”
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