Dining in Lenawee

A TASTE OF NORMALCY

WHAT’S NEXT FOR LOCAL RESTAURANTS?

By Anissa Gabbara and Lorie Beardsley

After more than a year, the world is fi nally getting a taste of pre-pandemic life back, and simple pleasures like dining out have never tasted better.

As COVID-19 restrictions are easing in Michigan, restaurant owners are gearing up for what’s expected to be a busy summer with an exuberant crowd of customers — a stark contrast to the bleakness of 2020. Needless to say, restaurants, especially local ones, have su ered greatly amid the pandemic; some closing temporarily, and some closing permanently. But what’s next for the ones still standing?

Adrian restaurant goers are enjoying the loosening of restrictions, and local eateries are seeing success despite the vast number of changes that occurred throughout the pandemic. “We’ve been open since last September, [and] we closed down like three weeks after [Governor Whitmer] mandated that there would be no in-house service,” said Craig Asbury, who co-owns Miller’s Family Restaurant, located in Adrian, with his wife, Bonnie. “We just closed for the entire summer and reopened [in] September 2020 — that was 25 percent for fi ve months. Now we’re basically at 50 to 75 percent occupancy, and the restaurant is doing really well.”

Over at Jed’s American Grill, also located in Adrian, business is booming with no signs of slowing down. “We’re doing awesome,” said Brady Loughrige, main bartender and active manager. “After the fi rst time they eased up on all the COVID restrictions, we’ve been nearly packed every day.”

While things are looking promising for many restaurants in town, the e ects of the pandemic linger. With millions of Americans losing their jobs last year, some restaurants are still facing challenges, such as sta ng shortages. A look at the local job listings on Indeed.com reveals that open positions at local restaurants are in abundance.

“It’s hard to keep people wanting to work; it’s hard to be strict with employees because of the fact that they know they’re needed, and most of the people that are coming in to apply never even show up,” said Loughrige. Considering that the leisure and hospitality industries were hit the hardest, Loughrige, like many other restaurant workers, is working hard to bounce back from the economic devastation birthed by the pandemic. “Honestly, I like this job and I want to keep this job, so I’ve been working my butt o and I’ve just been getting it done the best way I possibly can,” he said.

Fortunately, Miller’s hasn’t experienced a sta ng shortage since they already had a smaller sta before the pandemic. Furthermore, Asbury says that his wait sta and cooks were eager to return to work. “They all wanted to come back to work rather than stay on unemployment.”

But the pandemic has put a hitch in his and his wife’s retirement plan. “We were thinking about selling the restaurant before the pandemic hit, but now that it’s hit, we’re going to have to hold onto it longer than what we had planned,” said Asbury. According to Loughrige, Jed’s still has a COVID-19 menu as food suppliers are struggling to deliver certain items. “Other than that, we’re running everything exactly the way we were running it prior,” he said.

Folks are looking forward to resuming their dining adventures while mingling with friends, family, and co-workers, and hitting up their favorite local bars and eateries for happy hour or a bite to eat. But as people seem to be putting the pandemic behind them, the void is evident in communities where thriving businesses once existed.

“I know a lot of restaurants that have closed down permanently just because they had mortgage payments, and their debt load was way more than mine was, so it’s a ected those restaurants in a way that hasn’t really a ected me,” said Asbury.

Opening a restaurant has long been viewed as entering a game that is extremely di cult to win. The common consensus is that 60 percent of new restaurants fail within the fi rst year, while 80 percent will fail within the fi rst fi ve years. A 2017 Forbes article challenged that failure rate, stating that “only 17 percent of restaurants closed within the fi rst year.” The article, citing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, did not address the closure rates after fi ve years.

Regardless of the discrepancy surrounding closure rates, opening a new business, especially a restaurant, is a daunting task even during the best of times. Sustaining a restaurant through a pandemic is an unprecedented challenge, a challenge that many restaurants could not endure.

Plus, businesses couldn’t have foreseen a crisis of this magnitude. The world seemed to change in an instant, and the challenges endured were unprecedented. But if there’s anything that the restaurant industry has taken away from the pandemic, it’s being prepared in the event of a similar situation happening again.

“I think restaurants have to think about this happening in the future, and possibly investing in drive-thru ability,” said Asbury. “I think restaurants as a whole are going to do great after we get 70 percent of the people vaccinated, and I think everybody will be comfortable with going out.”

Recently, additional help has been made available to restaurants and bars that have been impacted by the pandemic according to the LenaweeNow website: “Restaurants, bars, and other food and drink establishments across Michigan hard hit by COVID-19 are encouraged to apply for $28.6 billion in federal Restaurant Revitalization Fund direct relief being provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration under the American Rescue Plan. Registration for the funding will begin on Friday, April 30, 2021, at 9 a.m. EDT with the application itself opening on Monday, May 3, 2021, at noon EDT.”

Those who may be in need of more information about the Restaurant Revitalization Fund can visit sba.gov/restaurants in Spanish at sba.gov/ restaurantes. Business owners or residents who would like more information about any of the programs available to assist restaurants and bars throughout Lenawee County can visit enaweenow.org/covid19/

As restrictions are being lifted in Michigan, some restaurant owners are still leery of another surge of COVID-19 cases, and are proceeding with caution by keeping masks on. At Miller’s, the sta is still wearing masks.

“Some members of our sta don’t believe in the vaccine, so I’m not making anybody do anything they feel uncomfortable doing, but until I feel comfortable about the numbers, we wear masks because we just want people to feel safe when they walk in here, and I think our sta wearing masks makes everybody feel just a little bit safer,” said Asbury. He also adds that many of his customers still walk in wearing masks, but if they choose not to, he doesn’t scold them or send them on their way either. “People get to make up their own minds.”

After being in business for 33 years, Asbury is glad to see familiar faces returning to the Adrian staple. Both old and new customers have been fi lling seats at Jed’s, and according to Loughrige, they’re ready to ditch the masks. “They all want us to take our masks o , even before all this maskless stu came about. So I feel like customers and even the employees are more relieved,” he said.

As of May 2021, fully vaccinated Michiganders are no longer required to wear a mask in most indoor and outdoor settings. Moreover, the broad indoor mask mandate is expected to expire after July 1, 2021, and residents are thrilled. What’s Loughrige most excited about going forward? “I’m excited to be able to smile at my bar customers again,” he said. And for Asbury? “Retiring,” he jokes. “I still like to come to work. I’m happy where I’m at.”

A TIMELINE OF MICHIGAN RESTAURANT CLOSURES

By Lorie Beardsley

March 10, 2020: Michigan confi rms its fi rst two COVID-19 cases

March 16, 2020: Governor Whitmer fi rst closes restaurants for indoor dining. The restriction on restaurants was initially slated to last two weeks, but eight days into that initial order, a stay-at-home order was issued. Because they were deemed an essential service, restaurants were permitted to serve carry-out meals. The stay at home order would be extended until June 1, 2020, for much of the state.

May 18, 2020: Restaurants in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the Traverse City area are allowed to reopen with limitations of 50% capacity.

June 8, 2020: Restaurants statewide are allowed to open for indoor dining, with the 50% capacity limitation.

Nov. 15, 2020: Restaurants were permitted to remain open through mid-November of 2020, but then another order was issued. The Nov. 15 order came from MDHHS because the Michigan Supreme Court had previously ruled that the governor could no longer issue emergency orders directly. The MDHHS order closed indoor dining spaces once again.

Dec. 2, 2020: Justin Winslow, President and CEO of the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association, issues a public statement after the association’s attempt to prevent further extensions was denied in court. In his statement, he made the following points on behalf of Michigan restaurants:

The COVID-19 Outbreak Investigation data tracked by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) attributes approximately 4.3% of all outbreaks to restaurants statewide.

Approximately 250,000 employees are likely to be laid o from restaurants over the holiday season. Unemployment fi lings have more than doubled already from the week prior and are poised to get signifi cantly worse in the weeks ahead.

If the closure is prolonged and federal stimulus dollars are not made immediately available, upwards of 6,000 more restaurants will permanently close by spring. For the record, approximately 2,000 restaurants have already closed their doors permanently in Michigan in 2020.

Feb. 1, 2021: Michigan restaurants are allowed to reopen to dine-in customers. Though the news came with a caveat: more stringent capacity limitations – only 25 percent to a maximum of 100 patrons. There is a 10 p.m. curfew in place.

June 1, 2021: Vaccinated Michiganders do not need to wear a mask. Indoor dining capacities are 50 percent, but tables are no longer limited to six people or fewer and do not need to be spaced six feet or more apart. Curfews are lifted.