Business owners, hospitality leaders upset with Minnesota restrictions remaining under new order

Bars, restaurants and breweries in Minnesota will have to remain closed for indoor service until Jan. 11 under the new executive order announced by Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday. Outdoor patios can reopen at 50% capacity.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS spoke with several bar and restaurant owners who said the continued restrictions are yet another blow to their industry.

"We’ve lost four months. We’ve lost a third of the year," Jason Simmering, owner of Doherty’s Tavern in Prior Lake, said. "Nobody knows where this is going to go or how long he’s going to keep this going. He extends it two weeks, then he extends it four weeks. A lot of people aren’t going to survive if this goes until spring."

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Simmering said opening patios will not help much in December in Minnesota, with the weather expected to keep getting colder.

Doherty’s Tavern plans to comply with the order, but with no revenue, they cannot afford to pay some of their bills or employees.

"I feel like, until you’ve been in somebody’s shoes like ours, you really don’t understand how hard it’s been," co-owner Erin Simmering said.

A number of bars and restaurants in Minnesota decided to defy the governor’s order and reopen Wednesday, including Alibi Drinkery in Lakeville.

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A 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS camera was there at 11 a.m. as the bar fully reopened for indoor service. Almost every seat inside was taken, with a line forming at the front of the business as well.

"We have had overwhelming response from hundreds and hundreds of people across the state of Minnesota, across the country, to keep the fight up," co-owner Lisa Zarza said.

Business owners who violate the executive order could be fined up to $25,000 per occurrence and face imprisonment of up to one year. Violating businesses could also lose their liquor licenses.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison issued the following statement:

"I’m asking all businesses affected by executive orders to comply with them voluntarily — which the vast majority of Minnesota businesses are already doing. I’m also asking businesses that are considering reopening in defiance of executive orders not to do it. You’re putting people at risk. People will get sick and die because of you. Not only from COVID-19: if someone has a heart attack or a stroke or a car accident and dies because they can’t get an ICU bed that’s being used by someone who got COVID at your establishment, or got it from someone who got it at your establishment, that death is also on you. I know COVID-19 is an economic crisis as well as a health crisis. I’m glad the Legislature passed a relief package for businesses and workers that Governor Walz is signing today. Congress is finally close to approving a relief package as well. And hopefully vaccines will be widely available soon. But right now, Minnesota’s ICU and non-ICU hospital beds are 90 percent full. Right now, bars and restaurants reopening for on-premises indoor service is the wrong way to solve the economic crisis: it’s dangerous and puts neighbors, loved ones, and whole communities at risk. My office and our partners at the Departments of Health, Labor and Industry, and Public Safety are working together to keep Minnesotans safe and help businesses and workers weather this crisis. The vast majority of businesses that we have worked with are complying with executive orders because they understand their responsibility to keep people safe and care about their customers, employees, and communities. Using our enforcement tools to force compliance on the few that are not complying or are threatening not to comply is a last resort, but we will use them when we need to."

Customers at Alibi Drinkery told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS they plan to continue supporting the businesses that are reopening.

"We want to let freedom ring. We want to have freedom, that’s why," Gary Shade, of Apple Valley, said. "I’m just tired of this stuff. We’ve been on lockdown of some type for nine months. Enough’s enough."

Hospitality Minnesota is also asking the governor to reconsider the closures. President and CEO Liz Rammer provided this statement:

"With the news coming from the media, we are gravely disappointed by the Governor’s decision to extend the closure of restaurants into the new year. Since March, we have been at the table, in good faith, making the case that hospitality businesses are able to operate safely, balancing public health and economic viability. The state’s very own data supports our case, and they have been unwilling and unable to show us the analysis that says otherwise. As you will see in the attached letter we, again, made an ardent plea to the Governor to allow businesses to open up to 50% when the most recent closure order was set to expire on Friday. Today’s plea to the Governor is to reconsider his decision to extend the closure. The tide is turning, as we have witnessed all week as more and more businesses are willing out of desperation to risk fines and penalties to save their livelihoods. Hospitality is a force for good in our communities, and the Governor and his administration would be wise to leverage that force, rather than watch it flicker out."

The Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association, which represents Minnesota’s small, family-owned liquor retailers, both on-sale (bars and restaurants) and off-sale (liquor stores), provided this statement:

"Today Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will announce continued full closure of indoor service at Minnesota’s bars and restaurants. Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association Executive Director Tony Chesak issued the following statement in response. Today’s news is not only devastating, it’s shameful and unjust. Minnesota’s hospitality industry has complied in good faith with mask mandates, limited service, and yet has only seen 1.76% of COVID cases tracked back to bars and restaurants. The data driving the decisions is not transparent to the public and isn’t being used to make our collective actions smarter or safer for all involved. Governor Walz’s order continues blanket rules that are resulting in the near elimination of an entire industry, employing thousands of Minnesotans. The paltry offering of limited outdoor dining in the middle of a Minnesota winter doesn’t even begin to make up for the forced closures. While Governor Walz’s dials turn, more and more of Minnesota’s restaurants and bars will be forced turn their lights off permanently."

During his announcement, Walz said "We’re keeping our hands on the dial," "We are not out of the woods. You need to continue to do those basic things and the reason for it is we cannot overwhelm the health care system."