Struggling businesses face new restrictions to fight coronavirus

SEATTLE - Restaurant and bar owners are voicing concern this week after Governor Jay Inslee revealed new guidelines to stop the spread of COVID-19.

For many, it’s a miracle they have survived this long, and some worry the new restrictions could make matters worse.

At Shawn O’Donnell’s Everett restaurant that shares his name, the pandemic cut nearly half his business. It’s been tough at his family’s two Seattle locations as well.

The updated guidelines mean ordering at the bar is now off limits and the booze stops flowing at 10 p.m. Games like darts or pool are canceled. Groups up to five can share a table inside, but now they all must be from the same household. Sharing a meal with a neighbor means sitting outside.

O’Donnell says his parking lot could mean customers have more options.

“Some people might think it’s time for everybody to come out, but we need everybody to feel comfortable about coming out and that’s going to be a vaccine,” he said.

The Washington Hospitality Association says the new guidelines, in addition to social distancing measures, limited capacity and a lockdown that sunk revenue, means some members have called to say they are closing for good.

“If we don’t get better, even more businesses are at risk in the next two weeks,” said association president Anthony Anton.

Changes, a small neighborhood bar in Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood, somehow held on. But after all the disruptions and requirements, owner Floyd McIsaac worries the effort may have been pointless.

“It looks to me like we may need to close again,” said McIsaac.

O’Donnell said pre-pandemic he had been planning to consider slowing down with work but now realizes he may be on the job for years to come. 

Many restaurants have also found successful streams of income focusing efforts on a to-go model.