Bradenton bar owners say they were blind-sided by order to close again due to COVID-19
Less than a month after Gov. Ron DeSantis allowed bars to reopen, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation announced Friday that effective immediately, on-premises consumption of alcohol at bars is suspended statewide because of a surge in new COVID-19 cases.
The announcement, apparently made first on the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s Twitter account, and shortly afterward by Rep. Will Robinson, R-Bradenton, on his Facebook page, caught local bar owners by surprise.
The mandatory closings come as Florida experiences a record-setting wave of new COVID-19 cases.
“We have all of our employees back at work, the PPP money is gone. Now we are in deep, deep trouble,” said Joe Harris, owner with his father, Sid Harris, of Papa Joe’s Sports Bar at 1242 Whitfield Ave.
As news spread that bars were closing, about 10 other bar owners called Harris to see what their next course of action might be. Harris was a leader in the Bradenton bar community, spearheading a petition drive and organizing a protest seeking to persuade the state to reopen bars back in May.
“We have been practicing social distancing and have had hand sanitizer on the bar. If restaurants with full bars are allowed to stay open, that is not fair,” Harris said.
Bobby Tingler, owner of the Anchor Inn Bar and Lounge, 3007 Gulf Drive, Holmes Beach, was caught off guard by the state’s announcement on Friday.
“I don’t know what we can do. They blame bars every time. It’s not fair. I can only get 32 people in here because of social distancing and we have never reached that level since we reopened,” Tingler said.
Bars have been allowed to sell mixed drinks to-go and packaged spirits throughout the pandemic.
Many businesses were ordered closed statewide in March to slow the spread of the pandemic, but retailers, restaurants and hotels were allowed to begin reopening in early May.
Lifting the bar restriction on June 3 was critical, bar owners said. Limited to to-go sales of mixed drinks and package sales, had pushed many to the brink of being forced out of business.
Friday’s announcement that Florida had hit 8,9842 new cases — imcludimg 166 new cases in Manatee County — may have been the trigger that led Halsey Beshears, director of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, to issue his order to bars.
“Noncompliance by bars and other vendors licensed to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises is suspected throughout the state to such a degree as to make individualize enforcement efforts impractical and insufficient at this time,” the order says.
The order applies to all vendors who derive more than 50 percent of gross revenue from alcoholic beverage sales. Vendors may continue to sell alcoholic beverages in sealed containers for consumption off the premises.
Businesses licensed as restaurants may continue to operate for on-site consumption of food and beverages at tables so long as they derive 50 percent or less of gross revenue from the sale of alcoholic beverages, according to the order.
This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 12:40 PM.
