Restaurant and bar owners decry Gov. Tom Wolf's orders, encourage others to open

“Just open.”

The words, spoken by Joe Tambellini, resonated with dozens of restaurant and tavern owners who gathered in a parking lot outside of Al’s Cafe, a restaurant in Bethel Park, on Monday. They were there for a “Rights for Restaurants” rally organized by the restaurant’s owner, Rod Ambrogi, and politicians.

Tambellini, vice president of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Restaurant and Tavern Association, encouraged his peers to reopen their restaurants and bars.

“We’re allowed to be open — just open,” he said, as the crowd cheered. “Forget about the governor, forget about all these people. You got to talk to the other restaurants and bar owners — tell them to open.”

Tambellini, who owns Joseph Tambellini Restaurant in Pittsburgh’s Highland Park neighborhood, said every business owner shut down by mandates from the government has been tried, convicted and sanctioned.

“Without due process, without evidence and without reasoning to do it. You’ve already been tried and convicted,” he said.

Monday’s rally came a little over a week after Gov. Tom Wolf suspended all indoor dining. The restrictions, which are effective through Jan. 4, also cap indoor gatherings at 10 people, outdoor gatherings at 50 people and all other in-person businesses at 50% of normal capacity. Gyms, museums and theaters are closed.

Lyndsay Kensinger, a spokeswoman for Wolf, said the vast majority of establishments are following the governor’s new restrictions.

She said 84 restaurants across the state have been visited by food safety inspectors from the state Department of Agriculture since Dec. 12. Of those, 53 were closed.

“The 53 restaurants closed by order represent a tiny subset of the more than 40,000 retail food businesses licensed and inspected by the department, a number that doesn’t include the state’s most populous cities and counties whose health departments inspect restaurants,” Kensinger said in an email.

Kensinger also said the governor has advocated for economic relief for the state’s restaurant industry through urging lawmakers to pass the Restaurants Act.

“It’s not the fault of restaurant and bar owners or their employees that covid-19 spreads easily in these conditions — it’s the nature of the disease,” she said.

Restaurants and taverns that defy orders also risk suspension of operating privileges, said Shawn Kelly, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.

There have been 21 “covid-related suspensions” since the first was issued March 23, according to a list produced by the LCB. Most of the suspensions lasted two weeks and have been lifted; however, one remains for failing to provide the state a valid health permit.

The association Tambellini spoke for during Monday’s rally was formed in July shortly after state mandates restricted indoor dining to 25% of capacity but allowed outdoor seating. It touts attracting 200 bar and restaurant owners in the region to “to take our rights back.” It urges owners to sign a petition on Change.org that shows 9,625 signatures as of Monday.

“We as an association are asking the state to open us up, with the promise that we will follow the six-feet rule,” reads the petition. “We are committed to implementing all safety precautions, including sanitizing. Bringing our customers back to a safe environment is a priority for all of us.”

The association has been relatively quiet since August, when Ambrogi, the group’s president, gave Wolf an ultimatum: Ease up on restrictions or face defiance from eateries. The association later shied away from the ultimatum and instead waited for a sit-down meeting with Wolf.

That meeting never came, so some restaurants and taverns decided to defy the mandates and had patrons sign waivers.

John and Jamie Huemme, owners of Sharky’s Cafe in Unity, hosted a similar rally in May to protest a previous round of coronavirus-related business restrictions.

Jamie Huemme said Monday they didn’t attend the Bethel Park rally, and they’re not planning any new protests of their own — at least not yet.

The current shutdown is set to end Jan. 4. She and her husband are sitting tight until then.

“I’m hoping that that’s the timeline. Obviously if that goes longer, I think we’re going to have to put our heads together and figure out, where do we go from here?” she said.

In the meantime, she said the community has stepped up to help local restaurants, ordering plenty of takeout and even braving the cold to dine outdoors.

“People will sit out there with hats and gloves and scarfs and blankets and parkas,” she said. “People are willing to do whatever it takes to help local restaurants around here.”

State Rep. Bud Cook, R-Bentleyville, said Ambrogi called him Dec. 11, one day before the new statewide restrictions on gatherings became effective, with concerns.

“The first words out of his mouth were, ‘Bud, what am I going to do for my employees?’ ” he said, adding his concerns were not about whether he could stay open or about losing business.

“It was all about employees,” he said.

Cook said he plans to reach out to Wolf and request that he ends state of emergency declarations.

Other politicians, including state Rep. Bob Brooks and state. Reps-elect Carrie DelRosso and Eric Davanzo, all Republicans, participated in Monday’s rally.

“I agree — stay open,” DelRosso said, addressing the crowd.

Ambrogi’s restaurant, Al’s Cafe, was closed Dec. 18 for “providing indoor dining, providing bar service and removal of the closure placards,” said Allegheny County’s consumer alerts and closures website.

Ambrogi has decided to stay open and said all eatery owners need to band together to fight the covid restrictions.

“You guys have to do it. We have to unite, we all have to do it together. I’m just one person, I can’t do it by myself. It takes all of you … you gotta take care of yourselves, you gotta open up. You have to unite, show him we mean it,” Ambrogi said.

About 100 people are in attendance for a “rights for restaurants” rally at Al’s Cafe in Bethel Park, where elected officials and restaurant owners are calling on defying Gov. Wolf orders to close restaurants @TribLIVE pic.twitter.com/AjhbyD5HsV

— Shane Dunlap (@shanedunlap) December 21, 2020

Toward the end of the rally, Ambrogi introduced the crowd to Brandi Mikas, a restaurant server who founded a Facebook group — Adopt a Server — aimed at helping out those in the service industry. Ambrogi then gifted Mikas with $680 to keep doing what she’s doing.

Mikas said she has been a waitress for 26 years, 18 of which has been done as a single parent. She said the pandemic has been traumatic for her and her co-workers.

“There are people in the industry who are really struggling, who may not have back up as far as family or people to help them and whatnot. We need to survive. This whole pandemic — I don’t know why they’re targeting servers and the service industry,” she said.