On-Premise Dining Bans Enacted in Several States as COVID-19 Pandemic Spikes

As the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic surges in the U.S., governors continue enacting restrictions to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Over the weekend, the governors of Washington, Oregon, Michigan and New Mexico banned on-site dining at bars and restaurants for the next few weeks.

“This spike puts us in a more dangerous a position as we were in March,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said during a press conference Sunday. “And it means, unfortunately, the time has come to reinstate restrictions on activities statewide to preserve the public’s well-being, and to save lives.

“These were very difficult decisions that have very real consequences to people’s livelihoods,” he continued. “I recognize that and don’t take those impacts lightly, but we must act now and act quickly to slow the spread of this disease.”

In Washington, Inslee has required bars and restaurants, which include brewery taprooms, to close for indoor service for four weeks, beginning Monday. Outdoor service will be permitted during that time. Private outdoor social gatherings are limited to five people from different households. Indoor gatherings require participants to quarantine for 14 days before or quarantine for seven days and test negative for COVID-19 no more than 48 hours before the event.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has issued a two week freeze on all onsite bar and restaurant service and limited social gatherings indoors and outdoors to six people. However, Brown expects to extend restrictions in some areas after two weeks, and Multnomah County, where Portland is located, will pause onsite service for four weeks.

“Given the data and modeling we are seeing, my public health experts tell me that some counties will need longer to flatten the curve,” Brown said in a press release. “So I want to be very clear that there are some COVID-19 hotspot counties that will likely need to stay in the freeze for much longer than two weeks.”

Private social gatherings — both indoors and outdoors — in Oregon are limited to six people from no more than two households, and businesses are required to close offices.

In Michigan, a ban on on-premise service at restaurants goes into effect Wednesday and lasts through December 8, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said at a press conference Sunday. Private social gatherings are capped at 10 people from two households indoors; outdoor gatherings are limited to 25 people.

“We are in the worst moment of this pandemic to date,” said Whitmer, who was the intended target of an alleged domestic terrorism and kidnapping plot by an anti-government extremist group opposed to the restrictions she placed on Michigan to stop the spread of the virus. “The situation has never been more dire. We are at the precipice and we need to take some action. As the weather gets colder and people spend more time indoors, this virus will spread. More people will get sick and there will be more fatalities.”

In New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has banned on-site service at bars and restaurants until November 30. Retail stores’ capacity is capped at 25% or 75 people, whichever is smaller. Businesses found in violation face a $5,000 fine per day.

Other governors are adding different measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds Tuesday issued a statewide mask mandate and limited gatherings to 15 people indoors and 30 people outdoors. Masks are required when people are within six feet of each other for 15 minutes or longer and are not members of the same household.

City-level restrictions have been increased in some places. In Philadelphia, where indoor service did not return until early September, health commissioner Thomas Farley banned indoor dining for six weeks or until the end of 2020.

Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti Monday asked residents to stay home except for essential outings and reiterated California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s non-essential travel ban. Garcetti placed blame for the current uptick on get-togethers, rather than on restaurants or other businesses.

“People always ask me, ‘Mayor, what is the source of this? What stores? What industry?’” he said. “It’s really the gatherings that are happening on a social basis, casually.”

Gubernatorial executive orders have been met with pushback in some cases, but Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s ban on onsite dining at bars and restaurants in parts of his state was upheld by an appellate court last Friday, according to Law360. Geneva, Illinois-based Fox Fire Tavern filed a lawsuit against Pritzker’s executive order, but was denied an overturning of it in court.

In cold climates, breweries are gearing up to continue outdoor onsite service well into the winter. Portland, Maine-based Rising Tide shared plans to fill its patio with heated individual bubble tents.

Excelsior Brewing, based in Excelsior, Minnesota, has partnered with fellow Minnesota company Clam, a producer of ice shelters, to line its patio with six heated shelters. Each shelter can accommodate parties of eight.

Both breweries will accept reservations for their outdoor bubbles, which will be aired out and sterilized between parties.