A Tale Of 2 Bars: One Allowed To Reopen, The Other Could Not

CONNECTICUT — The cozy neighborhood bar lined with stools and with a bartender serving up drinks inside is the kind of bar that cannot open in the age of the coronavirus.

Seeing a venue like Branford's Cue & Brew open for business had a reporter wondering.

Cue & Brew, a bar, restaurant and pool hall tucked away in an industrial area, is open because it has an open lounge area, with a scattering of tables away from the bar and booths dispersed on the pool hall floor.

But Café 9, the intimate downtown New Haven corner bar, beloved as a go-to music venue, is closed.

Per state rules, a bar cannot open if there’s staff working the bar, if there’s no Plexiglas or similar physical barrier at the bar between staff and customers, and if there’s not at least 6 feet of distance between parties with no standing, explained Scott Dolch, the Connecticut Restaurant Association's executive director.

“In other words, while bars as we traditionally know them are not open to the public, in many restaurants customers can still be in the bar area for dining provided these conditions are met,” Dolch said.

So Cue & Brew is welcoming customers and Café 9 is trying to keep the faith.

How one venue worked to reopen

Cue & Brew owner Joe Deluca been in business for 30 years. He said that after chucking “a couple of hundred pounds of corned beef” he ordered for St Patrick’s Day, he shuttered his establishment March 15.

"It hurt," Deluca said of the closure.

In the weeks before the phase 2 reopening, Deluca said his staff painted and “dusted every little thing, sanitized everything, washed rugs ... We did everything.”

They closed alternating pool tables, removed some tables and chairs, set the few remaining ones more than 6 feet apart and had paper menus printed. And more. Lots more: They sanitize every cue ball and pool stick.

“It’s a lot of work, but we’re doing it the right way,” Deluca said, turning on the lights inside the spacious venue.

“But it’s still tough. (Billiard) leagues don't want to come out. Had to cover the dart boards. Nobody can sit at the bar, so no more bar business,” he said. “But people tell me, ‘I’m glad you’re doing everything the right way. I feel comfortable coming in.’ So that’s good.”

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How one venue works to keep going while closed

Café 9 is more than a bar. It’s a deeply rooted and highly regarded New Haven live music venue. And it's still closed.

“We are trying to remain positive,” owner Paul Mayer told Patch.

Though customers cannot gather to hear live music with friends inside the State Street bar, Café 9 has kept the music going with Facebook Live and radio shows, and there's more to come.

Mayer said the state and Gov. Ned Lamont’s approach to stopping the spread of the coronavirus, while a crushing blow for his bar, was the right thing to do.

“Connecticut has done a good job at curbing the spread of the virus and although it's frustrating, we feel the governors decision to wait a bit longer for bars to reopen was the right one," Mayer said. “We want everyone to feel safe coming here and for our staff to be safe when we get back to business.”

Meanwhile, as Café 9 regulars and aficionados continue to miss the live music nightspot, Mayer launched a GoFundMe campaign, a virtual tip jar for out-of-work staff.

“Our staff has been placed on unemployment for the time being while daily business and music shows halt to deal with our greater good as a nation,” the GoFundMe reads. “This is going to be a struggle for all of us, but it will be especially hard for service industry folks like our staff whose majority of income comes from the always generous tips of our amazing music loving patrons.

“If you can spare a donation to the Virtual ‘Tip Jar,’ the funds will be equally distributed between our bar staff, sound engineers, maintenance and security staff as they are also out of work while our programming stops.”

So far, around $20,000 has been raised. But the the July 20 reopen plan did not go to plan. That said, Smith was at once upbeat and forward-looking, and imagined how things might have been.

“We all need to work together. We just wish there had been a coordinated national response from the beginning," Mayer said. "I think if there had been we would already be back in business and the virus would be in the rearview mirror."

GoFundMe is a Patch Partner.