Eli Cannon's Closes, Lays Off Staff Amid Coronavirus Concerns

MIDDLETOWN, CT — Instead of gearing up for the St. Patrick’s Day crowd and festivities last Tuesday, Eli Cannon's Tap Room owner Rocco LaMonica was still reeling from laying off his entire staff, including his father, and closing the restaurant the previous night. LaMonica said this St. Patrick’s Day, which was the 14th anniversary of the day he started working at Eli Cannon's, was the hardest day of his life.

On March 16, Gov. Ned Lamont ordered all bars and restaurants to close for dine-in customers to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. Restaurants are allowed to stay open for takeout, but after weighing all options, LaMonica decided to close and lay off all 30 staff members.

LaMonica, who bought the popular pub at 695 Main St. — known for its craft beer and food — with his wife Aubrey in July 2018, said heading into the restaurant at 7 a.m. on St. Patrick’s Day and not preparing for the “ensuing madness was strange to say the least.” Instead, what he saw, was “absolutely mind blowing.”

“My friends, the same ones who were just laid off with no end in sight, surrounded me and started helping with some restaurant projects,” LaMonica wrote in a post on Facebook. “Friends, brought Aubrey flowers yesterday after we had to tell them that they no longer had a job. Friends called, texted, emailed, social media messaged us showing support.”

LaMonica wrote that he worked alongside many of the people he had just laid off for the past 14 years.

“To say that this is embarrassing for me, to have to lay off my friends, including my own father, to take away income from 30 employees who have worked so hard for my wife and I, doesn't even do it justice,” LaMonica said. “You feel ashamed, you feel like a failure even if the circumstances are out of your control. The amazing response from the staff, customers and community helps to ease that burden.”

LaMonica said they had been preparing for the idea of closing about a week before Lamont’s order. Once they heard the news on March 16, LaMonica said he sat around a table with his wife, his father and their General Manager Lee Rapp to talk about what their next “plan of action” was.

“We debated staying open for takeout and not and what it boiled down to was that we didn’t know what the break-even point for takeout was,” LaMonica said to Patch. “We aren’t an established takeout restaurant like say Mondo (who is a great friend and has always been there as a sounding board for me when I'm struggling with decisions). What it came down to was, that it was more important for us to close down completely. To not only keep our staff and employees safe, but to set an example that this was serious.

“It’s easy for people to look at us closing with a ‘they can afford it they are Eli Cannons’ attitude. I have gotten that from multiple people in the last week or so, from friends and strangers alike, and while it’s an honor that we were able to take over an establishment that already has this successful mantra behind it, there is a lot that people don’t know about how we got here. My wife and I leveraged everything we own to take over this business because we believed in not only it, not only ourselves, but in this staff.”

All In The Family

Rocco LaMonica met his wife Aubrey while working at Eli Cannon's about six years ago and they have been working side-by-side every day since then. They bought the restaurant together on July 17, 2018.

Rocco’s father, Stephen LaMonica, is in charge of the building (the family also owns 695 Main St.). Rocco calls his father the “unseen lifeline” behind Eli Cannon's.

“He arrives every day at 6 a.m., fixes issues big or small, is responsible for any changes that you see when you come to Eli Cannon's now,” Rocco LaMonica said. “He is the most popular employee by far as the staff loves to converse with him and get stories out of him about my younger years. We have 10 tenants upstairs and 30 employees and all are directed to talk to Steve first about issues and problems involving the restaurant. It would be almost impossible if he didn’t come on board to join us. My dad had worked at his previous job for 30 years and once we bought the restaurant, he immediately came over to join us in our venture(s).”

Rocco LaMonica said the staff, especially his father, has been “impressively positive throughout this process.”

“We talked with every one of them individually, walked them through the process and have stayed in contact with them throughout this last week to 10 days,” Rocco said. “When we say that we love our staff, that is not to be taken lightly, we have a true bond with all of them... I have worked with some of them for the length of my time at Eli’s and some have even outdated me in longevity. Having to tell them that we are closing is not a pleasant experience and one I hope no never feel again.”

LaMonica said they have been selling gift cards with proceeds going directly to the staff, specifically to “help them in this time of need.” He said the response from their loyal Eli Cannon's family has been “enormous.”

“So many people have reached out, offered their support to my staff and to the restaurant that it was overwhelming at first,” LaMonica said. “It makes you realize what a special place that we have, a place that is not just a restaurant, but a family.”

They’ll Be Back

Rocco LaMonica said that while there are concerns about reopening the longer this goes on, they will be back.

“Of course, there is concern, of course there are sleepless nights, but when we sit down and go over everything, there is one thing that always ends the conversation,” LaMonica said. “We will be opening up the first day that we are allowed to.”

In the meantime, LaMonica said he has been extremely busy while his wife and 5-month-old daughter have taken the time to stay home and isolate.

“I have engaged in a couple pretty cool Eli Cannon's projects,” he said. “We are doing a complete kitchen remodel, down to the studs everywhere. We have refinished some old floors and walls in the booths, we have taken the time to get our back patio ready to open as soon as the weather gets warm.

“Besides staying busy, I have used this time to spend with my daughter and wife, being home for dinners with them has been the daily highlight in these days of uncertainty.”