Romeoville Resident: Pritzker's New Regulations 'Not Justified'

ROMEOVILLE, IL — The owner of Steve Buresh's Cheesecake Store & Sandwich Shop, a popular Plainfield eatery, is not pleased with Gov. J.B. Pritzker's decision to suspend indoor dining at bars and restaurants in Will and Kankakee counties as new coronavirus cases have increased in the region.

"These new mitigations are not justified," Steve Buresh said. "I agree. There are too many other places that can spread this. Why pick on us when we clean constantly?"

The governor made the announcement Monday, and the latest regulations will take effect on Wednesday. According to him, if the numbers improve, the harsh measures impacting the food and beverage industry could be eased in a few weeks.

Buresh said he already has the provisions for outdoor dining, but he recently hired new staff for indoor dining and now "it’s all a mess again." He said the restaurant has taken multiple safeguards to ensure safety since the pandemic hit in March.

"I'm very upset. I put so much money into barriers and cleaning products and thermometers and other protection. I need to make all that money back," he said. "I'm putting my own retirement money into keeping this dream alive."

In order to comply with the new regulations, Buresh has pushed all the tables together to create a larger pickup area to prevent groups of people from gathering outside.

Buresh is a Romeoville resident, but since he opened this restaurant six years ago, Plainfield has "become my second home," he told Patch in an earlier interview. Whenever the community has needed him, he has gone out of his way to help.

He said he does not know if the new rules will affect his lunchtime sales but, his diners are just as "mad" about this situation. He is asking his customers to "stay with me."

"All this doesn’t change the quality of my food," he said."Pritzker needs to focus on large scale places. Not us small cafes."

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