McWethy's Tavern: Restrictions 'Severely Damaged' Our Industry

ROMEOVILLE, IL — "It was disheartening when our industry was severely damaged in the process of trying to mitigate COVID-19," said Jim Koklas, director of food and beverage at McWethy's Tavern, who had to keep his indoor dining rooms shuttered until recently.

But as state officials lifted some coronavirus restrictions and allowed Will County restaurants and bars to resume indoor service at 25 percent capacity, the popular Romeoville eatery once again began welcoming guests Thursday.

"We're very pleased with the decision, and that we can begin trending towards opening and getting our business off of the ground again," Koklas said. "As many restaurateurs can probably agree, restaurants are one of the most relegated industries in the country, and have always been at the forefront of sanitation protocol. We're just happy to be back."

Gov. J.B. Pritzker had imposed Tier 3 restrictions across the state last fall when coronavirus cases were surging. Koklas said it was sad for him to see restaurants closing every day due to financial hardships.

"I've seen friends thrown out on the street because of it, losing their livelihoods and sense of security. And this was done without any sort of plan from our leaders, which is unfortunate," he said. "We were forced to tell our employees that we were not an essential business as defined by the state. How do you tell someone that?"

He said that other states "have done a fantastic job in keeping their economies open" in a safe manner and giving residents an option to venture out or not if they felt safe.

"I don't want to undermine the severity of this virus, and understand that families have been affected by this directly, but the cure cannot be worse than the disease," Koklas said. "People's lives have been negatively affected by COVID-19, whether directly or indirectly, and there was no consideration for some of those people. It's sad our state played 'politics' with their handling of this instead of doing what’s right for the greater good of our state."

Going forward, the restaurant will operate at 25 percent capacity and open all three of its dining rooms to accommodate more guests. Koklas said their sanitation standards have been at a high level even prior to the pandemic.

"We take the extra time to sanitize our tables and chairs between each seating which are our 'high touch' areas, our tables are at least 6 feet socially distanced from the next one, our staff wear facial coverings throughout the entire shift, and we take temperatures upon their arrival and on their departure," he said. "We are confident that we can serve our guests safely at all times when they dine with us. This is what restaurants and restaurateurs do, they feed people and their families, and do it safely."

Because of this, Koklas said he believes they can "truly invite many more guests." The entire year has been detrimental as a whole because "our industry was made to look like the cause of COVID-19 spreads, and I don’t think that’s true at all," he said.

"The state should have the confidence that we can, and will do our jobs, to ensure the safety of all people entering our restaurants," Koklas said. "Let's be frank, outdoor dining in the middle of winter in the Chicagoland area when temperatures are 30 degrees or lower is not a pleasant dining experience in my opinion. Especially if you’re forcing me to sit in a tent or in a parking lot, it just doesn’t make any sense to me at all. This, to me, is just another slap in the face to our guests and our industry."

The past year has been challenging for most eateries and McWethy's Tavern was not immune to that. When Koklas found out that they would have to close on March 17 because of the governor's orders, he knew they had two options — they could either feel sorry for themselves or take this challenge "head on and reinvent ourselves."

"We started by tapping into our resources and vendors, and began taking orders from the community for bread, milk and eggs when the shortages of these items hit the grocery stores early on," he said. "We passed along the same price we purchased these items for, so we did not make a single cent of profit in doing this but felt this was the right thing to do for our community."

They also launched virtual cooking classes and offered themed carry-out nights with some crowd-pleasing items such as friend chicken, sliders etc. They even started organizing movie nights and sold chef-made frozen TV dinners.

"We never want to be stagnant," Koklas said. "Throughout the pandemic, and initial closures, we put many ideas out to the community and have seen the positive results of those ideas come back in the form of new guests dining with us, whether carry out, outdoor or indoor dining. We’ve made quite a few new friends through this process and are anxious to continue that relationship with them."

Koklas and his team are "thrilled" to have guests dine with them.

"We hope that McWethy’s Tavern can give you a little bit of hope in enjoying a nice meal away from the outside world," he said. "We want you to release your minds of all things negative, and let us be of service to you and your families once again."

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