Warren Restaurants Try To Survive As New NJ Restrictions Imposed

WARREN, NJ — Warren restaurants are continuing to try and survive the pandemic as Gov. Phil Murphy announced his latest coronavirus restrictions.

Murphy announced Monday that bars and restaurants must close all indoor service by 10 p.m. and there will be no more barside seating as of Thursday. Outdoor dining, takeout and delivery services may continue beyond 10 p.m., and enclosed, heated outdoor tents can be put up outside. Read More: Gov. Murphy: NJ COVID-19 Numbers Going In 'Wrong Direction'

Johnny Gavukaj, manager at Lukas' Seafood & Grille at 61 Mountain Blvd., says the restaurant has been doing good since they were allowed to reopen in June, but taking into account the new restrictions will be a different story.

"We have been doing very good, but after this, we will not be good since we have to close earlier and not have anyone sit at the bar," Gavukaj said.

Gavukaj said the restaurant does have outdoor dining with heaters but that may not be enough.

"It depends on the weather," Gavukaj said. "We have heaters but today it is raining so we will see nobody."

Warren Mayor Mick Marion has also been expressing concerns for locals businesses since the beginning of the pandemic.

"Many [restaurants], while understanding the need to be vigilante, are very concerned about going out of business for good. This is a reality I've been warning about for a while and we'll need to be creative with out-of-the-box thinking to support them as well as others. This ultimately will be a two-prong fight against COVID-19 and one to make sure that our local economy survives," Marion said.

Uproot at 9 Mt Bethel Rd. also has been feeling the effects of the pandemic on its business.

"Everything has been OK. We are definitely, clearly losing business. We are down about 50 percent in revenue at the moment. We have been dealing with that and that was before the new restrictions were imposed," said Josh Grundfest, general manager of Uproot.

The 10 p.m. cutoff time won't affect Uproot too much since Uproot had already begun limiting hours to stay afloat.

"Since COVID to save money with payroll and food we already cut our hours," Grundfest said. "Quite honestly it doesn't affect us too much. The bar restriction will definitely hurt us. We will need to find alternative ways for our bartenders who will lose revenue."

Grundfest said the restaurant is also offering contactless take-out, which has definitely been helping.

"A lot more people want to eat out and take home these days. There has been an uptick in to-go, which has helped supplement the loss in in-house dining," Grundfest said.

Looking at other restaurants and bars near Warren, some are fearful they may not survive this winter with yet another new restriction.

"I am not happy. We've been holding up OK, but now we can't have anyone seated at the bar," said Meg Brown, bar manager at Thirsty's Restaurant and Tavern off Route 202 in Branchburg.

Brown has worked as a bartender at Thirsty's for 44 years and says she has "never, ever in my entire time here had to deal with such baloney."

"It's not good," Brown said. "When we first had to shut down on March 16 we were able to do take out only then outdoor dining. But the weather is going to be too cold. We had tents but this latest storm had blown down all the tents. ... It's not good. Hopefully we will get through this but we just don't know. It's a shame it really is."

Natalie Pineiro with the Downtown Somerville Alliance echoed Brown's sentiments.

"I think a lot of our businesses are currently struggling especially restaurants to figure out how they will make it through the next 4 or 5 months until they start rolling out a vaccine," Pineiro said. "The state is consistently pushing restrictions on businesses but hasn't rolled out relief for them in terms of easing up restrictions to allow businesses to continue outdoor dining."

In June, Somerville asked the NJ Department of Transportation for permission to close the state highway to allow more space for outdoor dining. That was rejected. Read More: Somerville Looks To Close Route 28 For Outdoor Dining

Pineiro said the alliance had even invested $30,000 to create extended space for outdoor dining in parking spaces but were told to remove them by the state in case of snow.

"We had set up wooden platforms and enclosures to separate diners from traffic. We had barricades as well, we spent a lot of money constructing those. And then we had to hire someone within 24 hours to remove them," Pineiro said. "It is not just devastating for businesses that had that extra seating but it was an additional expense to remove them."

The Alliance recently launched the DSA Small Business Rebound Fund for those who have suffered economic injury due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Applications for the program can be found at DowntownSomerville.com.

Additionally, Pineiro is questioning how the state's new restrictions will help contain the virus.

"I think there is no one that is happy about these new restrictions. We understand that there is a need to control the spread of COVID but I think there is a little bit of confusion about how closing a bar at 10 p.m. and preventing people from sitting at a bar will really resolve that issue," Pineiro said.

Salted Lime in Somerville took to Facebook to share their concerns over the new restrictions.

"We agree the health and safety of our guests and staff are paramount but the fashion in which NJ Restaurants are being singled out and forced to carry the weight of the pandemic prevention is idiotic. We're simply asking for better solutions to this problem other than us being the sacrificial lambs," according to a post by Salted Lime Restaurant.

Murphy announced Tuesday that New Jersey hit its highest daily case total since April – 3,877 – and the state's highest death toll since July: 21. Read more: Gov. Murphy Vetoes Coronavirus Bill, Signs 7 Others Into NJ Law

As of Wednesday, Warren is reporting 10 new positive coronavirus cases since last week. There have been a total of 229 positive cases and 16 deaths in Warren since the pandemic began in March.

Countywide, there have been 7,212 cases of the coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic. There have also been 525 confirmed deaths and 75 probable deaths.

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