After more than a year of coronavirus-related restrictions on capacity and hours of operation, restaurants in St. Louis and St. Louis County were permitted to reopen without rules this week but at least one restaurant owner says lifting pandemic restrictions doesn’t change much because social distancing requirements are still in place under the new Reopen STL public health order.
“The Missouri Attorney General was threatening to bring lawsuits against St. Louis city and St. Louis County over the restrictions, which have been some of the harshest in the state,” said Paul Duffy, owner of Mike Duffy’s Pub & Grill. “They say we are allowed 100% occupancy but it really isn’t because we still have to adhere to social distancing rules of staying six feet apart.”
St. Louis County Executive Sam Page and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones held a joint news conference to announce the news last week, according to media reports, but masks are still required indoors regardless of vaccination status.
“Patrons are supposed to wear a mask when they come in but then as soon as they sit down, they can take it off,” Duffy told the St. Louis Record. “It’s just so goofy. When you go to the bathroom, you have to wear your mask but if you're sitting at the table, everything's okay and you can take the mask off.”
As of May 11, 4.1 million first and second doses have been administered statewide, according to Missouri’s COVID vaccination dashboard. In St. Louis County alone, 718,327 doses have been distributed.
“Business has definitely picked up and people are anxious to get out,” Duffy said. “Diners who have been vaccinated feel very safe. Our entire staff has been vaccinated but when it all comes down to it with the social distancing still in place, we’re at about 50% capacity.”
What does help Duffy’s business, he says, is the fact that time constraints requiring restaurants to close at midnight have also been lifted.
“Being able to stay open later helps a lot because, within the restaurant industry, we get a lot of people walking in later who work at other restaurants who want to grab a couple of drinks after they finish their shift at a different restaurant,” Duffy added. “It helps our bartenders and servers with extra tip money.”
As previously reported in the St. Louis Record, Duffy was among some 40 restaurant owners who filed a lawsuit against Emily Doucette, acting director, and chief medical officer of the St. Louis County Department of Public Health, St. Louis County, and County Executive Sam Page in an attempt to overturn St. Louis County’s coronavirus prohibitions on indoor dining.
The restaurant owners lost their lawsuit on appeal when the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District denied their bid for a writ of mandamus, which would have forced the trial court judge John Lasater to grant a temporary restraining order against the county.