’There is a light at the end of the tunnel finally’

Move to Tier 1 lifts the spirits of Sauk Valley bar, restaurant owners

Matt Prescott was in the holiday spirit Monday, courtesy of the state of Illinois.

Prescott owns five bars and restaurants in the Sauk Valley, including the Candlelight Inn in both Sterling and Rock Falls, and Palmyra Pub & Eatery in Dixon.

Thanks to dropping COVID-19 positivity rates, Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health Monday lowered mitigation standards from Tier 2 to Tier 1 in Region 1, which includes Whiteside, Lee, Ogle, Carroll, Boone, DeKalb, Jo Daviess and Stephenson counties.

As a result, bars and restaurants can return to indoor service, and have either 25 customers, or up to 25% capacity, effective immediately.

Prescott plans to reopen the Candlelight Inns and Palmyra Pub on Monday, Jan. 25. While he’s happy to reopen his businesses, that wasn’t necessarily his biggest reason for joy: He’s happy there no longer will be a stigma against places that bucked the rules and remained open.

“It’s like Christmas in January,” Prescott said.

“My biggest win here is hopefully people stop looking at other people and treating them like they’re criminals for having their business open. They made a choice. Right now, people look at them like they’re a criminal because you’re not supposed to have people in your building. At least now, having people in your building isn’t a crime so they’ll stop looking at these other people that have to open. That’s their choice, and don’t treat them like a criminal.

“I made a decision to close. Other people make different decisions, because that’s what was best for their family and their team and their business. I’m really grateful that we’re not going to look at these other people now and say, ‘Oh, you’re a bad person.’ That’s a huge win for everybody in our industry.”


Linda Durham, owner of Alley Loop Saloon and Deli in Dixon, said dropping from Tier 2 to Tier 1 hopefully will end some confusion for her customers. After all, it was only Friday when the region went from Tier 3 to Tier 2.

“I’m very excited about moving back to Tier 1,” Durham said. “It’s also easier, because with Tier 2, they could come in and gamble, but they weren’t supposed to sit and eat. It was real confusing and hard to explain to the customers... It’s going to be a lot less stress for the owners.”

Monday afternoon, the grill at Alley Loop was fired up, and several customers sat at the bar and enjoyed a meal. Durham is hopeful her regulars and others will get in the habit of coming back in, although it will take some time.

“Usually what would happen is people come in, they’ll sit down, they’ll order the sandwich, maybe have a beer, then they’re leaving and taking it with them,” Durham said. “Now we don’t have to explain. We don’t have to worry. Honestly, it hasn’t been very busy, because people are leery about coming back. It hasn’t been packed with people. It’s been slow, but it’s good. Any business is good.”

Across the Beanblossom parking lot in Dixon is the Royal Palms. Owner Maria Burke had a patio area set up, complete with space heaters, to keep her business going before snow and cold weather put a halt to that.

She was able to open up inside on Saturday when the bar’s gambling machines were turned back on, and Monday’s news was another good sign.

“It definitely feels like there is a light at the end of the tunnel finally, with the vaccine coming and the numbers dropping,” Burke said.

“That’s great, because it’s been weird.”

Brian Weidman

Brian Weidman

Brian Weidman was a sports reporter for Sauk Valley News