McHenry County restaurant owners, workers divided on loosening COVID-19 restrictions

While staff at Expressly Leslie Vegetarian Specialties in Woodstock believe it is smart for Gov. JB Pritzker to keep McHenry and Lake counties in the tightest tier of restrictions meant to slow the spread of COVID-19, other local eateries are pushing for relaxed mitigations since the North Suburban region met the criteria to do so Tuesday.

The governor provided no indication in his daily afternoon news conference he would approve any public health region loosening from the current Tier 3 rules, which prohibit indoor dining at restaurants. The next step into more relaxed orders would be Tier 2 mitigations, which also would restrict indoor dining, but video gaming areas could host 25% of their normal capacities, among other additional allowances.

“I feel like we need to see where it’s going and not jump too far to conclusions, thinking we’re all going to be good,” said Amy Keyzer, an employee at Expressly Leslie, where indoor dining currently is not allowed.

Officials from both Woodstock and McHenry, along with the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office, have said they will not enforce the ban on indoor dining, as long as it is done with proper social distancing and mask-wearing, since the entire state was moved into the third tier of restrictions last month.

BBQ King in Huntley is one of many restaurants in McHenry County that made the decision to remain open for indoor dining despite the indoor dining ban, which first took effect in the county on Oct. 31. They are following all other guidance from the state, the restaurant’s general manager Collin Beck said Tuesday.

Beck said it feels unlikely that the state will loosen restrictions until after the holidays, given that the governor played it safe around the Thanksgiving holiday in anticipation of a spike in cases. Either way, they plan to stay the course of allowing indoor dining.

“My assumption is that the governor is probably going to play it a little safer and probably just leave it where it’s at,” Beck said. “For us business-wise, it’s moving forward. We’re just going to continue to move forward.”

Jenny Guasta, the owner of Windhill Pancake Parlor in McHenry, was on the fence about whether she would support an immediate regional move into Tier 2 mitigations, noting that Tuesday was only the first day Lake and McHenry counties were eligible.

While she admitted a relaxation would impact her business little, since it has continued to serve some indoor diners with social distancing in place and would likely continue to do so, the prospect of being allowed to let one customer into Windhill’s video gaming area out of the four who could normally play was exciting.

“They should allow gaming at 25% capacity, with the barricades, all the things in place for social distancing,” Guasta said. “I would love to legally reopen, without being worried that someone is going to darken my windows and close my door.”

But she understood that another resurgence of COVID-19 cases that could threaten Lake and McHenry counties being moved backwards again into tighter restrictions is a possibility if the economy is reopened too quickly, especially ahead of the Christmas holiday.

“If it’s a difficult decision for me to say, I could only imagine how the governor is feeling,” Guasta said.

As gambling machines are a significant source of revenue and an attraction enjoyed by his customer base, Beck agreed that he hopes the state will allow the use of these again soon.

A more cavalier approach is desired by Niko Kanakaris, owner of Niko’s Red Mill Tavern, which had its liquor license suspended by Woodstock Mayor Brian Sager earlier this month because it remained open past the city’s alcohol service curfew of 10 p.m. in November, since it was following the statewide curfew of 11 p.m., according to its staff.

“We need to get back to normal ASAP,” Kanakaris said. “Our sales are down 80%. So that means all our staff are affected also. We’re in the service business. We need to open. I don’t see anything showing that restaurants and bars are the cause of high spread of COVID-19.”

Mary Witt, owner of Isabel’s Family Restaurant in Woodstock, which also has chosen to seat diners indoors with social distancing and masking in place, said she is supportive of letting businesses open if they choose.

She suggested that restaurants that start to serve indoor diners, whether the move away from Tier 3 restrictions is made this month or not, keep managerial staff on site at all times so social distancing and limits on bar service and gathering can be monitored.

“If it’s to be opened more, you just have to follow guidelines, be respectable as much as possible with each and everybody,” Witt said. “I think each individual person, it’s up to them to decide, let them make their decision on whether to just do curbside [takeout] or come in.”

Witt doubted that a move into the looser Tier 2 rules for McHenry and Lake counties would help more people feel comfortable heading to restaurants for a meal, since the set of restrictions would still include a prohibition of indoor dining.

“I think people have already made up their mind whether they want to go out or not. People who are doing it will continue to do it, people who aren’t, won’t,” she said.

Although the Illinois Department of Public Health has said that the tiered mitigation measures are subject to change, a move to Tier 2 as it stands today would also mean that gatherings of up to 10 people would be allowed and capacity limits could begin to loosen for some businesses.

Beck said the state’s whole tiered mitigation system should be less confusing and more transparent so that businesses know what they’re up against.

“It’s very frustrating,” he said.