Returning to Normal
Florida Real Serious About Packed Bars
One Tallahassee bar got a near-death penalty, others suddenly changed their seating plans
Restaurants and bars live on drink sales. They may make more on the iced tea you drink than the meal you just ate. For our favorite nightspot, our meal generates a profit, but not enough to pay for live entertainment. Most likely, every patron would have to eat dinner just to cover the rent.
What happens if a bar can’t sell drinks?
Our favorite nightspot in central Florida serves good food, but they have a lot of competition. Most people go there for the drinks and music. The bar owner has been ultra-careful about following the 50% capacity limits and social distancing.
Others haven’t. The Knights Pub, a bar near the University of Central Florida in Tallahassee, was observed not following the 50% capacity order and not requiring patrons to be seated.
The state suspended their liquor license!
In their case, they closed because it appears that they don’t serve food. Their license was reinstated after a month. The owner claimed there was a misunderstanding, but I was not personally at the bar to see for myself. You can follow their story on their Facebook page.
A band member told me that another establishment in Orlando, who served both liquor and food, had their license suspended, too. I could not find any stories under the name he gave me. If accurate, they may survive with food sales — maybe.
City Fire, a bar and restaurant in The Villages, north of Orlando, has been ahead of the executive orders ever since the virus outbreak. Everyone has seats, limited to 50% capacity, no standing, live entertainment 5 days per week, and individual dance floors for each table. I’ve seen the owner actually measuring distances.
Even the microphone for karaoke wears a mask
They provide each singer with a microphone mask for the night and sanitize the microphone between singers.
Another similar establishment nearby wasn’t quite as diligent. They removed some of the chairs at the bar, but did nothing with their table density. They were still fairly close together. They were outdoors, so maybe they thought they were OK.
However, after the state started suspending liquor licenses, they changed their table floor plan last week.
I’m glad the state and businesses are taking the reopening plan seriously. The risk is too high not to.
