The Bartolotta Restaurants, Milwaukee Public Market, Stone Creek Coffee, Colectivo Coffee among other local establishments are limiting operations to carry-out and curbside service in response to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
Starting after lunch service on Monday,
Bartolotta's will temporarily suspend dine-in service at all restaurants, according to a message from owner Paul Bartolotta.
Curbside service will be available starting Tuesday for dinner only at Harbor House, Ristorante Bartolotta, Bacchus,
Lake Park Bistro, Joey Gerard’s and both Mr. B's locations in Mequon and Brookfield.
"Throughout our nearly 27 years in the Milwaukee community, we have faced a number of challenging situations, but nothing like our reality today," Bartolotta wrote. "This was not an easy decision, but it is the right thing to do."
Milwaukee Public Market in the city's Historic Third Ward has suspended public dining and congregating until further notice, according to a news release Monday.
The majority of its 18 local vendors will remain open for takeout and delivery services.
"We want to stay ahead of the curve," said executive director Paul Schwartz in an interview with BizTimes Milwaukee on Monday morning. "As a high-traffic place, we just want to be extra sensitive to the risks and sensitivities to the virus."
Crossroads Collective food hall on Milwaukee's East Side will also transition to delivery and curbside pick-up only, starting later this week, according to a tweet Monday afternoon from Tim Gokhman, director of New Land Enterprises.
Over the weekend,
Stone Creek Coffee announced it would temporarily close its 13 store locations, effective Monday after 5 p.m. The business will continue wholesale and e-commerce operations.
As of Monday,
Colectivo Coffee has limited all food and beverages orders to carry-out only. In-cafe seating areas are closed and all transactions are cashless.
As of Monday afternoon, a handful of states have ordered bars, restaurants and other public gathering venues to temporarily close in an attempt to enforce preventative social distancing measures. They include Ohio, Illinois, California, Michigan, Washington, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey. However, it appears restaurants in those states can continue take-out service.
If similar orders are put in place in Wisconsin, restaurants must be prepared to adapt in order to stay in business, said Kristine Hillmer, president and CEO of
Wisconsin Restaurant Association. Gov. Tony Evers on Monday ordered a ban on gatherings of 50 or more people in the state, which will impact the state's bar and restaurant industries.
Hillmer said the goal is to help operators maintain business operations for as long as possible while making decisions that keep them, their staff and customers safe. That could mean thinking outside of the box and implementing alternative dining options such as curbside pick-up or makeshift drive-thrus.
"To completely shut down our restaurant businesses, there will be a lot of folks who won't be able to reopen," said
Susan Quam, executive vice president of WRA. "We're trying to help them maintain this cashflow so they can remain open and be there for when we get through this crisis."
Omar Shaikh, local restaurant industry mogul and co-owner of
SURG Restaurant Group, told BizTimes Milwaukee that the business' dining concepts remain open for now but will limit dining capacity, abiding by Evers' ban on gatherings of 50 or more people.
All menus, chairs, tables and door handles will be sprayed down in between customers. For those who don't want to dine-in, carry-out and group catering services are available, he said.
Delivery and take-out services alone can't sustain a full staff, which is why the restaurants are staying open for now.
"We're just going to play it by ear," Shaikh said.
Mequon Public Market, which opened less than a year ago at the Spur 16 mixed-use development on West Mequon Road, has not officially closed but is marketing its delivery and pick-up options to diners.
Eight of its 10 local vendors offer take-out and delivery services directly or through UberEats, DoorDash or GrubHub. Anodyne Coffee Roasters and Purple Door Ice Cream offer pick-up service.
Curbside pick-up is available at the adjacent St. Paul Fish Co. The development's two fitness studios, Yama Yoga and Club Pilates remain open for small group and private classes.
"Your orders could make the difference in keeping our businesses open," said owner and developer Cindy Schaffer. "We need to eat and stay healthy and we are hoping that streamlining our pick-up and delivery services and providing small group and private yoga and pilates classes will be beneficial to all."
Restaurant and butcher shop
Bavette La Boucherie is a tenant at Mequon Public Market and operates its original location in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward. Owner and James Beard Award nominated chef Karen Bell said Monday is likely the last day of normal operations for both locations, before transitioning to carry-out and delivery only. Curbside pick-up would also be available by request.
Bell plans to slightly adjust the menu to better accommodate to-go orders. "Meat boxes" will be available for those who want to cook at home.
The business will have to scale down its staff to a "skeleton crew," said Bell, but she plans to explore multiple options to keep operations going. Shutting down is the worst case scenario.
Profit margins are already tight for a small restaurant business like Bavette, so paying staff isn't possible without steady cash flow. Bell said it will be helpful for the government to lend its support during this difficult time.
"It's not just the restaurant, which is important, but there's staff and a large web of people from purveyors and producers and distributors-- everyone is affected," she said.
