When Centre County moves into the green phase of reopening on Friday, local bars and restaurants will be able to do something they haven’t for 75 days: allow customers to eat and drink on premises.
Restaurants and bars have been restricted to offering takeout, delivery or curbside pickup since March 16 as COVID-19 infections began to rise across the state. But in Centre and 17 other counties moving to the green phase on Friday, they will be able to allow patrons to have a seat. In fact, they must have seat — among the long list of regulations that come with opening up is that bars cannot have standing congregation areas.
Other requirements and guidelines include operating at 50% occupancy, providing 6 feet between parties at tables, requiring masks for customers entering and exiting (but not while seated), closing non-essential congregating areas, and a host of cleaning and hygiene guidelines for staff.
For bar seating, ‘a maximum of four customers that have a common relationship may sit together,’ according to the state guidance. Otherwise, there must be 6 feet of space between customers or groups.
‘There will certainly be challenges, but it is what it is,’ said Dante Lucchesi, general manager of Champs Downtown. ‘Everyone’s taken a hit from this, no matter what industry they’re in. Everyone’s adjusting, so it’s just about being agile right now and assimilating to whatever this new normal is.’
Champs Downtown, 139 S. Allen St., is planning to be open Friday, and earlier this week, as Gov. Tom Wolf confirmed Centre County would go green and specific guidance was handed down, Lucchesi and his staff were processing all the information to get ready to welcome customers back.
That any counties would move to green — the least restrictive phase of the state’s reopening process— before the end of the month seemed unlikely until just a few days before Wolf made it official last Friday. Then there was the uncertainty that ensued over the following days. Wolf said Centre County would have been included, but county commissioners asked to wait a week because of concerns about an undetected spread of infections before the June 2 primary. After a backlash from some business owners and community members, and discussion with the state health department to allay concerns, the commissioners reversed course and on Tuesday asked to go green on May 29, which Wolf obliged.
Lucchesi said he had initially contacted staff members and told them to get ready for June 5, but by Tuesday afternoon they were working to get ready for opening on Friday. Since then, they’ve been working to get everyone acclimated to ‘the new normal’ with the focus on safety of customers and staff.
‘Our goal is to set up the framework for a safe environment for our guests,’ he said. ‘We’re going to have areas people won’t have access to just to ensure social distancing. We really ask our guests to be responsible… Our job is to create a safe environment, and if people choose not to be safe within the environment, that’s something we’ll handle on a case-by-case basis.’
Champs Downtown will not be having live entertainment for now.
The bar’s sister location Champs Sports Grill, 1611 N. Atherton St., also will be opening to dine-in customers on Friday, as will fellow Happy Valley Restaurants properties The Phyrst, 111 E. Beaver Ave., and Local Whiskey, 107 E. Beaver Ave., Lucchesi said.
While a number of restaurants and bars are getting ready to open this weekend, others aren’t quite ready.
Hotel State College businesses — which include The Corner Room, Spat’s at the Grill, Zeno’s Pub, Bill Pickles Tap Room, Chumley’s and The Basement Nightspot — will not open on Friday. Curtis Shulman, director of operations, said the company is finalizing plans and is aiming to begin opening some of its establishments next week.
‘To do it safely and operationally sound, it’s going to take us a little bit of lead time,’ Shulman said. ‘We’re looking at a stretch goal of next week potentially and then we’re going to evaluate which properties we start with. We probably won’t go live with every one at once.’
All of Hotel State College’s businesses have been closed since March, but the company has kept busy offering weekly distributions of free meals and groceries, with support from other local businesses and artist Alyssa Wheeler, who has been selling custom prints of Happy Valley locales with proceeds going to the initiative.
Shulman said on Thursday that the establishments were reaching out to employees to determine each of their comfort levels with returning to work, as well as evaluating staffing needs.
‘We can’t operate at full capacity, so we’re not going to have to staff quite as much initially,’ he said. ‘We hope this phase is safe and efficient and we get to move on closer to the old ways in the future.’
The company has been working with multiple resources to get ready for reopening its businesses, including the Downtown State College Improvement District, National Restaurant Association and the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association. Hotel State College’s parent company, Pat Croce & Company, which bought the State College businesses in 2019, owns multiple restaurants in Florida that have reopened and served as a ‘sounding board,’ Shulman said.
State College Borough’s health code enforcement office also has worked with restaurants ‘to help get us to the point that we’re really comfortable with the practices that should be executed to have a safe environment,’ Shulman said.
He added that it will be challenging if customers disregard distancing and other regulations, but believes that will not be an issue.
‘I think our customers are responsible and will be happy to be back,’ he said. ‘And they’re going to understand that things are going to be different for a little while, but these are the steps we have to take to ensure we can get back to the way things we were. That’s the outlook we’re going to have and I think that’s how most people are going to treat it.’
Hotel State College is comprised of seven businesses on South Allen Street and West College Avenue in State College. Photo by Geoff Rushton StateCollege.com
The Hotel State College businesses aren’t alone in waiting a few days to reopen. The Shandygaff, 212 E. College Ave., announced on Instagram it will open at 8 p.m. on June 3 and Jax Bar & Kitchen, 128 E. College Ave., announced it will open at 5 p.m. on June 4. The Red Horse Tavern, 104 N. Main St. in Pleasant Gap, said it needs a week or so before it will be ready to open for dine-in. The Port Matilda Hotel and Tavern, 201 W. Plank Rd. in Port Matilda, plans to stay to-go only until at least June 1. Four Ways Pub and Eatery, 685 Pleasant VIew Blvd. in Bellefonte, will open for dine-in on June 5.
The Tavern Restaurant, 220 E. College Ave., will open Friday and encourages reservations. Faccia Luna, 1229 S. Atherton St., will be dine-in by reservation, with reduced hours, for the time being. Mad Mex encourages calling in advance to get on the wait list.
Otto’s Pub & Brewery, Federal Taphouse, HomeD Pizzeria, Gigi’s Southern Table, The Field Burger & Tap and Olde New York in State College; Kelly’s Steak & Seafood and The View Restaurant and Bar in Boalsburg; Naked Egg Cafe in Pine Grove Mills; Earlystown Diner and The Express Casual Dining in Centre Hall; Robin Hood Brewing Company, State Burger Co. and Governor’s Pub in Bellefonte; and the Hublersburg Inn are just some of the other restaurants that will open for dine-in on Friday. Check with your favorites for openings, hours and other special information as restaurants and bars adjust to the new guidelines.
For Lucchesi, like most business managers and owners, closing Champs Downtown for two and half months was difficult, but he is glad to bring staff back to work and customers back to the tables once again.
‘It’s been rough. We’ve been really anxious and we’re happy to get back at it,’ he said. ‘We had some pretty good momentum going in the (Penn State spring) semester and it just kind of took all the wind out of our sails, having to close down so abruptly. We’re just happy now to have the opportunity to open up again.’
Shulman said that making customers and staff feel safe and comfortable is his primary concern.
He is ‘hopeful and optimistic’ that local bars and restaurants are beginning a positive path forward, and that community members will have a renewed appreciation of downtown State College.
‘Obviously there’s been a financial strain on everyone and challenging times,’ he said. ‘But I think one of the biggest things people are missing is that emotional connection to socialize and go out. Whether that be with your family or going on a date with your significant other, going to a restaurant is significantly different than having dinner at home all the time.
‘I think theres going to be a huge void we can fill that’s going to make people fall in love with downtown again.’
