ARIZONA, USA — Restaurants in the Valley have been allowed to stay open while bars and nightclubs were asked to close.
Some bar owners expressed that the difference feels unfair.
The Arizona Department of Health Services released benchmarks on Aug. 7 that gave recommendations for highly trafficked establishments like gyms, movie theaters and bars.
Bar and club owners like Susan McLaughlin were upset to see that their doors could be closed for the foreseeable future.
“It means everything, I live to work,” McLaughlin said.
For the past 18 years, McLaughlin has owned the Rusty Spur in Old Town Scottsdale. For her, Friday nights were filled with music and energy.
Now, they're quiet. Since late June, the Rusty Spur has been closed per Gov. Doug Ducey’s order.
"It’s like being on forced retirement,” McLaughlin said.
Although coronavirus case numbers have decreased since Ducey's order went through, the recent updates have left McLaughlin upset.
“It’s discriminatory. Why is it that restaurants are allowed to remain open, serve the same public we serve and the same product and they don’t have to meet the same data benchmarks we have to meet," she said.
The difference between a restaurant and bar legally is the liquor license. Restaurant licenses require that 40% of their gross income would come from food. Bars don't have the food requirement, so they are considered differently in the AZDHS guidelines. Bars are ordered to stay closed until the case numbers fall below 3%.
“Restaurants are packed. They are packed with people consuming alcohol," McLaughlin said.
But, the guidelines allow for places like the Rusty Spur to reopen if they switch to a restaurant model and acquire proper licensing. McLaughlin said that she will make the switch but knows that some bars won't survive.
“Some of them will have to shut their doors forever,” she said.
McLaughlin said that she hopes her job will return to the one she loved before the pandemic but knows that it could be a long way off.
The state's plan allows businesses to apply for reopening despite not meeting necessary criteria but they have to go through an appeals process that often takes weeks.
