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Bucks County restaurant defies PA indoor dining ban
Dawn Timmeney reports on a Bucks County restaurant trying to stay afloat by staying open for indoor dining
QUAKERTOWN, Pa. - In Pennsylvania, some restaurant owners say they have no choice but to keep indoor dining, despite Governor Tom Wolf’s ban against it. A number of restaurants are defying the latest order and they are taking to social media.
The beer is flowing and food being served at The Proper Brewing Company on West Broad Street in Quakertown. Seems like a typical night, except indoor dining is banned again in Pennsylvania.
“We feel it’s unfair for them to point their fingers at us, since we’ve been doing all the safety protocol since July, complying with everything they asked us to do,” explained owner Brian Wilson.
So, after much consideration, Wilson decided to keep offering indoor dining, despite the governor’s order.
“We’re not rebels. We’re just trying to make a living for ourselves and our employees,” Wilson went on.
Employees, he says, are like family and to lay them off two weeks before Christmas was too much.
“For me to just say, ‘I can’t help you provide for your family any more,’ I couldn’t do it,” Wilson stated.
Matt Matusek is a regular and questions the latest round of restrictions.
“It’s the local people that suffer in this. Nobody else. If Walmart can be open, Home Depot, Lowe’s – they deserve to be open, too,” Matusek said.
The Centers for Disease Control considers indoor dining with reduced capacity and tables spaced at least six feet apart to be higher risk. The agency released a study in September that showed adults who tested positive for COVID-19 were twice as likely to report dining at a restaurant.
“They’ve been following the rules from day one. Let’s be honest, there’s nothing going on here, besides people coming out, eating dinner, living their lives, following the rules,” Matusek added.
Wilson says he appreciates the support and feels people should be able to make their own decisions.
“We built this place ourselves. We worked our butts off. I’m not just gonna – I gotta fight. I gotta keep fighting,” Wilson said.
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