St. LOUIS (KMOX) - Some family-owned St. Louis County restaurants say they're suing County Executive Sam Page over the ban on indoor dining that goes into effect Tuesday.
Bartolino's posted on Facebook that it is partnering with other restaurants to sue Page, calling his order "overreach, arbitrary and irresponsible." Bartolino's South owner Michael Saracino tells KMOX there are dozens of other restaurants involved.
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Saracino says the litigation is to right a wrong, and adds, while he has the utmost respect for the pandemic and those who have died, he feels restaurants are being vilified unjustly.
Saracino says with the holidays approaching, the new restrictions will not only hurt the restaurants, but the employees too, and he says that's what they are fighting for.
During the first lockdown, Saracino says there was supplemental unemployment compensation and the paycheck protection program for employers, but that money is not there now. "There's no other government subsidies that are available out there that would help us get through this period."
Saracino says his big concern is that surrounding counties, St. Charles, Jefferson and St. Louis City can still have inside service. He adds if it were metropolitan wide he wouldn't be having this conversation. "But it seems to me that the other leaders around aren't in agreement with Mr. Page."
The restaurant's owner says "the final weeks of the year are consistently one of the most important times of the year for restaurant employees....our employees are family and Sam Page took a direct uppercut toward their livelihood."
Page announced the ban, along with bans on large gatherings and a mask mandate on Friday. They take effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.
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