PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — "What a hell of a year we've had, huh?" said restaurateur Rob Wasserman, whose businesses include Rouge, Twenty Manning Grill and Audrey Claire.
"My head's spinning just thinking about where this year went."
A year ago, Wasserman was preparing to open his pop-up bar, Lucky's Charm.
Despite talk of a mysterious virus, restaurants and bars were completing St. Patrick's Day orders at this time last year, which Fergie's Pub owner Fergus Carey describes as a big day for his Irish bar.
Related
However, 2020 was different.
"The Saturday before St. Patrick's Day is our busiest day of the year. We did a quarter of our usual business," Carey said.
Carey remembers the difficult decision he had to make for his business and his staff a year ago.
"We closed all our places on Sunday, March 15, of last year. And then the state mandate was the next day."
Related
But Wasserman says he never anticipated this is how life would look one year later.
"No one was obviously expecting this to last a year! So, you were working with almost like three-month increments," Wasserman said.
Carey says he certainly didn't think the disruption would last this long. He recalled a conversation with his friend Suzanne O'Brien, CEO of Philly pubs The Kyber Pass and Royal Tavern.
"Just randomly I call her up and I'm like, 'What do you think? We'll be like two weeks?' and she'll be like, 'It'll be more like eight weeks.' And then we got into a little argument, and I was like, 'Oh, you're so negative! Look at you with your eight weeks. You're always the pessimist!' And then I call her up in July and I said, 'I apologize, I was wrong.' And she says, 'I was wrong, too! and the thought of eight weeks was horrifying! The thought of two weeks was horrifying!'"
Owners say they had to constantly reinvent their business models just to stay afloat.
Related
"Rouge became a fast casual take-out window, which was hysterical," Wasserman said, referring to the tony Rittenhouse restaurant.
Ben Fileccia with the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association says getting back to so-called "normal" could still take some time.
"We're here a year later, and we're still not open yet. I mean, Philadelphia is still essentially at 25% occupancy inside," Fileccia said.
And restaurants with liquor licences really suffered.
"We're sorely missing our bar business, which was 50% of my business before COVID," Wasserman said.
Those businesses that couldn't adapt had to close. And yet, while the pandemic forced the closure of hundreds of restaurants, it also compelled creativity.
"The amount of pressure that was put on everybody, sometimes that changes coal into diamonds," Wasserman said.
Fileccia points to the innovation that heralded street closures and "streateries" as well as outdoor winter dining pods.
Also, he says, "You know, we were able to pass the mixed drink to go bill and we think that's going to stick around."
Fileccia says he anticipates some of the industry changes that have come from COVID-19 restrictions will stick around. For example, he doesn't expect that restaurants will cram as many people into small dining rooms as they used to.
"You know, we might be losing a couple of seats inside, because we're not jamming people in anymore, but I think we're going to make that up on the outside," Fileccia said.
Meanwhile, Wasserman says he's seen changes in the labor market.
"My biggest concern, to be honest, is employment and labor. I think a lot of people have fallen out of our business based on the inability to work, and it's going to be intriguing to see how we support the level of restaurants in our city when there's a much smaller labor force, now."
Wasserman says he believes some of the changes in the restaurant industry's future will come about organically.
"I think there's going to be a combination of higher wages, less restaurants, as there's not as much talent out there," he said.
And it will take several years to recover from economic losses stemming from the pandemic.
"I mean, this next year is all about the business side of it, so you're going to see definitely a shake-up that didn't occur during COVID, but will affect businesses going into this new year," he said.
But Carey keeps an optimistic approach by recalling the aftermath of the last pandemic a century ago that heralded a new era.
"You know, they say the 1920s, they were the roaring '20s and it was a post-WWI and post Spanish flu, and that's what led people to go, 'Yeah, hey let your hair down! Swing it up!' So, hopefully the 2020s will be the 'Roaring '20s.' That's my hope."
After everyone is vaccinated, he says, he'll be ready to fully open up his bars in accordance with the guidelines and have some fun — when it's safe to do so.
COVID: Then and Now is a KYW Newsradio original monthlong series looking back at the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic in Philadelphia. Reporters revisit the news from exactly one year ago and examine how protocols, restrictions and science have evolved since then. Check back weekdays in March for more.