June 5, 2020

Statewide curfew delays restaurant reopenings

Tucson's Downtown Kitchen and Cocktails reopens Friday — one week later than planned.

El charro boarded The windows of Charro Steak on East Broadway boarded up on June 1, 2020.
John DeSoto/AZPM

Many Arizonans were blindsided last weekend when the governor declared a state of emergency and statewide curfew in response to protests over police violence. That was especially true for restaurants trying to return from the stay-at-home order.

Downtown Kitchen and Cocktails owner Janos Wilder met with his staff last Sunday night to plan his restaurant's opening Monday after two months of quarantine. Then his phone lit up with a notification: Gov. Doug Ducey had just declared an 8 p.m. curfew.

It wasn't clear to Wilder at the time there was an exception for businesses, so he postponed. He said he could manage the delay, but other businesses might not be so lucky.

"We’ve been hit with sort of a double whammy. The pandemic would have been bad enough," he said.

After being closed three months, he reopens his dining room Friday — another week later than he intended. He's added a second patio to space out seating and he's completely redone his restaurant's menu.

"As people are aware whenever they go to the grocery store, they see prices just keep on rising and we certainly have seen disruptions in our supply chains," he said.

In any other year, a spot in downtown Tucson's entertainment district promised plenty of eager clientele. But in 2020, it's proven to be a liability. Janos hopes people feel it's safe to come back.

He supports the protests and says a national reckoning over race is due. But he's also looking forward to taking the plywood off his windows and welcoming diners back.

The Balance Sheet
This story is part of The Balance Sheet, a weekly look at how businesses are surviving the coronavirus economy.
By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona