Bill Fuller: Changes in dining restrictions hurt Big Burrito Restaurant business
Constant fluctuations in the allowed restaurant dining capacity prompted Big Burrito Restaurant Group to temporarily close all of its specialty restaurants, including Alta Via, Casbah, Eleven, Kaya, Soba and Umi, company President Bill Fuller said Monday.
“It just isn’t worth it,” said Fuller, who furloughed 193 people. “We decided to cut our losses until things get better.”
The nine Mad Mex locations in the region will remain open.
“Mad Mex is a little easier to run in terms of food because we can buy fresh chicken that is used in several items on the menu,” he said.
On July 8, in reaction to rising covid-19 infection rates, Allegheny County ordered a halt to indoor dining, allowing outdoor dining but with limits on alcohol sales per customer. On July 16, Gov. Tom Wolf established new statewide regulations, limiting indoor dining to 25% capacity. The next day, Allegheny County rescinded the July 8 order and adopted the state’s rules on indoor dining, with a few modifications.
Fuller expects the 25% of indoor capacity limit to be in place beyond the next two weeks. He’s already worked through a range of restrictions since the coronavirus pandemic began in March — from takeout and delivery only under the red and yellow phases, to 50% of indoor capacity when the green phase began June 5.
“They say two weeks, and then it goes longer, and we couldn’t go another four to eight weeks trying to buy food and schedule staff and then have to send them home,” he said.
This most recent indoor restriction was the deal breaker, he said. When restaurants were permitted to open at 50% occupancy, the businesses could at least break even by supplementing with takeout, he said. He was able to bring back a sizable portion of employees.
The roller coaster of dining restrictions affects customers’ comfort in dining out again, Fuller said. He thought having outdoor seating could help offset the lower number of number of diners indoors. The response was “tepid,” he said.
“It’s been tough,” he said. “A lot of restaurant owners are really angry. We want the counts to go down, and we want people to be safe, and we want customers and employees back in our restaurants. So we are just doing what we can do until things calm down.”
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region's diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of "A Daughter's Promise." She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.
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