Irish Penny Pub and Grill expands temporarily
SALISBURY, Md. – The Irish Penny Pub and Grill in Salisbury has found a unique way to keep all their staff employed, while serving as many customers as possible. “I knew that this space had been empty for a while and I presented it to him, and I figured there would be no way they would say yes. They said yes, and then I was kind of shocked,” said co-owner Jeff Trivets.
Trivets says that there was an available unit in the building his restaurant is in. Irish Penny restaurant is leasing it for extra seating. “We did a lot in a very short amount of time but it was something that definitely needed to be done, because the original Irish Penny is so small. So when the governor opened us up we didn’t know if it would be 30% or 50%. So because of 6 feet apart we only have 7 tables in there,” said Trivets.
Trivets tells us the space is connected to the original restaurant by a back hallway, so normal food and alcohol service can continue. “The fortunate thing and the reason why we could do this is this whole building has one communal hallway in the back for I believe fire purposes. So there’s back doors to each of the businesses. So we can pretty much make the food out of the Irish Penny and then a short walk down the hallway, and then we come into the backdoor here,” said Trivets.
The owner says that the health department, fire marshal, and liquor licensing authorities played a big part in helping him to open the new space. He says that the support he’s gotten from the community has been overwhelming. “The phone’s been ringing off the hook ever since I made the announcement this morning which is awesome. We couldn’t be more thrilled with the support we’ve gotten from the community through this whole ordeal with carryout service, deliveries, and all that,” said Trivets.
Trivets says that starting at 5 p.m. Friday night, guests can come and dine in the new space. It will be fully staffed with a host, servers, and food runners. He says that once they can open their restaurant in full capacity, they’ll close up the extra space.
