‘It’s not a whole lot different’: Del. beach bars not worried about bar closures

Deana Harley,

DEWEY BEACH, Del. – Bars in Delaware’s beach towns will close ahead of this holiday weekend after Governor John Carney said some resort towns were seeing a cluster in coronavirus cases. But after the new order was announced, some restaurants say things won’t really change for them.

“It’s not a whole lot different than how we were planning to operate in the first place, because the bar side of things, that’s what’s been a little bit shaky at best with people not wanting to wear masks,” Steve Montgomery, the owner of the Starboard Restaurant in Dewey Beach, said. “We ourselves kind of already shut down the bar after a few days of phase two because it was awkward when people didn’t want to wear the masks and employees started feeling a little bit unsafe.”

Directly across Coastal Highway, Dewey Beer Company co-owner Brandon Smith says it’s the same for them.

“We actually didn’t utilize the bar because it would take away from some of our larger tables that we could accommodate,” Smith said.

He adds that the biggest issue that came with the order was confusion over what could and could not stay open.
“I think there was some confusion about, you know, what happens for dining versus bars, and what does a bar mean, but it’s actually really just the physical bar,” Smith said.
That means while you can’t physically sit or stand at a bar inside of a restaurant in Delaware’s beach towns, you can still dine in and enjoy dinner and drinks.
 
“Most importantly, we are open, all the restaurants in Dewey, Rehoboth, the beaches, they’re open for business,” Montgomery said.
Governor Carney’s order impacts bars in Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach, Fenwick Island, Lewes, Bethany Beach, and a few other resort towns in the state.
Categories: Delaware, Local News
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Related Posts: