The Illinois Restaurant Association (IRA) is seeking support in urging Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and state leaders to take a more pragmatic approach to Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic mitigations to allow for limited indoor dining that will protect the public health of patrons, while saving the livelihoods of restaurants and bars, and their employees.
The Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Governmental Affairs Committee is forwarding this information so that Elmhurst restaurant and bar owners (and other businesses) can voice their support for the IRA’s campaign via an online link.
For more than two months, Gov. Pritzker has banned indoor food and beverage service at restaurants and bars in Region 8 (DuPage County) and every other region in Illinois citing concerns over the spread of COVID-19—a punishing restriction that has devastated the state’s hospitality community without the support of proven case-tracing health department data.
“Given that restaurants and bars here in Elmhurst and across Illinois have made a conscious decision to violate the Governor’s mandate and provide indoor dining using the previous COVID-19 healthcare protocols is a clear demonstration of how desperate their situation is,” stated John R. Quigley, ECCI’s President and CEO since 1999.
Eating and drinking establishments across Illinois lost 31,000 jobs in November, the most of any state in the country and three times as many as the next closest state, according to data reported by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics and National Restaurant Association.
Hospitality businesses across Illinois have been surviving the winter months by exhausting all remaining funds (both relief and reserve), laying off dedicated team members, and often closing up operations permanently.
Developed last March, ECCI’s special “Dine Out” From Home website page has constantly marketed some 90 Elmhurst restaurants and bars which are “open for business” via walk-in takeout, curbside pick-up, drive-thru and/or delivery options for patrons during the Governor’s multiple Pandemic-related bans on indoor dining.
The “Dine Out” From Home page features the name, address, phone number, hours of operation, both menu and online ordering (if an option) hyperlinks, and service delivery options for each of the participating restaurants and bars.