Indy bars, restaurants and breweries react to closure
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Area bars and restaurants are reacting to Governor Eric Holcomb’s announcement that service to in-person patrons will end through March. Delivery and carryout services will still be allowed.
The order from the governor had owners in Indianapolis coming together to figure out how to protect their businesses while still protecting their customers.
Liter House owner Eddie Sahm hosted other restaurateurs to brainstorm ideas.
Many independent restaurants rely on those customers who come in and sit down and may not be set up for the options left for them: carry-out and delivery service. The restrictions have left some places closing and others trying to find ways to serve their customers in keeping with the governor’s orders.
Sahm says Monday night’s meeting was productive and says several local restaurants are going to lower their prices and set themselves up as neighborhood food markets during this time.
“We need to be accessed in order to do that and we just want all the people that are making the decisions to know it’s no longer a small business pull up your boot straps it’s we are essential and we need assistance to get this done,” Sahm said.
Neal Brown, who owns several restaurants in Indianapolis, wrote a letter responding to the action from the governor, standing behind the decision but asking the state for four things to help out restaurants during this time. The letter, below, has been shared by many other restaurants in the city.
Sahm said he supports Brown’s letter, and he’s asking people to watch social media for updates from their favorite restaurants.
Here are some of the reactions we’ve found on social media from local restaurants. Some were posted before the official announcement was made in Indiana.