Andrews – Gov. Roy Cooper’s latest executive order to slow the spread of the coronavirus went into effect last Friday night, banning alcohol sales at restaurants after 11 p.m.
“There won’t be much reason to stay open (past 11 p.m.),” said Floyd Walker, general manager of Ronnie’s Restaurant off First Street. “I disagree with it.”
Ronnie’s is typically open until 1 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. However, Walker said business had already slowed, so they haven’t been open that late recently.
When announcing the curfew, Cooper said he wanted to prevent restaurants from turning into bars after hours. Food may still be served at restaurants after the curfew, but not too many people eat that late.
Walker thinks Cooper doesn’t know what actually happens in restaurants like his – or perhaps restaurants outside of big cities – and that the business does not become a bar late at night.
“I serve food all night long,” Walker said. “People come in together and stay together.”
He said his business has been dramatically affected financially since executive orders started affecting how restaurants may conduct business in March. He had to go 10 weeks without alcohol sales.
“They don’t cut us a break on the licensing,” Walker said. “All they do is cut our income.”
He was sympathetic to bars and other businesses that have not been allowed to reopen, and didn’t know how those businesses could cover being closed for so long. He thinks keeping businesses closed is not the answer to coexisting with the virus.
“They’ve got to come up with something different,” Walker said.
The order does not prevent retail businesses from selling alcohol for off-site consumption after 11 p.m.
Violations of the order are a Class 2 misdemeanor that will be enforced by local law enforcement agencies, the Alcohol Law Enforcement Division and state Alcoholic Beverage Commission.