Al's Steakhouse Braces For Another Coronavirus Shutdown
JOLIET, IL — George Daskalakis has run Joliet's most popular sit-down restaurant these past 15 years and 2020 has been a constant headache for the owner of Al's Steakhouse. Whenever there's a rise in Illinois and Joliet area coronavirus cases, the owner of Al's feels like Gov. JB Pritzker wants to hold his dine-in restaurant directly responsible.
At no point this year has Al's Steakhouse had any confirmed coronavirus cases attributed to the employees or restaurant patrons of Joliet's legendary steakhouse at the corner of West Jefferson Street and Hammes Avenue, a Joliet icon since 1959.
Al's shutdown for five weeks in the spring after Pritzker ordered all indoor restaurants and bars to stop serving patrons amid the coronavirus outbreak in Illinois. In late August, Pritzker put the hammer down on Will County bars and restaurants again, after Joliet and Kankakee area coronavirus cases — not deaths — were on the rise.
That led to another indoor dining room shutdown for Al's and the cancelation of several family gatherings and funeral luncheons that were already scheduled in advance.
Al's dining room was off-limits from late August until mid-September. Then, barely a month into its regular routine, Pritzker announced this week that all Joliet area bars and restaurants will be off-limits to indoor guests once more, starting this Friday.
Late Tuesday night, Joliet Patch visited Al's Steakhouse to interview the owner. His cocktail lounge was crowded even though it was raining, but everyone was following social distance guidelines and wearing masks as were all the Al's employees, including the owner. The dining room was not crowded. However, everybody inside the main restaurant was spread out at their booths and tables.
Daskalakis told Patch that Al's Steakhouse has been a leader in terms of following safety guidelines during the pandemic. Therefore, he maintains it just is not fair for Walmart and Menards to have hundreds of shoppers roaming their stores at any given time while Al's Steakhouse will not be allowed to have a single dine-in guest or a single visitor to order a beer or a shot of whiskey at his lounge bar starting Friday, Oct. 23.
"Honestly, the way I feel, I think they should leave it up to business owners to monitor and follow the guidelines," he remarked. "Because, if we don't follow guidelines, the customers won't feel comfortable, so we'll lose in the long run."
Reluctantly, the owner of Al's Steakhouse plans to follow Pritzker's latest order prohibiting another indefinite shutdown of indoor dining and drinking. Al's still had its tent set up in the parking lot. Come Friday night, Al's plans to have its tent available for guests.
However, if the temperatures plummet into the 40s and 30s in the coming days, who in their right mind is going to desire to eat at any fine-dining restaurant, regardless of whether they have a tent?
"Who's going to sit in the tent even if you put heaters on it? I mean, it's getting cold," Daskalakis said.
"How does the governor expect us to survive and pay the bills and stay open? This is month six (of the pandemic) and we were completely closed except for curbside for all of April and May."
So come this weekend, Al's Steakhouse will be open for takeout. People will be able to eat at Al's heated tent starting Saturday evening. The tent won't be ready for Friday's crowd.
People can also call the restaurant at 815-725-2388 if they have any questions, the owner said.
During this past week, Patch and other Chicago area news outlets kept reporting that coronavirus cases were reaching record levels.
That data is coming from Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health.
With coronavirus cases spiking in Illinois just two weeks before the Illinois and presidential elections, the owner of Al's Steakhouse is not convinced the data's right.
"I don't know if the numbers are accurate or not," Daskalakis told Joliet Patch.
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New Restrictions that begin Friday, Oct. 23 for Will County and surrounding counties:
RESTAURANTS/BARS
Must close by 11, can open no earlier than 6 a.m.
No indoor service
Tables 6 feet apart
Reservations required for each party/only one party per table
No bar stools
No dancing indoors
Customers must not congregate while waiting to pick up orders
PUBLIC EVENTS/SOCIAL GATHERINGS
Limited to the lesser of 25 guests or 25 percent of overall room capacity (indoor and outdoor)
No party buses
Casinos/gaming establishments must close by 11 p.m./limited to 25 percent capacity (must follow restrictions for bars/restaurants if applicable)
GROUP RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES — fitness centers, sports, etc.
No changes due to new restrictions - all guidance effective Aug. 15 remains in effect
Outdoor activities can continue under current DCEO guidance
This article originally appeared on the Joliet Patch
