Berghoff closes temporarily, a month after reopening, blaming economic challenges due to COVID-19 pandemic
The Berghoff Restaurant, a historic German restaurant downtown, and Adams Street Brewery, its adjoining brewery, have temporarily closed, starting Tuesday, July 28. The Berghoff Cafe at O’Hare will remain open.
This decision was strictly a business one, according to a recording on the Berghoff’s main telephone line. No employee has tested positive for COVID-19 nor have the restaurants been cited for violating any COVID-19 policies or procedures.
Colleen Silk, brand manager, blamed the lack of customers downtown. In an email, she said that tourism in the Loop is down 68%, if not more, from last year and office buildings are still mostly closed. Since the restaurants re-opened June 30, they have seen an average of 15 to 20 customers a day, which is more than a 90% decrease since last year.
“So we may hopefully reopen in the near future, and to save what capital is left, the family decided it is best to close our doors for the time being,” she wrote. “It was not a decision they made lightly and (they) contemplated over this extensively beforehand.”
———
©2020 the Chicago Tribune
Visit the Chicago Tribune at www.chicagotribune.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
