Harvey's 4th Street Grill Makes Upgrades During Shutdown
ST. PETERSBURG, FL — One of St. Petersburg's iconic restaurants, Harvey's 4th Street Grill, took advantage of the coronavirus pandemic closure to make some upgrades to its space before it reopened Oct. 4.
Business was running brisk for Harvey's at the beginning of the year, according to its founder, Dan Harvey Jr.
Harvey's opened in 1984, and has been a well-known dining spot in the Tampa Bay area for years. It's tucked away off Fourth Street North near 30th Avenue North with s dark wood interior and dim lights that make you feel like you're on an old ship.
"We never had a slow moment until this COVID hit," Harvey told Patch. "This was the first time we slowed down."
Harvey's got busier with more customers at the tail end of January after it was featured in a local publication that listed the top iconic restaurants in Tampa Bay.
"Everything was going great, we were super busy," Harvey said.
The good times from the publicity were short-lived because the pandemic quickly followed and problems popped up within the restaurant building.
"We had a fan motor go bad in the upstairs a/c unit that wasn't working right, and then we had the COVID thing," Harvey said.
CEO Dan Harvey Sr. started to worry about the health and safety of his customers and employees at the beginning news of coronavirus, and they were dealing with a less than ideal temperature inside with the air conditioning issues.
"St. Paddy's Day is when we closed the restaurant," the elder Harvey said.
That was three days before Gov. Ron DeSantis' gave executive orders for all Florida restaurants to close except for takeout, delivery service.
The company took its closing time from March 17 to October 4 to fix the a/c unit, get a new roof and upgrade the kitchen, according to Dan Harvey, Jr.
Dan Harvey Jr. said they took out a PPP loan that helped them bring almost every staff member back when they reopened.
According to the database of Florida businesses that took out a PPP loan, Harvey's was granted a loan that ranged from $150,000 to $350,000. They were approved on April 28 and were able to retain 32 jobs.
"We didn't have to lay off anyone while we were closed," Dan Harvey, Sr. said. "We did lose a few people because they needed to work so they found jobs elsewhere. But I'm very happy that we were able to bring mostly everybody back. We were even able to hire four new kitchen staff members."
Harvey's has taken out 30 percent of its chairs and tables as they navigate its reopening during the pandemic, and the business isn't allowing people to stand at the bar.
Harvey's is known for its grouper sandwich. It has sold more than 2 million in its 36 years of business.
Harvey's 4th Street Grill, 3121 4th St N, is open Monday through Wednesday from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Thursday and Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
For more information, visit Harvey's 4th Street Grill.
This article originally appeared on the St. Pete Patch
