The spread of coronavirus slashed Hartford Restaurant Group’s sales by about a third in the days before Gov. Ned Lamont on Monday banned all dine-in services at Connecticut bars and restaurants, according to co-owner Phil Barnett.
A complete shutdown of operations is now forcing the group — which manages nine Wood-n-Tap restaurants and Southington’s Que Whiskey Kitchen —  and all local restaurateurs to decide how that will impact staffing levels, said Barnett, who is also secretary of the Connecticut Restaurant Association.
“Our heart wrenches for our staff right now,” said Barnett. “All of our counterparts are all trying to figure this out and how do we care for our staff. How many can we retain?”
Lamont’s indefinite ban on gatherings of 50 or more people on Monday at 8 p.m., including movie theaters, commercial casinos and gyms, is making it difficult for restaurateurs to forecast when they will be able to begin operating again during what is always a busy season for business with St. Patrick’s Day and the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
“I think the most important thing that we can focus on right now is sanitation and taking care of our staff,” Barnett said minutes after Lamont announced the sweeping bans Monday. “Our goal is to retain staff members, we just don’t know how many at this point.”
Barnett and co-partner Mike Hamlin manage a roughly $32-million restaurant group that currently has about 700 employees across the state.
The longtime friends are still planning to launch another Wood-N-Tap location in Enfield sometime this spring, but an opening date is in limbo as supply shipments from China are being delayed to ready the new venue.
Barnett is, however, optimistic this global pandemic will soon pass as progress is slowly being made in countries hit hardest by the coronavirus outbreak, including China and Italy.
For now, it’s just a matter of how long.
“We have been really great to our vendors over the last two decades,” he said. “Our belief is if everyone gives a little bit, we can all win in the end.”
Barnett said his restaurant group is donating 10% of all gift card sales to Greater Hartford’s largest food bank, FoodShare. His team is also looking to leverage those sales to support staff impacted by the work stoppage.Â
Connecticut currently has a total of 26 confirmed cases of coronavirus. That number, however, is likely much higher than testing has been limited, state officials say.
