Restaurant Owners Plead for Pritzker to Reverse Course
Owner Katie Kautz in her restaurant, Katie’s Kitchen, in suburban Des Plaines.
As Governor JB Pritzker defended accusations he’s hurting small businesses and family restaurants around the state, suburban Chicago restaurant owners are pleading with Pritzker to reverse course.
Katie Kautz has owned and operated Katie’s Kitchen in Des Plaines, just northwest of Chicago city limits, for 12 years. She called the travails of restaurant owners in 2020 demoralizing.
“You feel like you’re starting to get your feet back on the ground and you’re starting to make a little bit of money having people inside and doing take outs, now you’re just punched in the stomach again,” she says. “We’re just trying to make a living and to pay our bills and help our employees pay their bills.”
She says Pritzker’s shutdown comes at a terrible time for her business.
“You can’t afford to keep renting a tent and then rent heaters and then pay your rent to your landlords,” Kautz says. “We had to rent a tent. We had to pay for that. It didn’t come free to us. So, you’re paying two rents and all you’re trying to do is pay the bills. You weren’t even making money at this point.”
Kautz laid off all her servers as well as two cooks and a dishwasher early on, and fears she’ll have to make cuts again.
“I’m totally angry with the government,” Kautz says. “We’re doing our part as restaurant owners. We’re taking more precautions than most other industries. I don’t see Jewel or Wal-Mart or any other of those places closing.”
Speaking in Peoria Monday, Pritzker said he’s trying to balance public health and economic concerns.
“The economy is already a priority,” said Pritzker. “It’s absolutely accurate to say that in the process of trying to keep the state healthy and to prevent death. This virus is what’s causing a hardship on people. We have to deal with COVID-19 before we truly get back on track.”
Meanwhile, additional restaurants and bars in the suburbs plan to defy Pritzker’s order and stay open. The Kane County Chronicle reports the owners of FoxFire restaurant in Geneva are suing the Governor to stop the closure. K.C. Gulbro, one of the owners of the restaurant, states in an affidavit that a temporary shutdown of all indoor dining and drinks at FoxFire for more than a few days will lead to an "insurmountable" loss of income, putting the restaurant out of business along with countless others.
New Lenox bar White Horse Inn posted on its Facebook page that “staying closed is not an option.”
Pritzker has previously said he would ask State Police to enforce his closures, and would seek to take away liquor and gaming licenses for facilities that failed to comply.
Meanwhile, Kautz is attempting to follow the Governor’s rules, getting a PPP loan while applying for a Business Interruption Grant through the state, though, she hasn’t been chosen for one.
“All I want to do is make a living and do what I love to do, and I can’t even do it,” she says.
Kautz says the Governor needs to stop attacking restaurants.
“You need to let us run our businesses. You need to stop shutting us down because at the end of this, you won’t have any restaurants left,” she says. “[We] can’t make it. We can’t make ends meet. You’re killing us. You’re killing small business one at a time.”
