MINNEAPOLIS — Mayor Jacob Frey said Tuesday he hopes the proof-of-vaccine mandate can be lifted soon for the city's eateries, but in the meantime he's urging residents to support them with dining dollars.
Frey and Minneapolis City Council members walked down Fourth Street from City Hall to Boludo, and Argentinian café known for empanadas and pizza, to launch a new social media campaign dubbed #eatlocalMPLS.
"It’s been a long and dark tunnel but there’s a light at the of that tunnel, and in that light our city is opening, and people are gonna be back on the streets," Frey told reporters outside the restaurant.
"You have an opportunity right now to get takeout, to eat in, to make sure that these incredible local institutions that have indeed become a fabric of our community remain open and we can all stay safe."
Frey used an emergency order to institute a mandate Jan. 19 requiring restaurant and bar patrons to show proof of vaccine or recent negative COVID test before dining indoors. It was in response to surging omicron infections and data showing the state's ICU beds were at capacity, and word from healthcare providers that the most seriously ill patients were unvaccinated.
The order provoked one lawsuit from restaurant and bar owners, contending the mayor exceeded his authority. A judge rejected a motion for a temporary restraining order to suspend the mandate, but there's been no trial yet on the merits of the case.
"I would just encourage all of you today to support your local small businesses, support our Black, brown and immigrant-owned small businesses," Ward 9 Council Member Jason Chavez told reporters.
"They have been severely impacted and devastated through this pandemic."
Danny Schwartzman, who owns the Common Roots Café, said he supports the vaccine mandate, but urged people to take their dining dollars to local spots to help them stay afloat through yet another COVID winter.
"The life and safety of people around us are more important than our businesses, but we should be able to have both," Schwartzman remarked.
"And we can when people all around our community rally and step up and say let’s go out and get some great food and drink at local establishments, especially the ones that are struggling."
The latest high-profile Minneapolis venue to be claimed by the pandemic, at least temporarily, is Seven Steakhouse and Sushi. The restaurant and nightclub, known for its expansive rooftop bar, was already down to three days a week when owners decided this week to close for the time being.
"If the theaters can come back to life, if the Target Center can book events, if -- most importantly -- suburban people feel comfortable and safe coming downtown at some point we would love to open again," Ken Sherman, the principal owner of Seven, told KARE.
He said Seven, which has been operating at 7th Street and Hennepin Ave. for 15 years under several ownership groups, depended on theater traffic, sports events, concerts, downtown office workers and tourists.
Much of that foot traffic went away in large part due to the pandemic, but also affected by fears of crime and the dwindling ranks of officers in the Minneapolis Police Department. Sherman said the city's proof-of-vaccine mandate made it even harder to keep his doors open.
"The odds are stacked against us bringing people downtown. Crime is a deterrent for them. COVID is a deterrent for them. And, more specifically, right now having greater restrictions than anybody else in a 20-mile radius seems to be overkill."
A December survey by the industry group Hospitality Minnesota, done in conjunction with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota, showed that many restaurants were operating in the red in 2021 despite federal COVID relief dollars.
Of those food service businesses that responded to the survey, 59% said they took on debt over since the pandemic began, with the average debt of $558,334 statewide. And 52% of those businesses expected to see lower revenue than normal during the first quarter of 2022.
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