With coronavirus keeping people away, St. Patrick’s Day hotspots prepare for uncertain day

St. Patrick’s Day festivities will be muted across Sacramento this year, but the party will (quietly) go on.

Gov. Gavin Newsom called for all bars, breweries and wineries to close and all restaurants to cut seating in half Sunday to limit the spread of coronavirus and its affiliated disease COVID-19. Two Sacramento County residents have died and 33 more have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Monday.

No Sacramento-area bars outspokenly defied Newsom’s request in the 24 hours since he made it. Many bars, however, serve food as well and most have chosen to identify as a restaurant in this case - that is, continue serving meals and drinks while cutting seating in half.

Though Sam’s Hof Brau skews more German than Irish, dishes like shepherd’s pie and corned beef with cabbage help make St. Patrick’s Day its busiest of the year - twice as profitable as the average Friday, manager Cecil Jackson said.

Employees at the 61-year-old Arden Arcade restaurant and bar were inflating balloons Monday morning to add to decorations that have been up since the beginning of the month, but Jackson said the mood was more uneasy than festive. With seating cut by half, no standing at the bar and curbside pickup newly introduced, it’s unclear how much Sam’s might suffer financially.

“We’re trying to keep the stress in the office and not on the floor,” Jackson said. “We’re throwing darts in a dark room. We really don’t know what it’s going to be like tomorrow. There’s really no guess because it’s unprecedented. There’s nothing to look back at because this has never happened before.”

Sam’s is anticipating a 40 percent loss of business during periods where social distancing is encouraged and has adjusted its staff accordingly, Jackson said. None of the 38 staff members have been laid off, but one trainee’s training has been suspended for the foreseeable future.

De Vere’s Irish Pub said Monday morning it would keep normal operating hours and continue to serve alcohol but use door staff to keep capacity at 40 people for the holiday. But, at 3:34 p.m., de Vere’s posted to Facebook that the restaurant and bar would in fact shut down Tuesday; adding corned beef and cabbage to-go orders would be available via curbside pickup or Postmates.

Another popular St. Patrick’s Day destination, Fox & Goose Public House, will remain open after reducing its seating capacity by half, keeping tables at least six feet away from each other and asking customers to take home pens with which they sign checks, according to a Facebook post. The 45-year-old pub on the R Street Corridor is canceling all live music and open mic nights but will continue hosting quiz nights on Tuesdays.

Bars such as Pine Cove Tavern, The Park Ultra Lounge and London have all voluntarily closed indefinitely as of Monday afternoon, as have Red Rabbit Kitchen & Bar, Tower Cafe, The Waterboy and Jim’s Good Food.

The Shamrock’n Half Marathon and annual parade in Old Sacramento were canceled within the last week due to concerns over the spread of coronvavirus. In the holiday’s homeland, all pubs voluntarily shut down Sunday in Dublin’s popular Temple Bar neighborhood after crowds packed the tourist attraction despite CDC warnings.

In New Orleans, megaphone-toting police told the revelers partying on Bourbon Street that they were jeopardizing public health and called on them to return to their hotels. Sixty-five people within Orleans Parish had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Sunday night.

Sacramento Police Department spokesman Officer Karl Chan said local police weren’t planning any changes other than a DUI checkpoint on St. Patrick’s Day. While he encouraged people to follow the CDC and city’s guidelines on reducing the virus’ spread, SPD won’t be doing anything to facilitate that for now.

“These are guidelines. They’re not enforceable actions we can take,” Chan said. “We are concerned for everyone’s safety … (but) if people decide to walk around in groups in 20, that’s not something we’re going to be enforcing.”

Mayor Darrell Steinberg said Sunday that the city may ramp up restriction on local bars if they remain open on St. Patrick’s Day.

This story was originally published March 16, 2020 at 3:41 PM.