St. Patrick’s Day luck: Sacramento County restaurants can reopen for indoor dining
Call it the luck of the Irish.
Sacramento County restaurants can officially reopen for indoor dining at 25% occupancy Wednesday as the county slips from the COVID-19 purple to red tier. The move comes on St. Patrick’s Day, a lucrative holiday for the restaurant and bar industry, which would be coming out of the winter lull even in regular years.
“There’s concerns, but there’s excitement because it’s spring and that’s always good for the bar business,” O’Mally’s Irish Pub general manager Matt Raines said. “It’s the perfect time to get the ball rolling and figure things out. It’s going to be a good jump-start for future.”
A year ago, pub owners and restaurateurs were scratching their heads trying to figure out how this new coronavirus might impact St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Gov. Gavin Newsom had just asked bars statewide to close and seniors to self-isolate. Though few thought the virus would persist as long or aggressively as it has, there was a palpable feeling that something was going extremely wrong.
More than 536,000 lost American lives later, this year’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration feels again muted but more hopeful, Raines said. The Old Sacramento restaurant and bar will reopen for patio and indoor seating at 9 a.m. Wednesday, fitting about 50 people inside at 25% occupancy.
The pandemic has hurt O’Mally’s bottom line, as with most restaurants, particularly in downtown Sacramento. Old Sacramento’s weekend traffic has picked up recently but remains scant on weekdays, Raines said. As a result, O’Mallys has only been open Friday through Sunday since restaurants got state permission to reopen outdoor dining in January.
“We want the guests. It’s sheerly business,” Raines said. “We want to see everyone haven’t seen in that time, and we feel like we can stay within the county’s health standards. We’re confident we’re being safe, and the more vaccines get out there, the more we can adapt to a new normal.”
O’Mally’s has survived when many others have folded because bar owner Bert Williamson also owns the building at 1102 2nd St., Raines said. And now that downtown Sacramento’s once-saturated restaurant scene has thinned out slightly, there’s a financial opportunity for those left as the city reopens.
“Everybody in this business has been holding on by a hair this last year,” Raines said. “If you could weather the storm, you’re in a good position now.”
The pub’s been operating with half its usual staff during the reduced hours, but Raines plans to hire more this weekend. About half of O’Mallys employees have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and the rest will as soon as they can find appointments, he said.
Yolo, Placer and El Dorado counties have all been promoted to the red tier as well in recent weeks.
This story was originally published March 17, 2021 at 5:00 AM.