Pennsylvania restaurant owners defy indoor restrictions

Some Pennsylvania restaurant owners are defying the state's coronavirus restrictions temporarily banning indoor dining.

Gov. Tom Wolf blocked restaurants from offering indoor dining between Dec. 12 and Jan. 4, as snow covers the ground in some areas of the state.

Rod Ambrogi is the owner of Al's Cafe in Bethel Park, which has been open for 52 years. Ambrogi on Monday organized a "Rights for Restaurants" rally outside his restaurant protesting Wolf's orders.

"We've been going through this pandemic for over nine months," Ambrogi told FOX Business. "I feel our industry has been targeted in a manner that has been imposed on us."

He said Wolf's latest lockdown restrictions ahead of Christmas are "not constitutional" and "not fair" to his approximately 40 employees.

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"Our people can't live on $83 per week unemployment," he said, pointing out that many of his employees are single parents who have to decide between paying rent and paying for their children's Christmas gifts. "It's the holidays -- it's the time of the year when we have to try and survive. I have employees that have been with me for 30 years. I can't just shut the door and tell them, 'See you next year.'"

The Allegheny County Health Department last week cited Ambrogi's cafe for violating state orders and suspended his operating license. Ambrogi said he is in contact with attorneys and is expecting legal challenges.

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The restaurant owner complied with lockdown restrictions during the beginning of the pandemic when he shut down all dining and offered takeout for three months, which he said was "stressful," but the restaurant industry "understood" the risks of the pandemic, and "everybody shut down."

He listed a number of the changing lockdown guidance he's followed since based the state's color-coded restriction phases based on case numbers. He was open for outdoor dining during the first few months of summer, opened for indoor dining in August at 25% capacity with bar restrictions, enforced the state's rule that customers must buy one meal per drink and closed for Thanksgiving.

"It's just been on and on with these restrictions," he said. "I think everybody is concerned about [COVID-19]. We don't want to get our employees sick. I don't want to get sick, but they have no proof that it's coming from [restaurants]."

Zero confirmed COVID-19 cases have been linked to Al's Cafe, which is regularly cleaned and sanitized as has a constant flow of fresh air, he said.

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"We've done our part to help stop the spread," he said, adding that he recognizes cases are going up, but he and his employees want to stay open, and he believes that if he doesn't stick up for his business now, he may lose some of his workers.

A number of Republican state lawmakers also attended Ambrogi's "Rally for Restaurants" event to defend Ambrogi, including state Sen.-elect Devlin Robinson, state Rep. Josh Kail, state Rep. Bud Cook, state Rep. Bob Brooks and state Rep.-elect. Carrie Lewis DelRosso, according to the Pittsburgh-Gazette.

Robinson condemned Wolf for waiting to impose new restrictions until late in the week that ended Dec. 13 after restaurants had already purchased their inventory for the coming week, according to the Pittsburgh-Gazette.

The total number of restaurants defying Wolf's stay-at-home orders could be in the hundreds, according to a list of Pennsylvania restaurants listed on a website called PALockdown.com that reads, "Please support these businesses that are standing up to the unconstitutional mandate of [G]overnor Wolf."

There is also a public Facebook group titled, "Pennsylvania Opening Businesses/ Defying the Governor" with nearly 70,000 members that posts content related to businesses protesting Wolf's restrictions.

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Al's Cafe has also donated hundreds of meals since the start of the pandemic. The restaurant donated 900 meals to local senior citizens, veterans and families in need in the spring and gave out another 40 meals for veterans during Thanksgiving.

Ambrogi said support from the local community has been overwhelming.

"It's been unbelievable, the support," he said, adding that he receives positive messages from people all over the country. "We have a tremendous amount of support, and we're going to have people who criticize us, and I understand that, but we're just trying to do the best we can."

Pennsylvania reached a high of more than 11,300 confirmed cases on Dec. 11, according to the state's department of health. The number of cases has been declining since.

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