WEBVTT - How Dive Bars Can Be Especially Vulnerable to COVID-19 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.880 It's Friday June. I'm oscar A Mirrors from the Daily 0:00:03.920 --> 0:00:07.960 Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is reopening America. 0:00:08.400 --> 0:00:10.959 We've shifted into a new phase in the coronavirus pandemic. 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:14.320 We're social distancing, washing her hands, wearing those face masks, 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:17.520 and we're reopening the country. I'll still give you updates 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:20.040 on any new information about the virus and vaccine development, 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:23.280 but will also be focusing on how we are reopening America. 0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:26.800 Everything that makes a dive bar great makes them especially 0:00:26.840 --> 0:00:31.640 vulnerable to COVID nineteen. Dark interiors and busy atmospheres might 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:33.839 lend itself to a good time, but it makes it 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:36.800 hard to social distance and keep the air clean. The 0:00:36.840 --> 0:00:40.520 big question is our patrons ready to go back? Nick 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:44.360 Man called Batetel, reporter at Eater, joins us for more. 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:47.720 Thanks for joining us, Nick, thanks for having me as 0:00:47.760 --> 0:00:50.919 the country starts to open up. One of my favorite 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:55.120 types of places to go to, the dive bar, is 0:00:55.320 --> 0:00:59.520 particularly vulnerable to COVID nineteen. You know, we've done stories 0:00:59.520 --> 0:01:04.520 about how how transmission happens. They happen in especially places 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:08.480 with poor ventilation, let's say, person of person contact for 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:11.120 extended periods of time, and those are some of the 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:13.280 things that you get at a dive bar, some of 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:15.520 the things that you make me even better really, you know, 0:01:15.600 --> 0:01:18.280 you like these dark places that you know, when they're 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:21.440 filled to the gills, there's just action happening and drinks flowing, 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:24.440 lots of good people watching. These are some things that 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:27.320 really make the dive bars special. But it's also that 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:30.880 thing that makes them vulnerable to COVID nineteen, Nick tell 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:32.520 us a little bit about it. You spoke to a 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:35.240 few bar owners and their experience throughout all of this. 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:39.280 So I spoke to a number of bartenders bar owners 0:01:39.360 --> 0:01:42.959 all over the country, and the situation really differs in 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:46.640 each city, but there were definitely some overlapping factors. So 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:50.480 people really love going to rowdy dive bars because they 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:54.640 are small and they're notoriously dirty, and even if that 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:58.680 stereotype isn't exactly true for most places, it still gives 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:01.160 them a reputation that maybe makes customers a little bit 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:04.440 wary about going in the COVID era, you know, they 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:06.760 tend to do a lot of business at the bar 0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:09.120 as opposed to table, so it's kind of harder to 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:12.320 socially distance there. They deal in cash, which has become 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:15.720 really taboo. They do things that are normally really cute 0:02:15.800 --> 0:02:18.639 and fun, like they serve communal snacks, and obviously that 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:22.880 can't happen now. So these businesses are really struggling, even 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:26.640 in comparison to other restaurants and bars around them, who 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:30.800 maybe can pivot to provide to go cocktails due to 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:34.320 loosen regulations in some cities, dive bars can't really do 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:36.720 that either because they don't serve mixed drinks or they're 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:39.000 not known for that, and unless a customer is going 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:40.919 to go out of their way to throw a few 0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:43.120 dollars to a dive bar, they're probably not going to 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:46.520 order a beer to go. So there are not a 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:49.000 lot of options for these owners, even the ones who 0:02:49.040 --> 0:02:51.880 are sort of trying to work with the regulations in 0:02:51.919 --> 0:02:56.000 their cities, because customers just aren't coming for that. So 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:58.480 let's talk about some of those regulations. Because as things 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:00.920 started to open up, one of the rules in a 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:03.320 lot of places was you had to serve food if 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:05.600 you were going to also serve drinks. So right away 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:08.480 a lot of these drinks only bars were at a 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:12.239 disadvantage and they were making partnerships with restaurants or something 0:03:12.240 --> 0:03:15.200 else so that they could do both again. It kind 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:17.880 of comes down to the city because regulations are differing 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:20.400 everywhere and they're changing all the time, which is making 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:22.560 it really hard for some of these owners. But yeah, 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:25.480 Susan Carnell, who owns The Living Room in l A, 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:28.600 partnered with a soul food restaurant next door or was 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:31.360 planning to as a few weeks ago to set up 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:33.600 in their parking lot and serve food and drinks, and 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:36.480 then just recently l A announced she no longer has 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:40.200 to do that, so now she's refiguring. And Mark Connell, 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:44.560 who owns Botanica in New York, was getting around a 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:47.360 rule that required to go drinks there to be accompanied 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:49.320 by food, so he was just throwing in a bag 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:53.240 of trips just to get around that arbitrary rule. So 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:56.160 it takes a lot of pivoting and a lot of 0:03:56.200 --> 0:03:58.440 creativity from some of these owners to get around these 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:02.040 crazy rules. What about bartenders, I know a lot of 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:05.400 business owners. Bar owners are concerned for their staff obviously 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:07.160 as well. They want them to be safe, but they 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:10.560 also want them to make money. And if people aren't 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:12.920 really turning out, it's a difficult thing to really go 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:17.960 back to. Some owners have gotten loans, A lot of 0:04:18.000 --> 0:04:21.120 them have gotten PPT loans, which have to go for 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:24.239 the most part two employees, even though that's shifting as well. 0:04:24.400 --> 0:04:26.240 So some of them have been able to bring back 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:29.960 staff in some capacity. But that also relies on the 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:32.400 willingness of the bartenders to come back at all. And 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:35.120 in some cases that's not a problem. In New York, 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:38.279 for example, Mark said is bartenders at Britannica would be 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:40.960 happy to come back. You know, they are done being quarantine. 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:43.600 They want to work. But out in l A at 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:45.839 the living room, the situation is totally different. You know, 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:49.920 the staffers are really cautious. Beyond this, you spoke about 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:53.520 the business loans and all that costs are going up everywhere. 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:57.039 So some of the great things about dive bars are 0:04:57.240 --> 0:04:59.600 some of the really cheap drink specials. And you talk 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:02.120 about a place in Philadelphia that had a shot in 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:05.120 a beer combo for four dollars. I think in Los Angeles, 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:07.560 where I'm from, one of the fun places I used 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:09.200 to go to back in the day, the Gold Room, 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:11.360 they would do a same thing, a shot of tequila 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:14.160 and a beer combo for four dollars, and these prices 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:18.719 aren't necessarily sustainable that much anymore, depending on what the 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:22.200 comeback is like. Yeah, a lot of these businesses were 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:25.640 already struggling to survive in major city. The dive bars 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:29.000 have been disappearing for years, and this is really just 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:32.440 exacerbating that. So Bob and Barbara is a great bar 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:36.200 in Philadelphia has been known forever for serving the special. 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:38.479 Elsewhere it is known as the Citywide Special, which is 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:40.640 a shot in a beer. It's usually a PBR and 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:43.280 a shot at Gymdam and that right, So that drink 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:46.480 has been creeping up already from three dollars to three 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:49.400 fifty to four dollars. And I talked to Jack Prince, 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:51.800 who's owned the bar for twenty five years, and he 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:53.880 doesn't know what he's going to price it if and 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:55.760 when the bar opens. He doesn't know how he's going 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:57.640 to be able to make, you know, his bottom line 0:05:57.720 --> 0:06:01.279 work and still offer a hoordable drinks that people know 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:03.560 the bar for. I want to read the quote that 0:06:03.600 --> 0:06:06.520 you put from Princes at the very endy article talking 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:10.359 about the situation for dive bars, and he said, you know, 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:13.120 if this is the end, Wow, that sucks, but hopefully 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:15.760 we will live on. And that's just got to be 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:19.320 the sentiment that a lot of bar owners, business owners 0:06:19.320 --> 0:06:22.440 more broadly, obviously two restaurants and things like that, but 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:24.200 that's just got to be the sentiment that a lot 0:06:24.200 --> 0:06:28.359 of people have with the way these shutdowns have impacted businesses. 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:32.400 Dive bars are pillars of their communities, you know, they're 0:06:32.400 --> 0:06:34.760 places that from the foundation for a lot of people 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:38.880 to come together, and they are struggling. They were struggling. 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:43.200 They will continue to struggle, and they will continue to 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:46.640 work to survive, to keep providing the scene and the 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:48.680 drinks that people fill up work, but it's going to 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:51.080 be hard. And you speak about it throughout the article 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:55.159 how dive bars have had to update themselves, renovate to 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:57.400 attract more people, but they also want to cater to 0:06:57.480 --> 0:07:00.839 the locals, the people in their community that really prop 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:04.080 up that business. And this is why I love, you know, 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:06.039 my own local dive bars. The same thing. You like 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:08.280 to be a regular somewhere, do you like to go 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:11.800 and socialize and know the people there, And as Prince said, 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:15.120 it would suck if that was to go away. This 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:18.080 is really typified by the living room right here in 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:21.560 Los Angeles, and that Susan, the bar owner. They're was 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:23.400 talking about how she does care to a couple of 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:26.640 different crowds. You know, during the daytime she gets her regulars, 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:29.840 and at night, you know, it's a more diverse, gentrified 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:33.400 crowd basically, and those daytime regulars are older folks because 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:35.720 of the community of their older black folks. There people 0:07:35.840 --> 0:07:38.680 that go way back with her, who show up for her. 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:42.120 They're her friends, and they're worried there may be not 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:44.720 coming back. As much as they want to support, you know, 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:46.800 a friendly business, they're just not going to come out. 0:07:48.080 --> 0:07:51.720 Nick Man called the tell reporter at Eater, thank you 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:58.160 very much for joining us. Thanks again, I'm Oscar Ramirez 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:01.400 and this is reopening America. Don't forget that. For today's 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:03.000 big news stories, you can check me out on the 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:06.440 Daily Dive podcast every Monday to Fridays. So follow us 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:09.120 on I Heart Radio or wherever you get your podcast.