Boise Bars, Restaurants Begin To Close for December

I don't have to tell you that COVID-19 has beat up on our economy and our entire life as a whole as we know it. Odds are, over the past several months, you in one way or another were impacted in SOME way by COVID-19. You may find yourself working MORE with less help and on the other end of the gamut, you may have found yourself working less and struggling to find enough work to make ends meet. This global pandemic has been a total nightmare.

One industry that I believe has been hit among the worst has been the food and beverage industry. Service industry workers have been struggling since the initial shut down which meant, simply, no work. These individuals are 1099 workers meaning that they're VERY reliant on tips and even if takeout was an option at their place of work--people have been less inclined to eat out, get that takeout food, and even less generous when it comes to tipping, just to protect their own finances.

Now we find ourselves several months into this pandemic with no clear end in sight. Here in the Treasure Valley and across the State of Idaho, COVID numbers are on the rise and while nightlife is technically open, the restrictions are really keeping people away. Bars and restaurants are continuing to struggle. Some have decided it's just time to shut down for a bit longer.

Just yesterday, a Facebook status shared by Tom Grainey's explained that they along with their sister bars would be closing down for December until further notice:

With the current environment and the restrictions that have been put on us by the “powers that be” I’ve decided to close The Silly Birch, Whiskey Bar, and Tom Grainey’s for the month of December. Maybe that will help a little with case counts in our community and speed up the process of getting back open without the restrictions that we are currently under. With these restrictions business can't sustain. The good news is the vaccine is close, if it does it’s job maybe we will be able to open back up New Year’s Eve and throw a party to welcome the New Year….We’ll keep you posted. Thanks for all the support we’ve had throughout this crazy time…

Following this news, one popular lunch spot downtown, Good Burger announced they would be closing...for good.

Business isn't great out there so here's to hoping that we can all do our part together and see light at the end of the tunnel, soon.