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The Villages
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Order shutting down bars won’t stop alcohol sales at Villages restaurants

An order Friday to stop serving alcohol at bars across the state due to a spike in COVID-19 cases will have an effect on The Villages – but it won’t stop area residents from going out for a drink.

The mandate, which came from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation via Twitter, effectively turned off the taps at all Sunshine State bars and taverns following an increase of 8,942 Coronavirus cases from Thursday to Friday. But it stopped short of halting the sales of alcohol and consumption inside restaurants.

FMK Restaurant Group owner Fred Karimipour said his eateries will continue to serve alcohol to customers who are sitting at tables but will suspend bar top seating and live entertainment. Karimipour’s staff has made following the various orders from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office a priority throughout the pandemic, including having his employees wear masks and constantly sanitizing areas inside his restaurants.

“We have removed bar service in accordance of the governor’s order,” said Karimipour, who owns Bluefin Grill & Bar in Brownwood, The Chop House at Lake Sumter Landing, Belle Glade Country Club, Bonifay Country Club, Evans Prairie Country Club, Orange Blossom Hills Country Club and Scooples Ice Cream Parlor.

Gina Buell, who along with her husband, Mike, owns the City Fire restaurants in Lake Sumter Landing and Brownwood, said she was doing the same thing. She said her customers still will be able to order drinks when seated at tables inside and outside the eateries but not at the bar area. And she promised that her employees would continue to wear masks, practice intense sanitizing measures and do everything possible to keep her customers safe.

DeSantis allowed bars to reopen on June 5 as Phase Two in his reopening plan. When he made the announcement on June 3, there were 58,764 cases of COVID-19 being reported in Florida. On Friday, that tally stood at 112,960.

At the time of the Phase Two announcements, Villagers like Jeanette Sullivan expressed their concerns. She was critical when a front-page photo of the June 5 edition of the Villages Daily Sun celebrated the reopening of bars with a maskless bartender at Lighthouse Point Bar & Grille pouring a drink. In contrast, photos of masked employees at Karimipour’s and Buell’s restaurants were published on Villages-News.com as they continued to follow state mandates.

Other residents also expressed dismay when large crowds were spotted ignoring social distancing guidelines in bars of some area eateries and when groups gathered tightly outside Red Sauce to pick up takeout orders.

In a Friday press conference, DeSantis continued to point out that the majority of new cases being reported across the state are among younger, asymptomatic patients. But he also said those younger people can easily pass it along to their parents or grandparents – a situation that easily could become a problem in The Villages given the demographic of the residents in the mega-retirement community.

DeSantis also said the order to shut down bars came because of “widespread noncompliance” to social distancing orders in those establishments across the state. He continued to oppose enacting a statewide mask rule and said local communities that decide to enact those will have to figure out to how to enforce them.

He said he doesn’t believe the idea of selectively prosecuting people for not wearing masks will work. Instead, he added, he’d prefer to see “consistent messaging” that lets people know how to protect themselves and others from the potentially deadly virus.

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