HAMBURG, N.Y. (WKBW) — Like many restaurants, Juicy Burger Bar in Hamburg has been struggling without indoor dining, so they thought of a solution to keep their servers and customers happy using "igloos".
"We just wanted to give people a safe fun experience because we could tell people just wanted to get out," Heather Williams, VP of Operations with Hamburg Hospitality Group said, "There was promise in the air, I guess, that we would be able to get (staff and customers) to come into juicy."
The igloos were offering a bit of success for the restaurant that has been having a difficult time due to the pandemic.
"We filled up until March for all dinner reservations in about seven hours," Williams said.
On Friday, the burger restaurant received an email that their igloos had to shut down.
In a statement, the Erie County Department of Health gave their reasoning:
"Our public health sanitarians have made multiple notifications to permitted food facilities in Erie County about "igloos" as a reminder that outdoor structures must have two sides open to air according to NY Forward/NYS guidance for orange zones. We make those notifications based on complaints and information that our department receives as part of our educational outreach."
The "two open sides" rule is one that Juicy Burger Bar did not know of, so they shut down their igloos even though they have a door and two windows.
Thomas Casey
"It's tough, it puts a lot of stress on everybody in the staff but we're getting through it the best we can," Head Chef Thomas Casey said.
So now, Juicy Burger Bar waits on the decision of Justice Henry Nowak who, on Wednesday, will announce whether or not restaurants can reopen indoor dining in an orange zone.
For those restaurants that decide to continue offering outdoor dining in igloos, they could face fines or a restaurant closure.
Juicy Burger Bar is still accepting online ordering/pickup. Their information can be found here.
