Falling in line with guidance directed by the state and county to combat COVID-19, the City of Santa Barbara on Tuesday ordered that all restaurants, bars, breweries, and wine tasting rooms temporarily close, with an exception for take-out and delivery options. Also mandated to be closed are all movie theaters, live music venues, gyms, and other places where the public can gather. Exempted are grocery stores, pharmacies, food banks, and cafeterias in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and the airport. The rules go into effect on March 18 and will continue until April 7.
The outbreak is already hitting restaurants hard. “[Yesterday] I had the horrible job of laying off 350 people,” said restaurateur Sherry Villanueva through tears at the Santa Barbara City Council hearing on Tuesday. “Many have two full-time jobs to live in this county, and they are their family’s primary breadwinners.
Villanueva is the owner of Acme Hospitality, and she closed her eight restaurants, including The Lark, Loquita, and Paradise Café, on Monday . Laying off employees allows them to apply for unemployment payments, but those are just a fraction of their usual pay — in fact, they’re not even enough money to pay for health-care premiums. Villanueva said that Acme will cover the employees’ health-care premiums until April but won’t be able to afford to do so after that point. “We’re grateful that there are unemployment benefits,” said Villanueva. “It’s just not enough.”