Mitchell’s Sports Bar and Grill Owner Todd Smith responded to allegations his restaurant wasn’t in compliance with the state and county’s COVID-19 restrictions in a press conference Wednesday.
This comes after the Allen County Health Department shut down the facility last week.
Smith says he's made the necessary changes to ensure the safety of his staff and his customers.
A place where a lot of us would watch some of those games... sports bars.one sports bar owner in particular was in hot water...after allegations his bar wasn't in compliance with state and county covid restrictions.
Tonight -- he's responding.fox 55's nico pennisi reports on his message for those who were quick to pass judgement: smith: ?tearing up?
"tell me how i'm supposed to understand how to do things every day.
I'm trying.
I'm trying."i'm outside mitchell's sports bar and grill where owner todd smith says he's made some changes to be in compliance with governor holcomb's executive order and allen county's red restrictions.they include: posting more signs around the facility encouraging customers to mask up, spacing tables apart for social distancing and seating entirely.
That wasn't always the case.smith "i will be honest with you.
I personally wasn't following the county guidelines.
I just wasn't following it close enough to understand that it was radically different from the state's."
Smith says it's confusing which guidelines restaurants are supposed to follow.
Smith "please be kind and understand this is hard."
The allen county department of health shut the restaurant down for a day last week.
Since then smith says he's lost 55 percent of the business employees.
He may have to adjust hours to stop the bleeding.
Smith "i don't even want to make money for myself.
I want for the people standing behind me.they have to eat.
They have to support their family."among them, server kimberly swank.
The single mother of three relies on mitchell's as her source of income.
Swank "business has definitely taken a hit.
It's been rough, but i feel like i just have hope.
Hopefully we can get some support from the community."swank says ultimately she and her coworkers are the ones hurt by the restaurant shutting down.
Allen county health commissioner dr. matthew sutter says in order to slow down the spread of the virus, both restaurants and their patrons need to cooperate and follow the county's restrictions.
Sutter "it's very important that we take the steps to keep the cases down to avoid completely overwhelming the hospitals until safe and effective vaccines are available."
Stand up: smith says that he and his staff will do everything that can in the coming weeks to enforce the mask mandate.
That includes having the host tell folks as they enter the facility that a mask must be worn at all times.
Smith says at the end of the day though, he's not the mask police.
In fort wayne im nico pennisi fox 55 news