An Illinois pizza place was not complying without controversy to the state’s order for restaurants to close in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
While many eateries and businesses across the nation are being forced to adjust their work schedules and policies due to the global pandemic, Rosati’s was apparently not going to shutter its Taylorville location without a verbal fight.
A central #Illinois pizza joint reacts to @GovPritzker‘s new mandate that all restaurants and bars close for two weeks (save for delivery and curbside pickup) due to #coronavirus with a sign reading “GOV PRITZKER Screw you” https://t.co/cVGgQELkGN pic.twitter.com/xbw2LPaEfu
— Amanda Vinicky (@AmandaVinicky) March 15, 2020
Not long after Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker announced the closure of bars and restaurants except for delivery or takeout services in an effort to stem the spread of the virus, he was met with a message that couldn’t be missed, the Herald & Review reported.
“Governor Pritzker — Screw You,” read the spray-painted words on a 12-by-3-foot banner hung across the front of the restaurant.
“I did it myself because he had no business shutting my business down,” Peggy Brandon, owner of the Rosati’s located in Taylorville, told the newspaper.
The restaurant, which seats up to 150 diners, was part of the Rosati’s chain of pizza stores which started out in Chicago and branched out to over 200 locations across the country. Though business had been good for the past year, Brandon feared her eatery would not recover from the forced closure as takeout orders and deliveries had not previously made up a large portion of her profits.
“I just don’t know, I couldn’t tell you if we’ll make it,” she said. “But I doubt it.”
According to the Herald & Review:
She said she has 20 employees depending on her for their livelihoods and now their paychecks are gone.
“Look, there have been no reported cases (of coronavirus) in Christian County,” added Brandon. “And yet he (Pritzker) wants me and my servers to go without income for two weeks. Is the government going to pay us? Hell no, they’re not. Pritzker is a (expletive, expletive). He needs to go.”
While Brandon’s bold message may not have gotten the governor’s attention, it did get a response from Rosati’s, which ended up terminating the franchise agreement the company had with her, according to Eater Chicago.
We apologize for the behavior of our Taylorville Franchisee. We will be taking strict action directly.
— Rosati’s Pizza (@Rosatis_Pizza) March 16, 2020
“We stand with the Illinois Restaurant Association and the Governor in this difficult decision; we must work together and take extraordinary measures to halt the spread of COVID-19,” a spokesperson for Rosati’s said.
The statewide total of reported coronavirus cases in Illinois is 422, with at least four deaths, according to the Chicago Tribune which reported that Pritzker confirmed Thursday he was considering a shelter-in-place order which is currently in effect in Oak Park.
Twitter users reacting to the close of businesses in light of the health crisis sympathized with owners who they claimed have more real-world experience that many politicians.
Speaking as a small business owner, a lot of one’s self-worth & dignity is tied up in having a business, having a job, having a way to pay the mortgage, the rent, the kids’ bills. A small check from the government or a loan, is no replacement. And for what? Where’s the analysis?
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) March 20, 2020
The answer is many of the people who made these decisions never had a business, never signed the FRONT of a paycheck, never built anything, never worried about payroll…instead pulled down a gov’t paycheck & worried about the next election, not the devastation of their choices.
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) March 20, 2020
Strange, isn’t it, when government leadership so easily make decisions impacting our incomes without taking any impact on their own paychecks or future!
Yet the whole country stands with them when Congress (aka government) doesn’t pass a budget impacting their incomes 🤔
— Raj Saksena (@raj_saksena) March 20, 2020
The news about the Taylorville Rosati’s prompted many reactions on Twitter, where one user noted that the pizza place was apparently not the only one to lash out at the governor, whom many defended for doing the right thing.
This one is even less friendly 😬https://t.co/xpzPy3dL0f
— Jonathan Ballew (@JCB_Journo) March 16, 2020
Who is better positioned for this than a pizza place?
— Rayne DeVivo (@devivo) March 15, 2020
i, for one, would like to go to the pizza place with the message scrawled on bedsheets hanging in its windows
— guy who likes (liked) basketball (@JamesSharpsteen) March 16, 2020
it’s not like they are the only pizza joint or restaurant in this situation. They can still offer delivery! We are all impacted one way or another and don’t like it, but drastic times call for drastic measures. @Rosatis_Pizza
— Cara Marie (@CaraMarieLunn) March 15, 2020
@Rosatis_Pizza your pizza sucks anyway. @GovPritzker did the right thing.
— Jenn (@electricself) March 15, 2020
@Rosatis_Pizza your pizza sucks anyway. @GovPritzker did the right thing.
— Jenn (@electricself) March 15, 2020
What would the sign say when their entire workforce and customer base is sick and unable to patron or work the restaurant? This is better than the alternative and people need to stop being so nasty to the governor for making the tough call.
— Ronald Lucarelli (@RonLucarelli) March 16, 2020
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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