Pritzker orders all bars and restaurants to close to dine-in customers by end of day Monday

The Chicago Sun-Times ^ | March 15, 2020 | Tina Sfondeles

[PBRCat]

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker will order all Illinois bars and restaurants to close their dine-in operations at the end of the business day on Monday.

“We are working with restaurant owners and food delivery services across the state to see if restaurants can safely keep their kitchens open, so the restaurants can continue food delivery to people at their homes,” Pritzker said at a news conference Sunday at the Thompson Center in the Loop.

“The time for persuasion and public appeals is over. The time for action is here. This is not a joke. No one is immune to this, and you have an obligation to act in the best interests of all the people of this state.”

Pritzker also urged people not to hoard food.

Earlier Sunday, Pritzker had said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he had been considering such a step.

[Svartalfiar]

If restaurants are closed, the wholesale food trade has to sell that grub somewhere, right? There’s only so much freezer, reefer, and warehouse space to fill up.

Sure, but they aren't set up for retail. Maybe they can work out something with Costco or other grocers, but they almost definitely can't just sell that stock direct. They don't have cashiers or a POS system set up, and most distribution warehouses are in industrial areas that no one is going to know where to go, much less that they're even selling direct public. Plus I'm sure there's several other issues I can't think of right now. As long as restaurants are forced to close/only do take-out, I foresee a lot of food sitting and rotting. Some fresh stuff can maybe be returned to a processor for canning or livestock feed, but that's all complicated to find/source, as well as much less revenue than supplying the restaurant distribution network.