Restaurants, Bars, and Businesses

Stay At Home Order #28 restrictions in place until May 26, 2020.

Wis. Stat. § 252.02(3) requires compliance with the following rules:

1.     Bars must remain closed at all times.  The City interprets this to mean the doors must be locked with no one but owner/employees on site.  Although “bar” is not defined in the order or state law, the city interprets that to mean any place with a Class B alcohol license that is NOT also one of the following:

o    A hotel

o    A restaurant (see #2 below for more details)

o    A combination grocery store and tavern

o    A combination novelty store and tavern

o    A bowling center or recreation premises

o    A club, society or lodge

o    A movie theater

o    A painting studio

2.     There are special rules for restaurants.  A restaurant is any place that has a restaurant license under Wis. Stat. 97.30, regardless of any other licenses it may have.  Anyone who is open may need to produce a restaurant license.  Here is how to distinguish between a bar and a restaurant:

o    A restaurant has a license to serve food and might have a license to serve alcohol.  It is still a restaurant with or without the alcohol license.

o    A bar only has a license to serve alcohol and does not have a license to serve food.

Restaurants may stay open, but only to provide take-out or delivery of food and carryout of alcohol under these circumstances:

o    No on-premises food or alcohol consumption

o    No more than 9 people indoors at one time, including employees

o    Everyone should remain 6 feet apart unless necessary to pay and receive product

o    If the restaurant has a Class B license, it can sell beer and wine in closed containers for carry out.

§  Beer sales can only occur between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.

§  Wine sales can only occur between 6 a.m. and 12 a.m.

§  No intoxicating liquor (other than wine) may be sold in closed containers

o    No buffets or self-service even for carryout/take-out

3.     Schools must close for instructional and extracurricular activities (starting at 5:00 p.m. on March 18). 

o    This includes all private and public schools of all ages.

o    The school may open for reasons unrelated to instruction or extracurriculars and need not comply with the 9-person limit if the purpose for opening is:

§  Medication pickup

§  Childcare services

§  Providing meals

§  Operating as a polling place

§  Similar high-need purposes

4.     No public or private place may have a gathering of 10 or more people.  This rule applies if 10 people are in a confined space or single room at the same time.  That means up to 9 people may occupy a single room as long as they practice social distancing (staying 6 feet apart from each other), but only 9 people may attend a movie in a large theater.  There is no limit for outdoor areas other than the social distancing rule that generally applies.  There are places that do not have to comply with the 9-person limitation and instead just need to maintain social distancing:

o    Mass transportation, including airports, busses, etc.

o    Childcare facilities

§  Limited to up to 10 paid or unpaid staff on site

§  Limited to up to 50 children on site.

§  Adults must practice social distancing at all times.

o    Hotels/Motels

o    Government offices

o    Food pantries

o    Homeless shelters and day centers

o    Any residential building or unit

o    Retail establishments (gas stations, auto repair, department stores, etc.) as long as:

§  It’s not an indoor shopping mall

§  People usually are not within arms’ length of each other for more than 10 minutes

o    Health care and treatment facilities

o    Any location operating as a polling place

o    Grocery stores

o    Convenience stores

o    Farmer’s markets

o    The following places of employment

§  Office spaces

§  Industrial/manufacturing/processing/distribution work spaces

§  Utilities

§  Job centers