SAN ANTONIO – In June, as a coronavirus surge began to surface, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott took aim at bars in the Lone Star State.
“There are certain counties where a majority of the people who have tested positive in that county are under the age of 30, and this typically results from people going to bars,” Abbott said during a June 16 news conference. “That is the case in Lubbock County, Bexar County, Cameron County.”
At the governor’s direction, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) inspected hundreds of bars across the state. Though the majority of them were compliant with social distancing guidelines, records recently obtained by KSAT 12 provide an inside look at the undercover operation, which led to the shutdown of one San Antonio bar.
On June 21, the TABC sent four agents undercover to Burnhouse, a Northwest Side night club on Loop 1604, to identify violations of the governor’s order, which directed bars to ensure customers could maintain a six-foot distance between parties.
“It is important to note that this location was selected along with several other locations based on TABC complaints, the TABC priority location list and from intelligence provided to the TABC from various social media and public media sources,” an agent noted in his report.
Security staff at the bar’s patio area entrance checked the agents’ temperatures, and the agents were told they need to wear a face mask “while walking through the establishment,” according to a report taken by one of the agents.
But as the agents entered, they noticed a crowded floor, with patrons standing near each other and dancing in close proximity.
“As we continued to walk through the crowd, multiple persons were seen not wearing face coverings and those that were, were wearing them in a manner not consistent with the recommended guidelines,” according to the report.
Burnhouse’s general manager, David Amrollah, hired security staff to help screen customers and enforce the guidelines at the club, according to the reports. Hand sanitizer was available for customers. Several times throughout the night, the DJ asked customers to keep their face coverings on when they weren’t drinking their beverages, the state agents wrote.
“We had everything in place for social distancing. Our bar was maybe at 25% of its capacity, not the 50% that was allowed. We had our tables six feet apart. We spent hundreds of dollars, if not thousands of dollars, on the three weeks we were open getting everything in place,” Amrollah told KSAT.
Video captured by the agents showed a nightclub that was crowded at times.
At one point in the night, agents counted 86 people on the patio. It was so crowded that agents saw customers inadvertently bumping into each other, according to the report. Agents noted “there was no control over the amount of patrons present, their social distancing from each other, and the use of face coverings,” according to the report.
Amrollah said the violation against the bar has since been dismissed because the governor shut down all bars on June 26. TABC online records do not show a violation against Burnhouse in connection with the incident.
Where does the bar industry go from here?
After allowing bars to open in May, Abbott reversed course, shutting them down again in June, when the state’s positivity rate exceeded 10%.
“At this time, it is clear that the rise in cases is largely driven by certain types of activities, including Texans congregating in bars,” Abbott said in a news release. “The actions in this executive order are essential to our mission to swiftly contain this virus and protect public health.”
Later, the governor expressed regret over his choice to reopen bars in the first place.
“If I could go back and redo anything, it probably would have been to slow down the opening of bars, now seeing in the aftermath of how quickly the coronavirus spread in the bar setting,” Abbott said during an evening interview with KVIA in El Paso.
But the shutdown leaves bar owners without clarity on the industry’s future, and without revenue, debts are beginning to pile up.
“We owe about $85,000 in rent,” Amrollah said about Burnhouse and Lush Rooftop, another bar he operates in the same shopping center. “So we’re literally all hanging on for dear life to figure out what’s going to happen.”
Amrollah understands the dangers of the virus and does not think opening up is safe right now. He lost two close friends who worked at other bars in San Antonio.
“There was a huge spike and the industry in San Antonio, you know, unfortunately lost a lot of a few people that were really dear to us,” Amrollah said.
But he and other bar owners are hoping to get answers about whether policies will be put in place to help the industry survive the pandemic.
“What’s going to happen to the hundreds of thousands of people that are in the industry? Not just, you know, ownership or management, but the bartenders, security staff, valet parking, everybody that has anything to do with the industry,” Amrollah said. “What kind of life should we expect over the next six months to a year?”
