DALLAS — Restaurants in North Texas, already enduring the most difficult financial year many have ever faced, now face the expected executive order reducing restaurant and other business occupancies back to 50% as hospitalizations connected to COVID-19 continue to surge.
But for Bucky Pugh, it's just another hit in a difficult last eight months.
"Yeah it's been a challenging year," he said outside his temporarily closed restaurant, Bucky Moonshine's Southern Eats and Bar, in Dallas' Deep Ellum neighborhood. "This thing came out of nowhere and just slapped all of us upside the head."
After eight months of surviving, with limited capacity, with reduced business, with PPP loan assistance, and with taking every health and safety precaution, last month two employees were diagnosed with COVID-19.
"Sisters, who work in the kitchen," he said explaining that contact tracing indicated a baby shower they'd attended as the likely source.
"It's terrifying," he said of the impact of the positive tests.
So, by his own choice, he closed the restaurant on Elm Street for 14 days, had the restaurant deep-cleaned, had every one of his employees tested, including himself. Now that they have all tested negative for two weeks he plans to reopen the restaurant on Friday night.
"Having somebody after eight months of this pandemic test positive, that was the cherry," he said.
Because there's also his own recent cancer diagnosis. He's in treatment. And his 85-year-old mom died of liver failure, unrelated to COVID-19, in September.
"It's December now," he said. " I just wanted to remind you that 2020 did stink you know."
So when you talk about a pending government order to reduce restaurant capacity back to 50%, Bucky Pugh says he is not worried about himself. He says he's a survivor who always looks for the light at the end of the tunnel. But he does worry about everyone else.
"I've watched a lot of small businesses go out of business which makes me terribly sad."
And "sad" - he's already had a full menu of that. He'd like a pandemic to cut us all a break.
"Well out of adversity comes triumph," he said. "You never know if it's going to be a pandemic or cancer or heart disease or the passing of family members or all of the above. You just need to make sure that you're prepared for it."
"Either way you're ready for a little triumph," I said.
"I'm absolutely ready for triumph," he laughed. "I need it!"
