SAN ANTONIO — As more restaurants reopen the City of San Antonio is keeping a close watch. Already, four establishments have violated the city's coronavirus compliance.
The City says for the most part restaurants are following social distancing guidelines and state rules, and bars are staying closed. But a few have been issued warnings, and at least one an actual citation.
In last night's City coronavirus update Mayor Nirenberg said, "Bars are not yet open so if they have more than 51% of sales coming from alcohol they are considered a bar which should not be operating." Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff added, "I don't know why the bars are jumping ahead of the deal. The bars that are jumping ahead they are doing a disservice to their industry."
One of the establishments Mayor Nirenberg and Judge Wolff are referring to is the Lion and the Rose which told me they have decided to close permanently for now and are staying closed until they get more specific guidance from the City. Judge Wolff said, "The bars that are jumping ahead they are doing a disservice to their industry."
An employee from The Rustic told me they are following the guidelines and now remain open for take-out only. There are four groups enforcing coronavirus compliance. The City Development and Operations Department, San Antonio Development Services, The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, and the San Antonio Police Department.
Amin Tohmaz, the Deputy Director of Code Enforcement Services told me that right now it's all about making sure these establishments know the rules. Tohmaz said, "We are trying to do an education mainly because we know a lot of places they might hear the news, they might not, and they don't know exactly what it means. So normally we just go there and tell them they are in violation because of X,Y,Z, and we explain the whole thing and we issue a warning. If we go out to the location again and we find a violation then we issue citations at that time."
If you believe a business is not being compliant you can call 210-207-SAPD.