Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
SpeedTrap Tap House owner Tim Hanni has seen his daily order count drop into single digits most days since the second round of restrictions. He attempted to open the restaurant a couple weeks ago, but was shut down after being reported.
REARDAN –The two main restaurants here, SpeedTrap Tap House and Dean's Drive-In have different setups, but lie across the highway from each other and have both faced their share of difficulties during the second round of restaurant coronavirus shutdowns mandated by Gov. Jay Inslee in November.
SpeedTrap attempted to not have to shut down. After talking with mayor Gail Daniels and police chief Andy Manke, who both said they wouldn't be enforcing any of Inslee's mandates personally, owner Tim Hanni tried to open for business a couple weeks ago. Doxie's Diner in Wilbur made the same decision, around the same time frame.
Unfortunately for Hanni, the restaurant was turned in, and a representative from the liquor cabinet came and shut the operation down, albeit without a fine.
"I don't blame him; he has a job to do," Hanni said. "He did say next time, there would be a fine."
Speed Trap has been offering just takeout since then, and Hanni receives only six to 10 takeout orders a day, he said. Before the pandemic, he said he got roughly 70 tickets per day.
"(Business) has been lousy at best," he said.
During the first shutdown, the community was more involved in supporting the business, Hanni noted.
"Now, I think they're tired of it and don't want to get takeout anymore," he said.
From June to November, when indoor dining with restrictions was allowed, business was still slow. Speed Trap typically draws an older crowd, with travelers coming through town being the second most common demographic.
"We don't have a young customer base," Hanni said.
This week, Hanni is the only person working at SpeedTrap. He's retained three of his four employees after eliminating one position, but they're brought in on a week-to-week basis. This week, they aren't needed, due to such a slow customer flow.
"I don't want to see more small businesses lost," Hanni said. "I hope this shows people how important small businesses are."
Dean's Drive-In closed its dining area in March and hasn't re-opened it since.
"We aren't opening the dining room until the vaccine arrives," owner Robin Landreth said. "It's not feasible, as small as our dining room is...in this town, it's impossible to try to keep people apart."
Landreth has family to consider when running her business, as "90%" of her employees are related to her. That means if one person on staff gets COVID-19, the whole business is at risk, a situation that occurred a couple weeks ago.
After one person tested positive, the restaurant shut down, as all employees were considered at high-risk for exposure. Dean's re-opened on Dec. 21 after everyone was cleared with negative tests.
Landreth foresees a potentially difficult winter, as that will likely slow outdoor dining traffic due to cold temperatures. She said she investigated the situation at Wolffy's Breakfast Burgers and Brew in Airway Heights, which has created a heated outdoor dining space with three heaters and plastic sheeting around the area, with two open spots for airflow, but elected to not follow that pattern.
"That puts too many at risk," Landreth said.
She did tout many community members who have showed their support through large takeout orders and gift card purchases.
"Some people placed big orders...just to show their support," Landreth said.
SpeedTrap is open daily at 8 a.m., with closing times varying from 8 pm.-11 p.m. depending on the day. Dean's is open daily. Opening time is 8 a.m. every day except Sunday, which is 11 a.m. All open days see a closing time of 6:30 p.m.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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