Siouxland Magazine - Volume 2 Issue 5

enjoy
You only live once.
Wheelhouse Bar & Grill
Resilient Siouxland Restaurants
Siouxland restaurants and patrons rose to the COVID-19 challenge
By Kolby DeWitt
The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t left a single
aspect of life uninterrupted. The first event of its kind
in at least 100 years, humanity has yet again met a force
of nature that it has been compelled to bend to (at least
in the near and foreseeable term).
Perhaps the hardest hit sector is one close to me, and all
reading this column: the restaurant and service industries.
Iowa restaurants were given a mere two hours’ notice
that they were to close at noon on Tuesday, March 17th.
Although expected at some point, many owners and
workers were taken by surprise at the announcement,
which came on the heels of the announcement of the
suspension of the school year. With the service and small
business economy already facing issues (i.e. workforce
shortage stemming from low unemployment, high food
prices, etc.), the pendulum swung even harder in the other
direction in the form of heightened health regulations, a
hindered supply chain, plummeting demand, and much
more.
However, Siouxland is often noted for her resiliency:
restaurants found many ways to survive. Establishments
whose business models that relied on heavier carryout
and delivery volumes were unwittingly insulated from
the worst of COVID-19. Milwaukee Weiner House, a
Siouxland stalwart, found success in selling “family packs,”
which allowed their faithful to purchase the ingredients
and enjoy Coney dogs and chili from the trappings of
self-quarantine.
Wheelhouse Bar and Grill switched to a carryout model,
and was also among the first restaurants to reopen. “The
public has been very supportive…We had a framework
in place to quickly accommodate carry-out and we
modified it as necessary. Since opening back up to 100%
capacity, the public and staff have been very responsible
about following recommendations,” said Wheelhouse
Bar and Grill owner Dr. Ben Uhl. He continued “We are
almost back to expected normal business.”
Sneaky’s Chicken