Comment: Restaurants, brew pubs need help to weather storm

We can halt indoor dining, but how do we make sure eateries are there when it’s safe to open again?

By Pat Ringe / For The Herald

Winter is coming. As the days turn colder and darker, we all know this is literally true.

But fans of the popular HBO fantasy show “Game of Thrones” recognize the lines as the motto of the Starks, the lords of the North, who must always prepare for the hardships wrought by the cold on their lands. Metaphorically, the phrase reflects the idea that even in good times, people must vigilantly prepare for the dark periods of life that inevitably lie ahead.

As the covid-19 pandemic drags into its ninth month in America, perhaps no group is more acutely aware that “winter is coming” — in fact, has come roaring in — than the restaurants, bars and breweries that form the heart and soul of our communities.

We operate on razor-thin margins even in the best of times. We were devastated when in-person dining was ordered to stop in mid-March and lost nearly all of our revenue overnight. Many were forced to let go the majority of their workers. By May, for instance, nearly every bartender in the state had been laid off, and many remain unemployed to this day. Once it was clear the virus wasn’t going to disappear anytime soon, many establishments closed their doors for good.

Now, to curb a drastic spike in coronavirus cases across Washington, Gov. Jay Inslee has ordered another shutdown for all indoor dining through at least Dec. 14. This could be the final blow for those establishments barely hanging on as it is. Even the most resilient places that have fought so hard to adapt to unprecedentedly difficult circumstances may finally close permanently.

But that doesn’t need to be the way this story unfolds. There appeared to be hope this summer, when ingenuity and resilience reigned: Our restaurants, bars and breweries that somehow survived the spring shutdown found ways to hang on a little longer. We revamped our menus; we opened outdoor patios to draw eaters and drinkers; we offered a break for people weary of home cooking, offering takeout, delivery, and, eventually, limited indoor dining.

As the cold and dark descend, again suspending indoor dining as an option, many eateries and breweries will need to find new ways to pivot. Maybe they’ll offer special menus with beer and food pairings for takeout, just in time for the holidays. Maybe they’ll offer pick-up pop-ups in new locations. Maybe they’ll offer clever merchandise for stocking stuffers. All of these actions and ideas hopefully can help keep the lights on a little longer, but for the majority of restaurants, bars and brewers it is not sustainable.

Washingtonians have been doing their part to support local restaurants and breweries throughout the pandemic. But it’s not all up to the community to ensure restaurants, bars and breweries can continue to weather the storm. Legislators, both in Olympia and Washington, D.C. must provide a lifeline, too, by putting together an economic relief package for the struggling hospitality and brewing industries and refrain from imposing measures that would further economic harm, like raising the beer tax, a move that could not come at a worse time.

Winter is coming, but we can prevent the darkest, bleakest outcomes for these local, small businesses if legislators come together to provide real and significant relief. So far, it feels like they have been indifferent or at least more preoccupied with playing politics then helping their constituents. Thankfully our communities and loyal customers continue to support their favorite local places to eat and drink. It is past time for legislators to do the same!

Pat Ringe is brewmaster and co-owner of Diamond Knot Brewing Co., since 1994, Snohomish county’s longest continually operating brewery.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Opinion

THis is an editorial cartoon by Michael de Adder . Michael de Adder was born in Moncton, New Brunswick. He studied art at Mount Allison University where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drawing and painting. He began his career working for The Coast, a Halifax-based alternative weekly, drawing a popular comic strip called Walterworld which lampooned the then-current mayor of Halifax, Walter Fitzgerald. This led to freelance jobs at The Chronicle-Herald and The Hill Times in Ottawa, Ontario.

 

After freelancing for a few years, de Adder landed his first full time cartooning job at the Halifax Daily News. After the Daily News folded in 2008, he became the full-time freelance cartoonist at New Brunswick Publishing. He was let go for political views expressed through his work including a cartoon depicting U.S. President Donald Trump’s border policies. He now freelances for the Halifax Chronicle Herald, the Toronto Star, Ottawa Hill Times and Counterpoint in the USA. He has over a million readers per day and is considered the most read cartoonist in Canada.

 

Michael de Adder has won numerous awards for his work, including seven Atlantic Journalism Awards plus a Gold Innovation Award for news animation in 2008. He won the Association of Editorial Cartoonists' 2002 Golden Spike Award for best editorial cartoon spiked by an editor and the Association of Canadian Cartoonists 2014 Townsend Award. The National Cartoonists Society for the Reuben Award has shortlisted him in the Editorial Cartooning category. He is a past president of the Association of Canadian Editorial Cartoonists and spent 10 years on the board of the Cartoonists Rights Network.
Editorial cartoons for Sunday, July 6

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

A Volunteers of America Western Washington crisis counselor talks with somebody on the phone Thursday, July 28, 2022, in at the VOA Behavioral Health Crisis Call Center in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Editorial: Dire results will follow end of LGBTQ+ crisis line

The Trump administration will end funding for a 988 line that serves youths in the LGBTQ+ community.

FILE — The journalist Bill Moyers previews an upcoming broadcast with staffers in New York, in March 2001. Moyers, who served as chief spokesman for President Lyndon Johnson during the American military buildup in Vietnam and then went on to a long and celebrated career as a broadcast journalist, returning repeatedly to the subject of the corruption of American democracy by money and power, died in Manhattan on June 26, 2025. He was 91. (Don Hogan Charles/The New York Times)
Comment: Bill Moyers and the power of journalism

His reporting and interviews strengthened democracy by connecting Americans to ideas and each other.

Brooks: AI can’t help students learn to think; it thinks for them

A new study shows deeper learning for those who wrote essays unassisted by large language models.

Do we have to fix Congress to get them to act on Social Security?

Thanks to The Herald Editorial Board for weighing in (probably not for… Continue reading

Comment: Keep county’s public lands in the public’s hands

Now pulled from consideration, the potential sale threatened the county’s resources and environment.

Comment: Companies can’t decide when they’ll be good neighbors

Consumers and officials should hold companies accountable for fair policies and fair prices.

Comment: State’s new tax on digital sales ads unfair and unwise

Washington’s focus on chasing new tax revenue could drive innovation and the jobs to other states.

toon
Editorial: Using discourse to get to common ground

A Building Bridges panel discussion heard from lawmakers and students on disagreeing agreeably.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on Friday, June 27, 2025. The sweeping measure Senate Republican leaders hope to push through has many unpopular elements that they despise. But they face a political reckoning on taxes and the scorn of the president if they fail to pass it. (Kent Nishimura/The New York Times)
Editorial: GOP should heed all-caps message on tax policy bill

Trading cuts to Medicaid and more for tax cuts for the wealthy may have consequences for Republicans.

Alaina Livingston, a 4th grade teacher at Silver Furs Elementary, receives her Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic for Everett School District teachers and staff at Evergreen Middle School on Saturday, March 6, 2021 in Everett, Wa. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Editorial: RFK Jr., CDC panel pose threat to vaccine access

Pharmacies following newly changed CDC guidelines may restrict access to vaccines for some patients.

Forum: Protecting, ensuring our freedoms in uncertain times

Independence means neither blind celebration nor helpless despair; it requires facing the work of democracy.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.