Danny Piacquadio's father bought Harold's Cave Creek Corral 35 years ago. It was then that he added a large kitchen to the building, transforming the western-themed bar into a full service restaurant. The bar has always held a series 6 liquor license meaning it could function as both a bar and restaurant without restrictions.
That is, until now.
On June 29, Gov. Doug Ducey put in place an executive order to close Arizona bars, which the order described as businesses holding a series 6 or 7 liquor license with primary purpose of selling alcohol.
Harold's primary purpose is selling food, Piacquadio says.
Still, his business was shut down by the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control.
Understanding and adhering to the executive order has proven difficult for others, too. The owners of bars including Roosters Country in Mesa and Draw 10 Bar & Grill in Phoenix received conflicting advice from the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control about whether or not their businesses could legally operate.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, bar owners have tried to balance keeping their businesses afloat while also keeping staff and customers safe. But enforcement of Ducey's most recent executive order to close bars has been inconsistent, leaving some owners unsure how to proceed.
"We understand that these are challenging times by all means," Piacquadio says. "But we brought 76 employees back and now had to furlough almost all of them again."
Here's why Harold's was forced to close
Harold's reopened for dine-in service on May 11, the day Ducey permitted restaurants around the state to welcome customers back for on-site dining. Then on June 29, Ducey ordered bars with the primary purpose of serving alcohol to close. On July 4, an inspector from the liquor department visited Harold's.
The inspector served no order or warning to Piacquadio but requested records of food and alcohol sales for that night, that week, the previous month and a three month period. Piacquadio provided the records the following day; he says all records indicated a majority of the business' sales come from food.
Piacquadio says he heard from other bar owners that the inspector visited a few other businesses in the area that night.
"The next day, other bars were closed," he says. "We weren't, so we felt confident that we were okay."
SHUT DOWN: Do all Arizona bars have to close? 6 questions answered about Ducey's new executive order
On July 7, however, Piacquadio says he received a call from the liquor department asking him to voluntarily close his business and explaining that Harold's could be perceived as a bar.
But he didn't close Harold's. In response, Piacquadio took actions including removing all bar stools, placing tables on the dance floor, canceling upcoming performances by live bands, and requiring customers to be seated and order food in order to purchase alcohol.
Despite Piacquadio's efforts, a representative from the liquor department came knocking again.
"On Friday night a detective from the board was there to shut us down," Piacquadio says.
On July 10, a liquor department representative gave Harold's two options: voluntarily shut down or temporarily lose its liquor license. Piacquadio made the decision to close his doors, switch back to serving takeout and furlough more than 70 employees.
"It's very frustrating," Piacquadio says. "We feel this is unjust."
These owners got conflicting advice from the liquor department
The owners of two other businesses found themselves in a similar situation and were forced to close despite being under the impression they could open in compliance with Ducey's order.
Cherie Dunn is a co-owner of Roosters Country, a neon-lit bar that often hosts live music and games of pool in Mesa. After closing down for the July 4th holiday, a liquor department agent told Dunn on the phone that she was legally allowed to reopen her bar, she says.
"'Absolutely' he says, 'we are not going around picking on people'," Dunn says the agent told her.
But about five hours after she opened her doors on July 13, a liquor department inspector came to the bar and shut it down.
"We were trying to do the right thing and sell a bunch of food," Dunn says, noting that the day the inspector came, food sales totaled 68% of Roosters Country's business.
"He said we're doing a good job and he felt really bad," Dunn says. But after being permitted to stay open through midnight that night, the bar had to shut down in order to avoid its liquor license being suspended, Dunn says the inspector told her.
Across town at Draw 10, Scott Weigele received the same conflicting advice.
"I have a full commercial kitchen and I do about 50% food and 50% alcohol so it's hard to say what my primary (purpose) is," Weigele says. "So I called the liquor board."
Although Draw 10 holds a series 6 liquor license, the business also serves a full menu of sandwiches, burgers and wings. The business initially reopened on July 6 after closing for the holiday.
"We closed a whole week to do our research, then we were open for six days," Weigele says.
On July 13 an inspector visited while the restaurant was closed, though a cook was on-site prepping ingredients for the week's service. The cook let the inspector inside and the inspector called Weigele, informing him that he needed to shut down the business immediately.
In a written response to The Arizona Republic, Department of Liquor spokesperson Jeffery Trillo said the conflicting advice was a mistake. The information the bar owners initially received was wrong.
"The short of it was, it was a training issue involving a new detective to the agency. The error was identified and promptly corrected," Trillo wrote.
But the error will have a significant impact on Weigele's budget.
"I had made all of my liquor and food orders," Weigele says. "I'm going to end up donating most of my produce, cheese and deli meats. It's probably $500 of produce I'm going to lose. The inconvenience of it is enormous."
A 'subjective interpretation' of the order
When all three business owners asked why they were being shut down, they received a consistent answer: The liquor department received a complaint they were open.
But none of the owners were provided with specific information about how they were breaking the governor's order.
"It's subjective interpretation of the executive order," Piacquadio says, "and it seemed more of a knee-jerk reaction."
Harold's struggle caught the eye of many devoted customers and a few politicians.
State Senator Heather Carter says Harold's is "an incredible community partner" for Cave Creek and has been for years. The business hosts morning Chamber of Commerce meetings, lunch meetings for the local Kiwanis club and helped the local school district distribute food during the pandemic, Carter says.
She was also impressed by how closely Harold's was following health guidelines such as mask wearing, social distancing and sanitizing.
"The unique situation with Harold's is from the outside looking in, it can look like any other bar," Carter says. "But they have a very robust restaurant, which not all class 6 liquor licenses have."
The qualifying factors for staying open should be based on health guidelines, Carter says, something she believes Harold's was following.
"We all want to open the economy and do so in a way that is the most safe," she says. "Harold's is doing the right thing keeping their employees and customers safe."
Other politicians in the area and around the state have also reached out to help including State Senator Karen Fann, U.S. Representative David Schweikert, Cave Creek Mayor Ernie Bunch and Steve Chucri, the president and CEO of the Arizona Restaurant Association and Maricopa County Supervisor for District 2.
'It looks like they missed the mark here'
In a response to The Republic, Department of Liquor spokesperson Jeffery Trillo says none of the three businesses received a citation as they all agreed to voluntarily shut down.
"The locations had to temporarily pause dine-in services because bars must close under the listed public health order," Trillo wrote. "It is not enough to have a full menu and provide food service."
Indicators seen online or in-person led the department to decide the locations needed to close, according to Trillo. He did not further specify what indicators the department used to determine the businesses must close.
Steve Chucri, who lobbies for the promotion of restaurants and is currently running for reelection as County Supervisor for District 2, says he thinks the liquor department made the wrong decision by closing down Harold's.
"It looks like they missed the mark here," he says. "I respectfully disagree."
Piacquadio has shared his story with many politicians including the governor's office. He's shared the situation on social media and through radio and television coverage. But he's still waiting for an answer about whether or not his business could re-open.
"Until then we have 70 employees that are trying to file unemployment," he says.
Ducey's executive order that closed down bars is set to expire on Monday, July 27, at which time Arizona bars will be allowed to reopen unless the governor extends the order or establishes a new one.
When Piacquadio shared his story with the governor's office, staff were "sympathetic and they listened," he says.
"They are working on some solution but I don't know what that might be," he says.
Reach the reporter at tirion.morris@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter at @tirionmorris, on Facebook at Tirion Rose and on Instagram at tirionrose.
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