Restaurants have begun opening their doors to the public since Gov. Laura Kelly’s three-phase plan to handle the COVID-19 pandemic allowed dine-in eating beginning May 4.
It had been a long hiatus since customers could eat inside and restaurants have felt the rippling effects. Luckily, many small businesses were aided by the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) established in the CARES Act passed by Congress last month. The money helped business keep employees on the payroll, and doors open.
Rookies Bar & Grill’s Mike Sailor and Carri Campbell were able to keep all of their employees while dine-in hours were eliminated. With business slow, Sailor and Campbell along with their employees gave the restaurant a full face-lift during the downtime.
Sailor says they dusted everything thoroughly, patched up some spots on the floor, and did everything they could to make Rookies feel ready for the post COVID-19 age.
Rookies postponed its opening a week to May 11 to finish the final details. 
“The PPP helped a lot,” Sailor said. “It was one of those things where we were not busy enough to have a whole staff, so I just brought people on to help organize and clean. We wanted to make sure that everything looked nice and clean, showing we were ready to be open.”
During the time without their dine-in service, Rookies had to adapt. Business was already trending downward with the cancelation of the NCAA’s March Madness, and essentially every other sport with it.
“It is hard to be a sports bar without sports,” Sailor said.
Campbell and Sailor added family meals designed to feed 8-10 to their menu as well as curbside and delivery. They plan to continue delivery even after the pandemic comes to a halt.
“We knew right from the get-go that we needed to be creative, and needed to come with new specials and ideas,” Campbell said. “We had to become flexible with our business to be able to serve our community, and help people out.”
“It was our obligation to serve Iola. People can’t cook every night, you are busy, life happens and you always need something to fall back on.”
Since Rookies opened their doors to its regulars last Monday, they have been well received.
“We thought they might slowly trickle in, but people are coming in. We have been pretty busy so far,” Sailor said.
At the moment, Campbell and Sailor estimate they are reaching 50% of their usual sales. Alcohol sales are next to nothing, which sways the number, but Campbell highlights they are down only 20-30% of their food sales.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic hitting meat processing plants, restaurants are beginning to feel the impact. Both Campbell and Sailor say high meat prices are their biggest fear.
