Bistro Verde is on hiatus for the spring semester.
Lincoln Land Community College’s student-run cafe won’t operate this semester due to COVID-19 restrictions but is expected to return in the fall, according to a press release issued by the college.
“We anticipate dining capacities to remain in effect,” LLCC spokeswoman Lynn Whalen said. “With the number of students we have needing to take the course combined with the potential small amount of customers, we wanted to make sure we could provide the level of instruction to the students needed to meet all of their learning outcomes.”
Instead, the college’s Culinary Institute is partnering with area clubs and restaurants to provide hands-on training for culinary and hospitality students. Participating businesses include D Arcy s Pint, Illini Country Club, Lake Pointe Grill, and Obed & Isaac s Microbrewery.
The empty bar at Dew Chilli Pub & Grill on North Grand. There s no sugarcoating it. COVID-19 has been the catalyst for a nightmare year. Bars and restaurants were and continue to be among the hardest hit. In the second month of new mitigations, many plan to voice their concerns at a rally on Dec. 19.
Too soon? A prevailing attitude among Springfield bar and restaurant owners is that the first shutdown came too early for central Illinois. We followed all the rules at the beginning, said Ryan Bandy, owner of Win, Lose, or Draught in Springfield and vice president of CILBA (Central Illinois Licensed Beverage Association). It got really frustrating in early April into May and June, because we didn t really have any big outbreaks in our area but were still shut down. The governor decided to be overly cautious, which was his prerogative, but it didn t work.