MILWAUKEE — Opening its doors back in 2013, Brewtown Eatery quickly became a true local spot on Howard Avenue.
"We had a lot of good bands booked. We do live music every Saturday and we had just finished our banquet hall," says Jill Gulczynski, owner of Brewtown.
Unfortunately once COVID-19 hit Wisconsin, Jill was forced to close the restaurant and cancel all previously booked events.
"We actually couldn't do a Brewers outing that we do every year, we couldn't have our anniversary party, so it took effect on a lot of things," says Jill.
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On the bright side, Brewtown's trusty drive-thru was able to keep serving food, keeping the restaurant afloat.
"We've always had it since day one, thank goodness, otherwise we would have been shut down for sure," says Jill.
It even allowed the bar manager, Norman Millar, to reach his regulars.
"A lot of our customers do like our Bloody Mary mix and we were able to offer Bloody Mary kits through the drive-thru. Which has been nice, and also bottling the wine," says Norman.
Now able to offer dine-in Brewtown looks forward to getting back to normal.
"We are happy to be reopened, hopefully, we can get a little busier. It's hard when you only have 25percent capacity. But we're just hoping that things pick up or the numbers stay low so we can get more people in here," says Jill.
Until then, Jill and Norman are doing what they can to keep customers safe.
"CDC recommended social distancing, I like to call it physical distancing. Keeping a physical distance but always socially close. We're offering paper menus as opposed to the regular in house menus. After someone leaves we make sure we scrub the area down so to speak," says Norman.
Happy to make anyone feel comfortable, Jill truly believes that without Milwaukee's support Brewtown Eatery would not have survived this pandemic.
"Honestly it's been awesome. Without them like I said we wouldn't have stayed open. Not only did we see regulars through the drive-thru, but family, friends, and a lot of new faces," says Jill.