Several Valley restaurants remain open, offering curbside service amid COVID-19 closures

WASILLA — Local bars and restaurants are getting hit hard by the coronavirus situation. Some have closed their doors or will soon, while others have remained opened, adapting with the ever changing times.

Establishments across the Valley are closing their lobbies and limiting their staff and services to follow regulations while offering curbside services staying open for business.

Some establishments like Palmer City Alehouse are offering delivery for the first time to survive the economic downturn, according to Mat-Su CHARR Executive Director Michele Shapiro.

“They see that people are hunkering down. So if they’re going not to venture out, they’re going to come to you because obviously they need to seek out as much revenue as they can in order to survive this,” Shapiro said.

Mat-Su CHARR works with bars, hotels and restaurants across the Valley. They’ve partnered with every establishment with a liquor license in the community.

Shapiro said all the Valley bars and lounges are closed, but some are still offering food for pickup and delivery.

“I’ve talked to a few members and their clientele is being really supportive of this idea and actually ordering more often than they normally would just to help out the restaurants. They’ve been severely impacted,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro noted that these local employers are also trying to stay open for their employees’ benefit. Each passing day, another household is forced to stay away from work due to closures and other restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“You want to keep your employees. You want to help them out. Restaurants that were not going to be open for to-do passed out food for their staff and said, ‘here, take this home and feed your families,’ doing what they can to help their employees through this,” Shapiro said.

A local mother, Stacey Ham is making the most out of her at home quarantine. She recently created a list of restaurants that are still open, all on her own initiative. She set out to set the record straight and inform her community during a great time of need.

“Isn’t that great? People are awesome,” Shapiro said. “The whole community is getting behind us, and you know, wanting to see restaurants survive this. I’m just amazed at the community support as always because we live in a great community

Ham said she called each establishment on her list just to make sure the information was right before she posted anything on social media. Once she verified the information, she posted it in Facebook groups like Mat-Su Valley Who to Use.

“There’s so much hearsay going around that’s just not factual,” Ham said. “I made sure to get it directly through the manager or the owner so the list is absolutely legit.”

Ham said that she always tries to support the community wherever she can, usually with her children by her side. Whether it’s buying a stranger’s breakfast at iHop or connecting people to accurate information, they’re always looking to brighten someone’s day. She said that she wants to be a positive role model for them and to show them how to respond positively in times of crisis.

“This is a time to be neighborly, and I think it’s so important that everyone just kind of step up to be the neighbor everyone should have been to begin with. I mean, sometimes we can lose our way and get so focussed on our own lives, but it’s super important to just remember we’re not the only ones on the planet.”

Note that both Ham and Shapiro’s lists are subject to change since the situation changes day by day.

To contact Mat-Su CHARR, call 907-830-1858 or visit their website at matsucharr.com/atsucharr.com.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com