Landmark cafe on Hilton Head’s north end temporarily closing as coronavirus cases rise
Main Street Cafe and Pub, a fixture for residents on Hilton Head Island’s north end, is closing temporarily as cases of COVID-19 rise in Beaufort County.
Faith Roppelt, one of the owners of Main Street Cafe, said the decision to close was difficult to make because of so many unknown factors related to the coronavirus.
“It took us weeks to make the decision as far as what we wanted to do,” she said on Thursday afternoon. A sharp increase in tourism and the lack of information about how many visitors might be ill were factors the owners considered.
The restaurant, located at 1411 Main St. in Main Street Village, would be open for indoor and outdoor dining and takeout on Friday. After that, it will be closed at least until August, Roppelt said.
“We are taking this step in an effort to get some much needed rest and to KEEP OUR TEAM SAFE in the face of dramatic increases in local area COVID-19 cases,” read a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page. “We want to assure everyone, WE ARE NOT CLOSING, THIS IS TEMPORARY!”
Roppelt said the staff would be compensated during the time the restaurant was closed.
Main Street Cafe is in the middle of its 20th year on Hilton Head. During that time, it has never closed for an extended period until the coronavirus pandemic.
After S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster relaxed orders enough to allow indoor dining with limits in place for social distancing, Main Street Cafe brought back nine of the 27 employees it had before coronavirus.
But operating at 50 percent capacity was a financial strain. And many among the restaurant’s main customer base, made up of older locals, aren’t comfortable dining out to the same degree they once were.
“Everybody’s working twice as hard for half as much,” Roppelt said. “We just decided it would be better to shut down for a couple weeks.”
This story was originally published June 19, 2020 at 3:07 PM.
