LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Five years ago this month, the spread of COVID-19 officially began in Kentucky.
Governor Andy Beshear made a sweeping order: restaurants and bars needed to close to in-person traffic.
Gwyn Everly, owner of J. Render’s in Lexington, remembers the uncertainty everyone faced during those pivotal moments.
"It gets me in my stomach just when anybody brings it up because there was so much uncertainty," Everly said.
As COVID-19 spread, restaurants and bars across the Commonwealth sat empty. Many owners, like Everly, were unsure if their businesses would survive.
In 2020, J. Render’s had to pivot to stay afloat, focusing on takeout and even introducing "to-go" alcohol services.
Kentucky would go on to pass a law in 2021 making to-go alcohol permanent.
Research firm Datassential reported that one in ten restaurants permanently closed during the first year of the pandemic.
Five years later, one of those restaurants in Lexington is making a comeback.
Crust Pizzeria closed its original location off Richmond Road in 2020. Its lease was coming to an end and faced with the uncertainty of the pandemic, the Bella Notte Restaurant Group decided not to renew it.
Jillian Richards, marketing director of the group, said it saw a new opportunity to revive the business.
In a new location off Beaumont Centre Circle, Crust is set to reopen in the coming weeks, half a decade after its initial closure.
"We're just really excited we're gonna be able to give the people what they're asking for and welcome them back in," Richards said.
The Kentucky Restaurant Association president Stacy Roof said through the last five years, the industry proved its resilience and adapted to survive the challenges.
"In some ways it feels like it's been two [years], and in some other ways it feels like it's been 20, right?"
Businesses like J. Render’s and Crust show that resilience through months, and years, of change.
"Just do what you gotta do, hang in there, and you will get through it," Everly said when asked what she would say to herself in 2020. "I mean, I don't know how we did, but we did all the things that we could think of to do, and we're still here."
Though the pandemic closed some doors, it also opened others.
From law changes to increased outdoor dining, the impacts of COVID-19 remain a significant part of the dining scene in Lexington.
