Jimmy Makris is getting fed up.
His popular restaurant, Makris Lobster and Steakhouse, has been shackled. The bills are piling up and not enough money is coming in, just like every other non-essential business since the coronavirus surfaced.
He’s closed, except for takeout, just as the governor ordered. In a little over a week, he could open at 50 percent capacity as the state begins to lift restrictions on businesses, but that’s still a losing proposition. Revenue won’t be enough to cover expenses, he said.
Adding insult to injury, Makris had a pair of surprise visits – from the State Liquor Commission and Concord police – in the past week as yet another consequence from the pandemic appeared: The case of the nosy neighbor.
Apparently, Makris learned, he’s under surveillance from passing motorists. They saw a crowd at the establishment on Route 106 and thought people were having too much fun.
The restaurant had to be open, serving liquor, right?
No. The cops and the commission confirmed that Makris has been following the rules. No violations found. If anything, maybe more supervision outside. Nothing more, though.
“I spent my whole life to build something and provide a cushion and a nest egg, and this could be wiped out because of this,” Makris said while speaking about the pandemic during a phone interview. “The new guy just starting out in business, they’re dead.”
After two months of staying home, news on the economic front is dreadful. But Makris – despite a passionate Live Free or Die philosophy on life – has obeyed the governor’s executive order and closed his restaurant for indoor dining, like everyone else. That order ends May 18.
Makris has been tidying up, getting his outdoor deck ready for when he reopens. He called up a few employees, which led to a few extra cars in the parking lot.
In addition to the restaurant, Makris has a market where customers can buy cooked or fresh seafood and meats. It also sells bottled beer and wine, a feature that mixes well with takeout orders. The nice weather has attracted a few more customers coming to pick up food.
He’s got lots of room for regulars to relax outside, a patio and spacious parking lot, the perfect place for, say, thirsty bikers waiting for food.
Translation: Makris had good crowds last Sunday and Tuesday, people waiting for their food orders. A large group of bikers showed up, always a staple of the restaurant. A few other customers were there. A few of Makris’s classic cars, a Porsche and a GTO, were parked in the lot as well.
It looked packed, open for business. Input from at least one anonymous source – as Makris sees it, an uninformed tattletail – led to the two official visits, within two hours of each other.
Law enforcement officials were told the restaurant was open. They were told liquor was being sold for on-sight partying. People were too close, certainly closer than the six feet medical experts say is needed to derail the virus.
Makris said a few customers bought six packs from his retail store and handed out beers to others waiting outside. He said he told them to stop once he noticed, and they complied cordially. He said they understood and respected the concept of social distancing.
“They were having beer and it may have been on the front porch or the parking lot,” Makris said. “Either way, someone called.”
Makris said he was cleared both times of wrongdoing. A Liquor Commission spokeswoman confirmed that an inspector investigated the restaurant on May 5 and saw nothing that violated rules.
The cops also confirmed Makris’s story.
“Concord police responded to the restaurant on May 5 after someone called the department saying they had reason to believe there were people inside the restaurant,” Concord Police Chief Bradley Osgood said. “The officer confirmed at that time the staff was there doing take-out only.”
Losing the popular restaurant and its lobster pool would shake Concord’s night-life community. Jimmy and his late brother, Greg Makris, who died last June, had owned one restaurant or another through more than four decades.
The restaurant is a well-known hangout for celebrity drivers and team owners each summer during NASCAR race weekend. The winner of the race annually gets the biggest lobster you ever saw, right there at New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s Victory Lane.
That was then. Now, Makris is sinking.
Even the $200,000 he received through the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program won’t help him and really does little for restaurant owners in general.
The money is a loan that is forgiven as long as 75 percent of it is used for payroll within eight weeks. If not, it all needs to be paid back.
Makris said most of his staff is making more money through unemployment insurance than they would by coming back to the restaurant. And he doesn’t have enough work to call everyone back at once. Makris said he plans to give the money back.
Making matters worse, the governor’s edict that restaurants can open at 50 percent capacity later this month is an obvious disaster for this industry, Makris said.
All of this has been enough to change Makris’s outlook. He worked within the guidelines and executive orders, like a boxer who followed the rules, never hitting below the belt, but was woefully outmatched by his tireless opponent.
Now, he’s tired of getting beat up. He wonders if sticking with the program is a good idea. He likes the fact that President Trump is leaving the decision to the nation’s governors. A state’s rights thing.
But he wants our governor to loosen those shackles, or at least devise a program that allows restaurants to make a profit again.
“It comes to the point where I might not follow rules and see what happens,” Makris said. “If we don’t do something for money, maybe we should shutdown for a few months and see what happens.
“I’m on the edge on whether to stay open or not.”