Kane County Reporter

The past seven months have included some dark days for Elgin Public House owner Greg Shannon.

Shannon’s former restaurant, the Grumpy Goat Tavern, closed immediately upon the initial lockdown back in late March. At the same, he laid off his entire combined staff of 65. 

“Even if I had tried to stay open, I couldn’t,” Shannon told Dupage Policy Journal.   

As a result, Shannon’s business was turned upside down overnight through no fault of his own. 

The Elgin Public House, which Shannon and his wife started together 15 years ago, spent months painstakingly adapting its business model to the new Covid regulatory environment. Along the way, the business clawed its way back to employing 25 workers.

When Pritzker announced Tuesday that he would be shutting the region back down, Shannon took to Facebook to announce the business was going to likely have to close. 

“I looked at my wife, my bank account and what we needed to keep going,” Shannon said. “I started counting and said, ‘Honey, I don’t know how we are going to pay our people.’ On Tuesday, we announced we might be done.”

After he came to the revelation that they may be at the end, Shannon made the announcement on the Elgin Public House’s Facebook page that today may be its last day in business.

Shannon said he mulled over the thought of being unemployed and out of the restaurant business after 50 years. 

“Oh my God, I am 62. Who is going to hire me?” Shannon said. 

Instead, the floodgates opened at the restaurant after they made the announcement. 

“This town of Elgin . . . the outpouring of love from this community brings tears to my eyes,” Shannon said. 

Shannon said the support from the community has been heartwarming, adding that the business had one of its best nights in two years. 

Now, he has retained an attorney and is resolved to remain open this Friday. 

“It is my life. It is my living. It is how I pay all of the people who work for me,” Shannon said. “We are going to stay open and we are going to take care of business. The mandates are unconstitutional.”

DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick said his office would not be involved in punishing business owners. 

Ki's Steak and Seafood Restaurant in Glendale Heights and Italian Pizza Kitchen in Roselle both announced yesterday they would remain open. 

Last week the Monroe County State’s Attorney’s office set a precedent in noting that no law exists that allows for restaurants to be cited for remaining open. Subsequently, a court denied citation charges against a Metro East saloon for remaining open. 

Shannon said he does not fear being punished for standing up for what he believes in. 

“They can come in and cite us, but no one is going to shut us down without getting a judge's mandate,” Shannon said. 

Shannon is cautiously optimistic about his business’ future now that he realizes he simply does not have to listen to Pritzker. However, he said he’d like more than anything for his community to be allowed to get back to work without obstacles. 

“The biggest thing is I still feel for all of the people I had to lay off who still aren’t working,“ Shannon said.