The small business owner had seen politics enter his restaurant’s double doors throughout the Trump administration. But he wasn’t truly dragged into the political realm until January, when public health mandates drafted a reluctant soldier into a burgeoning culture war.
Eric Flannery, co-owner of the Big Board restaurant in Washington, D.C., has always operated his bar, which has now been closed for a month due to repeated violations of mask and vaccine mandates, by his personal mission statement, which he insists is not politically tinged: Everyone is welcome. That didn’t change when Mayor Muriel Bowser implemented a vaccine mandate for indoor businesses on Jan. 15 or when the Big Board had its liquor license suspended a week later for noncompliance, threatening to force his business to shun some would-be customers.
“I did not expect to get a lot of attention from it,” Flannery told the Washington Examiner, despite garnering national attention for his decision. “We didn’t say anything controversial then — it’s not controversial now. It’s not a political statement. It’s tried and true American values. Everyone should be welcome in bars and restaurants.”
DC RESTAURANT THAT DEFIED COVID-19 MANDATES FORCED TO CLOSE
The pub is the first and only establishment in Washington to lose its liquor license or be shut down for violating Bowser’s mandates. Within a week of the vaccine mandate going into effect, the bar racked up a number of verbal and written warnings, as well as hefty fines, for not requiring patrons to show proof of vaccination before entering. Just over a week later, the D.C. Health Department issued a closure notice citing multiple code violations not related to COVID-19 mandates.
Despite the intent to remain an apolitical space open to everyone, the Big Board became a political symbol used by both sides of the aisle for its noncompliance and subsequent closure. Although he knew avoiding politics was impossible in Washington, Flannery said it had never caused problems before, citing former President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20, 2017, inauguration as a day when both political factions broke bread together at his establishment.
“You would not believe this place. There were people wearing ‘Make America Great Again’ hats with people wearing pink hats sitting next to each other, smiling, having a good time,” Flannery said. “It was just people who had different political views and different ideologies who sat down and had good burgers and good beers, and we served with a smile. It was really, really, really fantastic.”
The tables were packed that day, about 150% of the restaurant’s usual rush-hour capacity. The next day, the 2017 Women’s March drew a similarly large crowd, marking the busiest two days in the burger joint’s history, according to Flannery.
But the political environment engulfing the COVID-19 pandemic was different. Earlier this year, the pub had its doors closed amid legal battles over the mandates, and an eerie silence took root as the owners awaited decisions from the city. Despite both the mask and vaccine mandates being lifted in the district, as of late February, the government has not reinstated the restaurant’s liquor or basic business licenses.
“It just doesn’t seem to make any sense at this point to maintain the closure of the Big Board given that the underlying orders that were the basis for the closure are no longer in effect,” said Robert Alt, president and CEO of the Buckeye Institute and the lawyer representing Flannery in court. “If there’s something necessary to get the Big Board into compliance, it’s already done by the law change.”
The restaurant must first have its business license reinstated before it can reopen. As of Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the Buckeye Institute told the Washington Examiner that there hasn’t been a decision from the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs on whether it will reverse the suspension on its own or if the restaurant must file a motion in court.
The Buckeye Institute wrote a letter to the DCRA on Feb. 22 demanding that it allow the restaurant to reopen without having to “proceed with legal action seeking financial damages, attorney’s fees, as well as injunctive and other compensatory relief.”
Additionally, the Buckeye Institute filed a motion last week with the D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Board for reconsideration of its liquor license suspension of the Big Board. The Office of the Attorney General, which handles cases regarding liquor license suspensions, has until Thursday to respond before the agency and the restaurant appear before the ABC Board on March 9, an ABRA spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.
At that hearing, the Big Board will make its case to have its liquor license reinstated.
Since its closure, the Big Board has attracted nationwide support, with some creating online fundraising pages that have allowed Flannery to continue paying his employees.
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In the meantime, Flannery said he and his crew have gathered two to three times per week to complete other projects such as cleaning up trash along the H Street Corridor where the pub is located in an effort to “make sure that all the trash didn’t go down storm drains and end up in the Anacostia.”
“We’re happy to do it,” Flannery said. “We’re not allowed to do anything else right now, so it’s a good outlet.”
