This is purely anecdotal, but from what I've seen as a bar patron of over 25+ years, COVID is, in the minds of patrons, "over." Every bar that is still HERE now has the same volume of customers they ever had in 2019. The difference is these bars now also have outdoor spaces and, more importantly, their drink prices have increased 35% or more from what they were pre-pandemic.

Honestly, what I predicted back when bars were slowly reopening with pandemic restrictions in place is exactly what actually happened. Those of us who wanted to support our local businesses and keep them open were happy to pay incredibly inflated prices on liquor to do so, but the bar owners themselves were taking the gamble that IF they could survive the pandemic they would then be able to make money hand over fist after it was all "over," because they had increased margins and prices never go down again once they're up.

I have been to PACKED bars at least once a week for the past few months and every time have paid $10 or more on well liquor that used to cost $7 and used to be a heavier pour, to boot. That's before a tip, which of course has now gone up as well, both due to basic math and due to the fact that regular bar patrons want to make sure the bartenders they like who were struggling aren't struggling anymore.

So it's a little frustrating to see some bar owners pretend that they're still suffering from a pandemic that they are now really happy to completely ignore in the actual bars.

It's just hard for me to imagine anything other than what other posters have posited--some of these suffering bar owners are just A. Not good at running a bar or B. Not running a good bar.

People spent nearly two years managing to NOT go out every night and I think maybe some of us are now a lot more cognizant of the fact that if you plan on having more than two drinks in any given night you are far better off just buying a bottle and inviting some friends to hang out.