DES MOINES, Iowa — "Right now we're just taking it one day at a time," says T.J. Rushing, Co-owner of The Station on Ingersoll. The local sports bar opened just five months ago and the owners never thought they'd see a pandemic shut down their restaurant.
Rushing says, "We knew things could happen, we didn't think anything of this magnitude would happen."
Tuesday morning, Governor Kim Reynolds followed what had already been done in other states, announcing that all bars and restaurants were not allowed to have guests dine in as we try to slow the spread of Covid-19.
"We were unsure if Iowa would do the same thing-- but I would say we're not surprised," says Rushing. The Station on Ingersoll isn't interested in doing take out for customers, so they decided to close the bar for the time being, with one caveat.
"We're going to have what we call a community kitchen. We have a lot of inventory here that we're not going to be able to use unless we give it away so that's what we want to do."
Those who are in need can call The Station on Ingersoll from 11 A.M. to 4 P.M. starting March 18th to order off the menu. They'll be able to pick up the food from 5 P.M. to 7 P.M. that night.
"We wanted to help out in any way we can and try to turn this negative into a positive and we thought this was the best way we could do that."
The Station on Ingersoll plans to do this until they run out of inventory, and hopes to reopen as soon as they are allowed.
If you are someone in need of a meal you can find the contact info for The Station on Ingersoll and what food is available at the links below.
