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About the Member
WHO WE ARE
In the face of crisis, we are and will continue to be what we have always been, a community resource and culinary destination in the heart of Downtown Salem. Our beers are still warm (and now deliverable!), our waitresses are still surly (And safely social distancing) our bartenders MAY be a little less rude but our regulars are rowdy as ever and the cooks are cantankerously cranky as usual! The Shanty has always been a place of gathering, it has provided a respite and safe space for all for many years and although we are sad to not have you here with us, we want to do our part and keep our community safe AND fed!
Returning to normal looks different to everyone. For Diane Wolf, a downtown restaurant owner, that involves accepting that guests can’t possibly wear masks to protect others.
“I fully recognize guests won’t be wearing masks. How can you eat or drink with a mask on?” Wolf said.
“I think we’d need to have the tables at least 6-to-10 feet apart,” added Wolf, who owns The Lobster Shanty, “and only family members or people who live in the same household together at the same time. I guess it’s on them to decide who they’re going to sit with.”
This is the new reality slowly being established for businesses throughout the North Shore as they look to turn the lights back on from the now months-long COVID-19 shutdown.
Practically an anchor to downtown Salem’s Artists’ Row, The Lobster Shanty fills out a large shed-like space measuring about 15-by-30 feet. Half of the public space is filled by a U-shaped bar, while the rest typically has scattered tables before a set of doors leads to a recently built outside patio. It’s the only business in Artists’ Row that has actual insulation and a furnace, features that give the business more permanent residence in a space that transforms year to year.
