Lake View Drive In

Lakeview Drive In closes temporarily out of safety concerns

By Gary Bégin

CHELAN -- Amy Mack, owner and manager of the extremely popular Lakeview Drive In eatery, decided to close her "little burger shack" for two weeks in August due to an overwhelming desire to keep her staff – and patrons, safe from the threat of contracting COVID-19, she said in an exclusive Lake Chelan Mirror interview.

Mack stressed, in an open letter to patrons, that she wasn’t closing because of any outbreak among staff. “No one on staff is sick. I monitor their health everyday before they begin their shift. I take their temperatures and ensure they are wearing a mask before they start work,” Mack said.

The seasonal burger restaurant opened two weeks earlier than normal, according to Mack, and she intends to stay open “hopefully until the end of October, which will make up the difference from the August closing.”

“I became concerned when I saw the larger than normal crowds and decided to voluntarily close to relieve the stress and pressure on the staff and out an abundance of caution for the health of everyone concerned,” Mack said.

One of the silver linings hidden in the COVID-19 outbreak, if there is such a thing, is that Mack’s staff, made up of mostly high school and college students, will be more available than any other year due to the fact that most of them are doing virtual learning this fall semester.

Mack, in explaining her decision to staff and customers, said she encouraged all her workers to go and get tested for Coronavirus and then self-quarantine regardless of whether the test was negative or positive.

She said this was to make sure that “asymptomatic carriers” would also be safer when they returned to work. ”I figured two weeks and two days would be sufficient to make sure parents and staff had the time to return safely,” Mack said.

“I would have felt differently if the customers were just locals,” but the crowds with their incredible diversity and potential for community spread changed her mind.

In response to the obvious financial loss to her business, Mack said “instead of closing at the usual time, after the Mahogany and Merlot festival, I will recoup the revenue by staying open two weeks later than normal.”

“Health is more important than money. We had a busier than normal season so far so and we are in good financial shape. We are in good place to do this (closing) now,” Mack stated.

Editor’s Note: The Lakeview Drive In reopened August 27 as planned. See photo.