O’Scanlon Announces Restaurant Tour — “30 Days-30 Restaurants-30 lbs!*”

To support and celebrate the survival of the restaurant industry and the reopening of in-person dining, Senator Declan O’Scanlon announced the start of a regional restaurant tour.

“The pandemic lockdown has been brutal for so many businesses,” said O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth). “None have been hit harder than restaurants. Some did well with takeout, but many took tremendous, potentially fatal hits to their bottom lines. Now is our chance to help them bounce back and survive.”

O’Scanlon has begun a “30 Days-30 Restaurants-30 lbs!*” tour.

“We’re going to try to hit 30 in 30,” said O’Scanlon. “The asterisk is to leave a little wiggle room because some days I may have work and family obligations. Oh, and the 30 lbs isn’t a goal…it’s a warning! I’m going to try NOT to gain 30 lbs! But I do like to eat…and it’s for a good cause…!!”

O’Scanlon started working with a group of restauranteurs at the start of the lockdown through a text group. It grew to 30 participants.

“Our text message group was an organic coming-together of people in the industry, including fine dining, local haunts, luncheonettes, some with liquor licenses, some BYO,” said O’Scanlon. “They represent a real cross-section of the industry and have provided me real insight to the challenges they face. It helped me be a much more effective representative of their concerns and needs. This period has been terrifying for all of them, that’s universal.”

O’Scanlon will be dining at restaurants throughout the 13th Legislative District and Monmouth County.

“We’ve started the tour already at Sissy’s Restaurant in Atlantic Highlands this morning where I had a fabulous omelette,” added O’Scanlon. “We’ll be at Woody’s in Sea Bright tonight for dinner. Our restaurants have been ready to reopen for weeks. It’s crushed them to see these past few, precious summer weekends pass them by as neighboring states opened up, and our Governor inexplicably kept them closed. So we have some ground to make up. Let’s do it!”