Update: 10:24 p.m.

Bobby Wiltgen, the owner of Cantina, Oak Barrel Public House and Who’s on Third, tells WTMJ that once the restaurants re-open to full business, the workers who were temporarily let go “are welcomed back with open arms.”

Original story

Coronavirus is making a powerful economic effect on downtown Milwaukee, with nearly 200 jobs lost at four different establishments within two blocks of each other.

Three bars on Old World Third Street – Cantina, Oak Barrel Public House and Who’s On Third – announced they had to let go of 100 employees.

The owner of those locations, Bobby Wiltgen, shared his emotional take on that news on Facebook.

As he said, “It breaks my heart having to lay off my staff.”

Punch Bowl Social, inside the Deer District just two blocks away from that group of restaurants on Old World Third Street, laid off of 91 workers in a layoff notice, according to the Milwaukee Business Journal.