Swing Wine Bar in Olympia will temporarily close its doors at the end of the month

On Sept. 26, Swing Wine Bar — well known for its wine list, cocktails and sweeping water view — will celebrate its 13th anniversary with toasts, a raffle for a gift certificate and a few surprises.

After that, the bar and restaurant, at 825 Columbia St. SW, Olympia, will close its doors until at least December.

“That’s what I’m hoping,” owner Nicole Butigan told the Olympian. “If I have to stay closed longer, I will.

“People ask, ‘What’s your plan?’ ” she added. “I don’t know. Things could change in a month. We didn’t know we were all going to be stuck in our houses for days with a smoke apocalypse. It’s so weird.”

Fall weather is a big issue for the restaurant, which draws crowds to its patio each summer and has limited space for physically distanced tables inside.

“We have been making money because of the outside seating,” said Butigan, who also owns Lucky Lunchbox with husband Jim Butigan.

With school back in session and the smoke dissuading outdoor diners, business is already down, she said, though some of the drop-off is typical.

“October and November are the slowest times of the year in normal times for Swing and for restaurants in this area in general,” she said. “It starts to rain, and people stay home. They watch football. They start to save money for Christmas.

“That, coupled with Covid, coupled with everything — it all ties together.”

Pam Oates, a co-owner of Oyster House and Budd Bay Café in Olympia and River’s Edge in Tumwater, said fall is the slowest time of year at her restaurants, too.

In good weather, she said, her customers prefer to dine al fresco, anyway, but that might be truer than ever this year.

“I think somehow people feel that outside is a Covid-free zone,” she told the Olympian. “They feel more comfortable being outside with more airflow.”

Another factor that might be driving the demand for outdoor seating: Those dining with people from outside of their households are not supposed to share a table indoors during Phase 3.

Bar seating is also not permitted in Phase 3, and at Swing, which reopened June 23, physical distancing requirements mean there are only a dozen indoor tables available, with five of those in the restaurant’s basement.

Butigan said those limitations — combined with the facts that some of her regulars are still avoiding restaurants altogether and many others are working from home and thus not stopping in for a happy hour cocktail — will make it difficult to turn a profit.

“There are lots of factors,” she said.

She is considering offering meal kits and wine for pickup later in the fall. “I need a little break first,” she said. “I have three children who are doing distance learning.”

This story was originally published September 19, 2020 at 5:45 AM.