OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — If you're needing some wine, Vino Mas is open, and they've got quite the selection.
"We love them all, we carry them all, we have everything from bubbles and prosecco and sweets to everything whites and reds," said assistant manager Deb Harding.
The spot, located near 144th and Maple, is a wine shop and bar.
Before COVID-19, Vino Mas hosted social events throughout the week.
"Our three biggest draws are Friday night tastings, our three night - live music, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays," Harding said. "And then we have a party room, but all those things would be very difficult for us as staff to not have people mingling and standing, too close to what is the restriction."
Due to the pandemic, their bar service was closed for weeks.
"Thankfully, we have been able to be a retail store, so hours went immediately from 11:30 to 5:30, we discontinued our evening hours and then just because of our extremely wonderful customer base that we have and being loyal to us, we've been able to stay busy as a retail store," Harding said. "We've added some things like we have wines on sale all the time right now during all of this, and then we offer curbside pickup where you can call in and any one of us can help you pick out your wine, and we can have you pay for it over the phone, and we can deliver it to you curbside so you don't even have to come in the store."
They also added a delivery service. And since June 1, they opened the bar at 50% capacity.
"Our bar portion has not really picked up much. It's still very, very slow," Harding said. "We still have retail predominantly as our income right now."
Harding says they won't be fully open until all restrictions are lifted.
"We are going to stay at least until the holiday weekend at our 11:30 to 5:30," Harding said. "You can come in and enjoy a glass of wine; we have our tables set up for social distancing."
In the meantime, they've turned their wine tastings to virtual ones.
"We did start live streaming a Friday night wine tasting about nine weeks ago," Harding said. "A lot of our customers have bought the bottles that were focusing on that live stream wine tasting, and then we just enjoy it via the computer, together instead of live here."
Harding says it's tough times for everybody, but the pandemic has highlighted the importance of supporting local.
"Good friends, good times, good wine is our saying here," Harding said. "I just really think that our customer base has really made us very happy during this time because their loyalty has meant a lot to us."
