John Rich was the first to open his business in downtown Nashville, with his own Redneck Riviera bar. While some businesses are choosing to remain closed for the time being, John has no regrets about allowing patrons to eat and drink in his venue, even during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“Of course there’s a lot of rules, regulations, stuff that you have to do, correctly to open safely and carefully but we’ve done that and I’ve honestly been really proud of our customers that they follow the rules,” John told PopCulture.com. “I was wondering, ‘Are we gonna have to separate people? Are people gonna get upset?’ and I think they’re just so happy to be able to go to a bar, get a Redneck Riviera whiskey and Coke, barbecue sandwich and just be somewhere else. That the last thing they’re gonna do is cause any trouble. It’s been a good experience so far.”
The Big & Rich singer previously was questioned about not requiring his customers to wear masks, but he insists he is doing everything that is required of him, and keeping everyone safe in the process.
“The state of Tennessee and the city of Nashville do not require customers to wear masks anywhere in any business,” John explained. “And so what we do is, at Redneck Riviera, we offer them a mask when they come through the door, and we urge them to wear that mask. Some of them do wear them when they come in. Some of them don’t, but we offer them one anyway. Then, of course, all of our employees are temperature checked every day and they put on a mask and gloves. We’re following the letter of the law as they’ve laid it out here in Tennessee.”
John earlier opened up about his requirements for Redneck Riviera customers, saying he trusted them to do what was right.
“I think that personal responsibility is a big thing right now,” John said on the Today Show. “I’ve seen certain governments around our country, I think, overreach with people. I think you’ve got to treat us like adults. We’re all very well aware that this virus is deadly, that this virus is nasty and that you don’t want to transmit it. And so a lot of our customers are actually wearing masks when they come in. We also have masks on hand if they don’t have one and offer them one.
“A great thing I’ve noticed, and I check in with my management every single day at Redneck Riviera, I said, ‘Has anyone broken rules or tried to get too close or argue with you about any of the rules?’” he continued. “And the answer has been ‘Absolutely not.’ I think that’s a testament to people’s personal responsibility right now.”
John returned to Fox Nation for a second season of his show, The Pursuit. Information on Redneck Riviera can be found by visiting RedneckRivieraNashville.com.