Gov. Greg Abbott’s announcement Monday that restaurants will be allowed to open dining rooms at 25% capacity beginning Friday has put restaurant owners and patrons at odds on how to best respond.
Restaurant owners have been scrambling as they decipher how the new protocols should be applied to their business. If owners make the decision to reopen on Friday, restaurants have had three days to rearrange seating, disinfect all surfaces, set up sanitation stations, and train employees on new safety guidelines, along with obtaining single-use silverware and condiments and printing disposable menus.
Although many in the restaurant industry haven’t worked for six weeks now, and restaurant owners across the nation have admitted their businesses are at risk of closing, a majority of restaurants in Dallas appear to be making the decision to stay closed for now.
Reyna Duong, the chef in charge of Sandwich Hag in the Cedars neighborhood of Dallas , immediately posted on social media after Abbott’s announcement: “Please do NOT go through with this. Restaurants OR patrons … Take it from someone that has dropped off food to City of Dallas testing sites, someone that owns and operates a restaurant, please do not participate in this.”
A list of restaurants taking advantage of phase one of the reopening could be far shorter than those choosing to remain closed or offer only carry out. Yet, a handful of restaurants are preparing for guests tomorrow. As of Thursday morning, a search on Open Table for a Friday reservation in Dallas for a party of two at 7 p.m. returns 27 options. Many restaurants have reported booking up reservations shortly after Abbott spoke.
Jia Modern Chinese in Preston Center in North Dallas will utilize its upstairs Lotus Lounge, main dining room and patio to space out guests. Ash Mansinghani, the restaurant’s director of operations, says the “only concern is making sure that guests also comply with CDC requirements and practice safe social distancing.”
In Arlington, Hurtado Barbecue, a new “Mexicue” spot with outdoor picnic tables, also posted shortly after Abbott’s press conference: “We are excited to announce that we’ll be reopening our dining room this Friday at 25% capacity, per the governor’s guidelines.”
Brandon Hurtado, the owner who gained a following selling beef ribs from a food truck, says his customers have been waiting and hoping for this. He’s removed inside seating to allow for the 25% rule, marked places to stand in line that are 6-feet apart, and installed three hand sanitizer stations — one by the restroom and one for each door. When inside, customers will order from a meat cutter, who will be wearing a face mask behind a sneeze guard that was already installed.
Hurtado views the decision to reopen as simply following the guidelines the state has set for businesses. Customers who feel uncomfortable “have the right to stay home,” he says. “And customers that want to get out also have the right to do so. Everyone has the option.” He plans to donate 10% of his sales from Friday and Saturday to a barber shop and hair salon next to the restaurant as a way to support businesses that still can’t reopen.
When asked what his plan is if an employee tests positive for the coronavirus, someone who could have been asymptomatic for days, Hurtado says, “We would have to address it at that time. Employees know that they are not supposed to come to work if they’re feeling sick.”
He’s also not concerned about potential lawsuits. “I don’t see people suing other restaurants for getting the flu.”
But with 61,504 American deaths as of 7:22 a.m. Thursday morning, John Hopkins Medicine reports that in the U.S., the highest number of annual flu deaths at its worst is 61,000, and with the first reported COVID-19 death occurring in February, it is certain that deaths caused by COVID-19 will far exceed the worst year of influenza.
Josh Yingling and Matt Tobin, the owners of Goodfriend Beer Garden & Burger House near the Casa Linda area of Dallas, had initially planned to open Friday with the help of a new website they launched, called Good Citizen at socialdistancingnow.com. The no-touch plan was for customers to order and pay for food through the website and arrive at a patio table with an order number. Kegs were going to be moved outside where customers could walk-up and order a beer, and all serving utensils would be disposable.
But by Tuesday evening, as Yingling and Tobin discussed their next steps with each other, Yingling suggested, “Maybe we should wait.” He described the move as feeling “premature.”
“I thought we were supposed to wait for 14 days of declines [in infections],” he points out. He narrows the decision down to a simple question: “What’s more important — humans or money? I hope we look back later and think, ‘Wow, we were idiots for not opening earlier,’ but it’s the community that got us here, and we need to remember that.”
Yingling says he and nearly all other restaurateurs he knows are “literally hanging on by a thread.” Goodfriend and Goodfriend Package, their sandwich shop across the street, have paid rent for March, but not April. Yingling says that if he were in a situation where his landlord was still asking for a $10,000 rent payment on time, which is typical for a restaurant in a high-traffic area, he would be forced to choose between closing permanently or opening this Friday. “For now, we’ve been lucky.”
According to our figures from the Texas Department of State Health Services, the only North Texas county that has not seen a spike or tie in the number of deaths this week is Denton County. While that fact causes most to balk at the idea of eating out in a restaurant, there are many Texans who are making reservations.
CPA Jana Lovejoy, owner of Dallas-based accounting and bookkeeping firm Lovejoy and Numbers, says she wants to get out to support a heavily impacted industry. She chose Seasons 52 at NorthPark for its spaciousness and plans to wear a mask when entering and exiting the restaurant.
Jeremy Holden, a corporate lawyer at Matheson Tri-Gas, will make a reservation if he can find a place that meets his own guidelines: “It [would have to be] local, and a place I have eaten or wanted to try before all of this. Preferably, some place I know someone on staff so I can support them. Then, I have to feel like they can safely put people in the place. I am not really concerned with masks and all of that — I assume those will be there.”
But for Mark Perez, owner of used car dealership Texas Cars Plus in Fort Worth, the reopening is too soon, particularly after spending three days in the hospital last week for an issue unrelated to COVID-19. Perez, a Republican who is an outspoken supporter of Abbott, says in this case, the governor messed up. “I understand they want to get the ball rolling, but I think it’s too soon,” he says.
Brooks Anderson, a restaurateur and “recovering lawyer” who has been candid about the infeasibility of the economics of a partial reopening, says he won’t feel comfortable reopening his three restaurants and wine bar until there is widely available and accurate testing with rapid results. With a 5-minute test, he could test staff each day before opening and then “comfortably say, ‘Let’s kick ass and have a blast tonight,’” he says. Patrons coming to dine-in could show their negative test result at the host stand. This scenario is the only way to ensure no one will get sick in his restaurants and sue him.
“Getting sued is the end of a small business, and I’m certain that in this country, there are going to be lawsuits flying. We’ve already seen it with cruise ships,” he says.
To those who argue for resuming normal life while keeping the vulnerable in quarantine, Anderson asks, “What about my parents? I have parents in their 70s and in-laws that I love. If I open up my restaurants and start working again, am I just never to see them again?”