Restaurants Happy But Nervous To Be Reopening
May 12, 2020 at 3:03 a.m.
Restaurants Happy But Nervous To Be Reopening
By Amanda [email protected]
Mad Anthony’s Lake City Taphouse on Center Street in downtown Warsaw opened its doors to the dining room Monday and was greeted with several tables for the lunch shift.
Manager Jim Thompson said that while it has been slow, people who came in were happy to be back.
“And we’re happy to be back open again,” Thompson said. Mad Anthony’s has spaced out their seating options and are limiting tables to six or less. They’ve also added sanitizing stations around the restaurant for customers and staff. The staff are all wearing masks and gloves.
“We’re very happy that it’s open,” Chris Shaw said, who was enjoying a round of beers with his friends Kim Plew and Mike Richardson. “It’s time to get out and enjoy life. If you get the coronavirus, you just gotta be smart about it.”
Thompson, who is anticipating a surge this weekend, said a mobile app will allow people to wait in their cars until a table is ready, since only 50% capacity is currently allowed under Gov. Eric Holcomb’s phases of reopening.
Part of this phase also includes that customers cannot sit at the bar.
Customers at Downtown Eatery & Spirits, Warsaw, were also happy to be back, according to Mandy Patrick, an employee there.
“Today was slow, but it’s a Monday,” she said, optimistic. “It’s nice to be able to ease back into it.”
Only 61 people are allowed at one time inside Downtown right now.
The Frog Tavern in Syracuse also reopened at 11 a.m. Monday, serving their full menu.
“We did pretty good,” employee Hadley Gill said of Monday’s lunch shift. “A lot of people were excited to get out of the house, and we’re very excited to be back open.”
Frog Tavern is also limiting parties to six or less and employees are all wearing masks and gloves.
American Table Restaurant on Lake City Highway in Warsaw might have had the biggest turnout of all the restaurants interviewed for this story, with 41 tables turning by the end of the lunch shift.
“Things are going good, and we still have our takeout going, and we’re still getting a lot of orders for that,” shift leader Hilary Rocha said.
Jason Brown, owner of One Ten Craft Meatery in downtown Warsaw, said his restaurant won’t be opening until mid-June.
“We are waiting until phase four of the governor’s program in order to open, and we’ve been doing a lot of expanding,” Brown said. “We’re not just gonna jump back in on this first wave.”
Brown said his restaurant was approved for the Payroll Protection Program and has been able to continue operating under that.
But Brown doesn’t judge other restaurants for opening their doors to dine-in patrons.
“I think everybody who has a dog in this fight, they have to make their own decisions,” he said. “None of us are in the exact same boat. We’re in the exact same industry, but none of us are dealing with the same scenario.”
Brown said he recently acquired some farm land in Oswego where he plans to grow his own produce to serve in his restaurant, so they’ve also been busy doing that.
Rex’s Rendezvous, a popular live-music restaurant and bar usually open until 3 a.m., has made several changes to their reopening on Monday.
Rex’s opens for breakfast at 7 a.m., and on Monday a few showed up for it, Crystal Watters, bar manager, said, adding they also had a lunch crowd.
But Rex’s, at least this week, will no longer be open until 3 a.m.
“We’ve worked in conjunction with Downtown and TimeOut and all set a plan together,” Watters said. “We will still open at 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday and at noon on Sunday, but then we will close at 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, close at midnight Friday and Saturday and then 10 p.m. on Sunday. What we wanted to avoid is one of us ending up staying open way later than the other and then people going to that place and not practicing social distancing or doing things they shouldn’t be doing.”
Watters also said Rex’s is not using glassware right now, nor are they using their regular menus.
“We’re wearing masks and gloves, using disposable glasses, just so it’s single use, and we’ve actually gone to paper menus,” she said. “Once theyre’ done looking at it, it goes into the trash. I want my staff to feel safe and I want my customers to feel safe.”
Watters, who has three young boys at home, said it’s a little scary being back to work.
“I don’t want to carry something home to them, but financially the bar needs to be open, and I need to work,” she said. “As soon as I get home from work, I leave my shoes outside, go straight to the shower and put my clothes in the wash. I don’t know what to believe, I don’t know what to think, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
Jo Wall, a manager at BoatHouse Restaurant in Winona Lake, echoed those same sentiments.
The BoatHouse opened for dine-in customers Monday, but those customers won’t find salt and pepper shakers or sugar on the tables.
“We can sit a part of six, but no tables larger than that,” Wall said. “And they can pull up the menu on their telephone if they choose or the menus are washed after each use. Refills are a fresh glass.”
Employees there are also getting their temperatures taken when they arrive to work, she said.
One thing on many business owners’ minds is, will the customers come back?
“We’re getting a lot of phone calls to see if we’re open,” Wall said. “So I’m hoping that’s a good sign customers will come back.”
Mad Anthony’s Lake City Taphouse on Center Street in downtown Warsaw opened its doors to the dining room Monday and was greeted with several tables for the lunch shift.
Manager Jim Thompson said that while it has been slow, people who came in were happy to be back.
“And we’re happy to be back open again,” Thompson said. Mad Anthony’s has spaced out their seating options and are limiting tables to six or less. They’ve also added sanitizing stations around the restaurant for customers and staff. The staff are all wearing masks and gloves.
“We’re very happy that it’s open,” Chris Shaw said, who was enjoying a round of beers with his friends Kim Plew and Mike Richardson. “It’s time to get out and enjoy life. If you get the coronavirus, you just gotta be smart about it.”
Thompson, who is anticipating a surge this weekend, said a mobile app will allow people to wait in their cars until a table is ready, since only 50% capacity is currently allowed under Gov. Eric Holcomb’s phases of reopening.
Part of this phase also includes that customers cannot sit at the bar.
Customers at Downtown Eatery & Spirits, Warsaw, were also happy to be back, according to Mandy Patrick, an employee there.
“Today was slow, but it’s a Monday,” she said, optimistic. “It’s nice to be able to ease back into it.”
Only 61 people are allowed at one time inside Downtown right now.
The Frog Tavern in Syracuse also reopened at 11 a.m. Monday, serving their full menu.
“We did pretty good,” employee Hadley Gill said of Monday’s lunch shift. “A lot of people were excited to get out of the house, and we’re very excited to be back open.”
Frog Tavern is also limiting parties to six or less and employees are all wearing masks and gloves.
American Table Restaurant on Lake City Highway in Warsaw might have had the biggest turnout of all the restaurants interviewed for this story, with 41 tables turning by the end of the lunch shift.
“Things are going good, and we still have our takeout going, and we’re still getting a lot of orders for that,” shift leader Hilary Rocha said.
Jason Brown, owner of One Ten Craft Meatery in downtown Warsaw, said his restaurant won’t be opening until mid-June.
“We are waiting until phase four of the governor’s program in order to open, and we’ve been doing a lot of expanding,” Brown said. “We’re not just gonna jump back in on this first wave.”
Brown said his restaurant was approved for the Payroll Protection Program and has been able to continue operating under that.
But Brown doesn’t judge other restaurants for opening their doors to dine-in patrons.
“I think everybody who has a dog in this fight, they have to make their own decisions,” he said. “None of us are in the exact same boat. We’re in the exact same industry, but none of us are dealing with the same scenario.”
Brown said he recently acquired some farm land in Oswego where he plans to grow his own produce to serve in his restaurant, so they’ve also been busy doing that.
Rex’s Rendezvous, a popular live-music restaurant and bar usually open until 3 a.m., has made several changes to their reopening on Monday.
Rex’s opens for breakfast at 7 a.m., and on Monday a few showed up for it, Crystal Watters, bar manager, said, adding they also had a lunch crowd.
But Rex’s, at least this week, will no longer be open until 3 a.m.
“We’ve worked in conjunction with Downtown and TimeOut and all set a plan together,” Watters said. “We will still open at 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday and at noon on Sunday, but then we will close at 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, close at midnight Friday and Saturday and then 10 p.m. on Sunday. What we wanted to avoid is one of us ending up staying open way later than the other and then people going to that place and not practicing social distancing or doing things they shouldn’t be doing.”
Watters also said Rex’s is not using glassware right now, nor are they using their regular menus.
“We’re wearing masks and gloves, using disposable glasses, just so it’s single use, and we’ve actually gone to paper menus,” she said. “Once theyre’ done looking at it, it goes into the trash. I want my staff to feel safe and I want my customers to feel safe.”
Watters, who has three young boys at home, said it’s a little scary being back to work.
“I don’t want to carry something home to them, but financially the bar needs to be open, and I need to work,” she said. “As soon as I get home from work, I leave my shoes outside, go straight to the shower and put my clothes in the wash. I don’t know what to believe, I don’t know what to think, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
Jo Wall, a manager at BoatHouse Restaurant in Winona Lake, echoed those same sentiments.
The BoatHouse opened for dine-in customers Monday, but those customers won’t find salt and pepper shakers or sugar on the tables.
“We can sit a part of six, but no tables larger than that,” Wall said. “And they can pull up the menu on their telephone if they choose or the menus are washed after each use. Refills are a fresh glass.”
Employees there are also getting their temperatures taken when they arrive to work, she said.
One thing on many business owners’ minds is, will the customers come back?
“We’re getting a lot of phone calls to see if we’re open,” Wall said. “So I’m hoping that’s a good sign customers will come back.”
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