FDA: Best Practices for Re-Opening Retail Food Establishments

[gwraigty]

There have been some changes at DD's Panera Bread since we were last there Thursday. They have laminated signs taped to some of the patio tables to try to enforce reduced capacity. The health order closing dining rooms has been removed from the front door. In addition to the Do Not Enter If You Have The Following Symptoms...they have a notice that says Patio Open, and another notice with a graphic that shows customers in a one-way flow entering one door and exiting through another door. They have blue tape on the floor marking social distancing from the front door to the cashier. There are portable plexiglass barriers in front of the registers. The only snag was that I couldn't follow the correct flow in and out. They still have chairs set up blocking access to the dining room, which also blocks access to the designated exit door. Probably just an oversight, but at 8 AM on a Saturday, I was the only customer inside. The cashier told me I could ignore the new Entrance Only sign on the inside of the front door to leave that way. Oh, I tell you I felt like such a rebel. I'm sure they're going to get busier by lunch today, so they'll get it figured out. Removing a chair or two is easy. Watching to make sure a customer actually leaves and doesn't sneak over to a table behind the wall and start eating inside could be challenging during a busy time. Well, at least they can stop chasing customers away from the patio tables now.

It could be the new MO for similar places with 2 easy access doors. Full service restaurants with only 1 access door wouldn't be able to do that. Temporarily gone will be the days of a packed lobby of people waiting 30 mins. for a table. I wonder if they'll have long lines stretching outside instead on a nice day?

 

[brewer12345]

Gw, this all makes me think that a lot of restaurants are in even more trouble if the summer ends and we remain in this situation. Lousy weather means they basically go back to being take out places.

 

[youbet]

Honestly, I just don’t see how dine inside restaurants are going to work at all.

I tend to agree. Dining out will be changed for a long, long time after this.

To meet all the requirements, restauratants will have higher costs. The higher costs will have to be passed to the customers since the restaurants will not continue in business (for very long) running at a loss. Higher prices will generally mean fewer customers according to Econ 101.

IOW, the food service business is tough with businesses coming and going frequently. It's going to get tougher.

I'm guessing mid-tier restaurants will be hit the hardest. High tier restaurant customers are the most likely to absorb higher prices and high tier restaurants are already closest to meeting the new guidelines. Low tier restaurants (carry out, fast food, etc.) will evolve to meet the new guidelines most easily since "ambience" is not essential. Mid-tier restaurants will struggle the most.

Just my opinion based on the Chicago suburbs.

 

[gwraigty]

My rant is as follows:

Some pizza shop customers are being inconsiderate. It's common for people to place their orders at the counter at some shops and stand around and wait while it's cooking. Now is not the time to be doing that with these new restrictions in place! Each pizza shop has a notice posted that says you're supposed to wait outside if there are already the max number of customers allowed inside. OK then, so customers who order ahead and already know their orders are ready (via the order tracker) may be forced to wait outside while inconsiderate morons take up the limited space inside waiting for their orders to cook? This is not OK.

<snip>

I've got no gripe with someone ordering at the counter. They should be considerate and wait outside while their order is cooking while these capacity limits are in place. Or at least they should look around and if they see someone standing outside waiting, step outside.

I just thought of something else that could be an issue now, especially in full service restaurants, so I've included the applicable part of my rant on page 1 above for context. People who take up a table for hours. I'm not sure how prevalent that is. We don't typically eat out in full service restaurants often, mainly for a special occasion a few times a year. We're usually done and out the door in about an hour, if the service allows for that.

Two years ago, my daughter was recovering from major foot surgery. I had to wheel her around in a transport chair for several months when we had to go somewhere. We attended an out-of-state graduation and my BIL invited us to eat a late dinner with them at Olive Garden a couple of hours before closing. Long story short, we waited in the lobby an unusually long time because we needed a table that would accommodate the transport chair and the people who were sitting at the only table that could do that (according to the waiter) had been there for 2 1/2 hours already and it didn't look like they intended to leave anytime soon.

Anyway, I can see longer-than-normal wait times potentially being another problem in full service restaurants in this new normal, especially if they're limited to 50% or less capacity. It's going to be harder for wait staff to earn decent tips anyway, on top of having customers who act like they've rented the table for the day. That's presuming that customers are willing to wait, especially if it means standing on social distancing markers in a line outside. Or if they're allowed to limit how long customers can take up a table, though I've never heard of it being done.

 

[gwraigty]

Gw, this all makes me think that a lot of restaurants are in even more trouble if the summer ends and we remain in this situation. Lousy weather means they basically go back to being take out places.

Absolutely and it's sad. Right now it's beautiful, sunny, and in the 70s here. Today you can eat out on a patio, but many restaurants don't have one. Some patios have only a few tables, which doesn't do much good either. It was a lamebrained idea, IMO, to set a later date for indoor dining to open up. It's not too bad to eat a burger, shake, and fries in the car. Anything sloppier or needing a knife, forget it.

 

[audreyh1]

I tend to agree. Dining out will be changed for a long, long time after this.

To meet all the requirements, restauratants will have higher costs. The higher costs will have to be passed to the customers since the restaurants will not continue in business (for very long) running at a loss. Higher prices will generally mean fewer customers according to Econ 101.

IOW, the food service business is tough with businesses coming and going frequently. It's going to get tougher.

I'm guessing mid-tier restaurants will be hit the hardest. High tier restaurant customers are the most likely to absorb higher prices and high tier restaurants are already closest to meeting the new guidelines. Low tier restaurants (carry out, fast food, etc.) will evolve to meet the new guidelines most easily since "ambience" is not essential. Mid-tier restaurants will struggle the most.

Just my opinion based on the Chicago suburbs.

There is opportunity for catering businesses and selling ready-to-heat meals for folks who are fed up with cooking at home.

 

[tmm99]

As for dine-in restaurants, I have a feeling the ones who will survive are the ones who can kind of "roll with the punches" and adapt and change their business model in this changing environment dictated by the virus. I don't know what that would be, but one bakery started selling baking ingredients and other items (portioned baking flour, yeast, and even some grocery items, etc) and one restaurant is getting contracts from hospitals, etc to feed the nurses/doctors, another restaurant selling raw ingredients they normally use to cook their dishes for their customers in addition to taking takeout orders, etc. We all have to eat, but the typical dine-in restaurant model (sitting down and socializing) won't be a trending thing for a long while. I don't know what the winning business model would be for what type of restaurants, but they will need to think outside the box and find something that is currently in need.

 

[audreyh1]

As for dine-in restaurants, I have a feeling the ones who will survive are the ones who can kind of "roll with the punches" and adapt and change their business model in this changing environment dictated by the virus. I don't know what that would be, but one bakery started selling baking ingredients and other items (portioned baking flour, yeast and even some grocery items, etc) and one restaurant is getting contracts from hospitals, etc to feed the nurses/doctors, etc. We all have to eat, but the typical dine-in restaurant model (sitting down and socializing) won't be a trending thing to do for a long while. I don't know what the winning business model would be for what type of restaurants, but they will need to think outside the box and find something that is currently in need.

Right - eateries have to figure out what their community needs most now. Preparing meals and delivery seems very valuable.

Very smart of the baker to help customers with their own food prep.

 

[brewer12345]

Absolutely and it's sad. Right now it's beautiful, sunny, and in the 70s here. Today you can eat out on a patio, but many restaurants don't have one. Some patios have only a few tables, which doesn't do much good either. It was a lamebrained idea, IMO, to set a later date for indoor dining to open up. It's not too bad to eat a burger, shake, and fries in the car. Anything sloppier or needing a knife, forget it.

Personally, I have never been much for restaurants, so it mystifies me that people are so eager to go out to eat that they will risk exposure to do so. I honestly had no idea how much people are out until they suddenly couldn't and then crashed the grocery supply chain.

 

[audreyh1]

We used to eat out a lot and enjoyed it even though I cook well. Most of the time it was for stuff I wouldn’t cook at home anyway, in many cases saved time to eat a meal while out running errands or on a long trek. But then I dealt with a series of dietary restrictions, and I pretty much had to cook my own food. Our eating out became quite rare, and no longer so important, and we came to enjoy the home cooked meals more anyway. We bought better ingredients to still get plenty of treats at home.

Eating out is something we definitely still enjoy when traveling in Europe.

 

[Midpack]

I just thought of something else that could be an issue now, especially in full service restaurants, so I've included the applicable part of my rant on page 1 above for context. People who take up a table for hours. I'm not sure how prevalent that is. We don't typically eat out in full service restaurants often, mainly for a special occasion a few times a year. We're usually done and out the door in about an hour, if the service allows for that.

I hadn’t thought of that, suspect you’re right. Restaurants may have to come up with a way to shoo customers who are done eating, at least while reduced capacity is the rule. I’ve always thought it was rude to tie up a table when you’re done if anyone is waiting.

 

[Midpack]

Absolutely and it's sad. Right now it's beautiful, sunny, and in the 70s here. Today you can eat out on a patio, but many restaurants don't have one. Some patios have only a few tables, which doesn't do much good either. It was a lamebrained idea, IMO, to set a later date for indoor dining to open up. It's not too bad to eat a burger, shake, and fries in the car. Anything sloppier or needing a knife, forget it.

DW and I don’t like to eat in the car, but we’ve been having picnics with the tailgate open on my Outback. DW has a rollup plaid blanket and we take plates, utensils and/or drinks as needed. We just had a lovely pizza and salad “picnic” from a place that’s too far for carry out - the pizza would be soggy if we waited until we got home again. Found a shady spot and people watched while we ate. We make do for now...

 

[gwraigty]

Personally, I have never been much for restaurants, so it mystifies me that people are so eager to go out to eat that they will risk exposure to do so. I honestly had no idea how much people are out until they suddenly couldn't and then crashed the grocery supply chain.

Me, too. It's been said that people get half their food from restaurants. When I worked in an office, I was the oddball who brown bagged my lunch. I think that literally all my other coworkers ate lunch out every day. This was mid 80s to 1990. I also never knew that so many people didn't know how to cook dinner. Generations of women in my family were full time housewives and I sure learned how to cook dinner from them. When I had to work, I still cooked my dinner. Eating out was a treat, not the main way to get fed. To each their own I guess.

 

[gattara]

DW and I don’t like to eat in the car, but we’ve been having picnics with the tailgate open on my Outback. DW has a rollup plaid blanket and we take plates, utensils and/or drinks as needed. We just had a lovely pizza and salad “picnic” from a place that’s too far for carry out - the pizza would be soggy if we waited until we got home again. Found a shady spot and people watched while we ate. We make do for now...

Midpack, the scenery is lovely, it looks like Scotland! But it’s NC? I need to explore that state more, if that’s the case...