Restaurant Dining

[CardsFan]

It’s not 100% normal yet. The vaccine doesn’t give you that “normal” until most folks are vaccinated.

Unfortunately normal isn’t conferred on an individual basis.

I am sorry, but even the Lauded Dr. Fauci has said it is OK for vaccinated persons to go out and live.

Who am I to argue with science?

 

[akl432]

It’s not 100% normal yet. The vaccine doesn’t give you that “normal” until most folks are vaccinated.

Unfortunately normal isn’t conferred on an individual basis.

If the vaccine is effective, then it shouldn't matter if other people aren't vaccinated - you should theoretically be protected...right?

 

[mystang52]

1) DW and I just got back from an 8 day vacation in Fort Lauderdale. We ate outdoors every night but one when the wait was too long. So we ate at one of the high tables near the bar. Not ready to do that on a regular basis but that one time we were comfortable doing so,

2) Pre pandemic my college friends and I would meet for dinner every 3 months. We're having our first dinner together since February 2020, at a restaurant with outdoor tent, open on 2 sides. One of us is a rabid anti-vaxxer, and he volunteered to not show up.

 

[audreyh1]

I am sorry, but even the Lauded Dr. Fauci has said it is OK for vaccinated persons to go out and live.

Who am I to argue with science?

That's not what I said. I have no problem hanging out with other vaccinated people even indoors all day long.

But until local cases get down much lower I am not interested in hanging out for long periods in close proximity to a bunch of unvaccinated strangers not wearing masks.

The science says that the vaccine is not 100% effective. It's very very good, and reduces infections and transmission considerably, but that doesn't mean it's 100%.

So I think it's perfectly reasonable for me to avoid crowded large group situations where there may be many unvaccinated people not taking precautions.

If the vaccine is effective, then it shouldn't matter if other people aren't vaccinated - you should theoretically be protected...right?

If the vaccine offered 100% protection, then that would be true. But none of these vaccines offer 100% protection from infection. There is a lot of protection against infection and transmission, more so against severe disease, hospitalization and death. But again, it's not 100%.

Breakthrough infections in the US have been small, but that has been in an environment where there were a lot of restrictions which have now mostly been lifted.

 

[Chuckanut]

Restaurants opened up here 5 days ago. We have been in a restaurant or cafe 6 times. Meeting our son for breakfast at one of our favorite restaurants tomorrow.

It’s great.

So, not even the corona virus can stand against the [-]European Cafe Culture[/-] British Pub Culture.

 

[NW-Bound]

Is your son-in-law vaccinated? OK I see your post says he is.

I’m still not comfortable eating inside a loud crowded busy restaurant. Too many people, too much noise! Local cases still too high.

When our local average new reported daily cases drop to about 3/100,000, I’ll consider it. Otherwise outside dining if plenty of space, or maybe mostly empty indoor dining.

I bet your ambiance at home was superior anyway.

Though we are homebodies, it's been so long we have not been in a restaurant I did want to eat out for a change.

My niece is going to host a family party for my sister's retirement (she's older, but likes her teaching job and kept hanging on). It's tomorrow, and at first my son-in-law did not want to attend, although my daughter is very close to my niece (they are of the same age and hang out together since childhood). He finally relented when CDC said it would be all OK.

 

[RobbieB]

I enjoyed a Gyro at Yafa Hummus today, it was good!

 

[Gumby]

We went (unmasked) to a brewery last night for a charity event. It was great to to be out and about like normal people. They had no tables available for dinner, so we got pizza to go and went home to eat with our next door neighbors (who were also at the charity event).

 

[RobbieB]

Still waiting for my fav sushi bar to open. Nothing like sittin' up at the bar and chatting the guy slicing your fish. I really miss that.

Most places here still have chairs stacked on tables and the entrance barricaded with tables for pickup only. Sucks.

 

[Dtail]

We have eaten indoors now twice and it does feel liberating.

 

[Aerides]

Still waiting for my fav sushi bar to open.

I think we are all waiting for your sushi bar to reopen. When you finally hear Irasshaimase! it means that nature is healing

 

[Time2]

Ate inside at an Applebee's last weekend. Nice. Got one of their 2 for $22 entree deals, so I had a steak at the restaurant, then took home a grilled oriental chicken salad entree, and my choice of appetizer which was two side salads. Had a side salad each day for lunch two days in a row. And since the grilled oriental chicken salad is enough to make two dinners for me, I effectively got five meals for the $22!

I like to get a lunchtime take out salad at Golden Coral. It is sold by weight, so I load it up with lots of what I like, skipping the garbanzo beans, because they are dense and I have plenty at home to use. I can get enough for two nice salads and be under $5.

 

[txtig]

If the vaccine offered 100% protection, then that would be true. But none of these vaccines offer 100% protection from infection. There is a lot of protection against infection and transmission, more so against severe disease, hospitalization and death. But again, it's not 100%.

If we wait for 100% protection, I’m afraid we will be waiting a long, long time. Unfortunately, nothing in life is 100% and there is risk in everything we do.

I’m fully vaccinated and I choose to go back to living my life as I did pre-COVID. I’m sure that this will place in contact with unvaccinated persons. But, I trust that I’m protected to a great extent, albeit not quite 100%. I like my odds.

 

[Major Tom]

Like NW-Bound, I'm a bit of a homebody, but it has been so long since I last dined in a restaurant due to the pandemic that, last week, I jumped at the chance. A friend and I visited SFMOMA, then rode the bus across the bay, back to Oakland, and dined in a Korean restaurant. It is right around the corner from my friend's place. For years, we have been saying that we should go there. We finally did, and the food was fantastic, as well as being very reasonably priced. We had a sort of seafood and veggie stew/soup with rice, served in a thick metal pot, and enjoyed with hot saki.

It was one of those meals where you actually get excited when the server brings your food to the table, and the food seems like the very best thing you have ever seen. Our first time in a restaurant in over a year. It felt good to be dining around other people, and to be able to properly see them. The servers were all masked. Most diners were masked coming into the restaurant. Some stayed masked until the food arrived, while others were a little more casual. This, combined with the knowledge that the majority of the diners were most likely vaccinated, and there was a moderate amount of distance between the tables, and good ventilation, allowed us to enjoy the experience. (We are both vaccinated.)

I'm having knee replacement surgery on Monday. In a few months, I hope to be mobile enough to be able to take a trip to NYC (my first ever) and enjoy walking around the various neighborhoods. In many ways, it feels like life is slowly opening up again and getting back to normal. It's a good feeling.

 

[audreyh1]

If we wait for 100% protection, I’m afraid we will be waiting a long, long time. Unfortunately, nothing in life is 100% and there is risk in everything we do.

I’m fully vaccinated and I choose to go back to living my life as I did pre-COVID. I’m sure that this will place in contact with unvaccinated persons. But, I trust that I’m protected to a great extent, albeit not quite 100%. I like my odds.

I’m not waiting for 100% protection, especially as that is not available, but I am waiting for area cases to drop to low levels before going maskless into crowded busy indoor places with no masking or distancing for an extended period of time.

If our area numbers were as low as San Francisco, my current attitude regarding more crowded indoor dining would be quite different. I’m somewhat crowd averse anyway, so it’s not currently cramping my style. As concert venues return I’ll have to see how they handle screening attendees, although by then it may be that area case numbers are already low enough.

 

[harllee]

Like NW-Bound, I'm a bit of a homebody, but it has been so long since I last dined in a restaurant due to the pandemic that, last week, I jumped at the chance. A friend and I visited SFMOMA, then rode the bus across the bay, back to Oakland, and dined in a Korean restaurant. It is right around the corner from my friend's place. For years, we have been saying that we should go there. We finally did, and the food was fantastic, as well as being very reasonably priced. We had a sort of seafood and veggie stew/soup with rice, served in a thick metal pot, and enjoyed with hot saki.

It was one of those meals where you actually get excited when the server brings your food to the table, and the food seems like the very best thing you have ever seen. Our first time in a restaurant in over a year. It felt good to be dining around other people, and to be able to properly see them. The servers were all masked. Most diners were masked coming into the restaurant. Some stayed masked until the food arrived, while others were a little more casual. This, combined with the knowledge that the majority of the diners were most likely vaccinated, and there was a moderate amount of distance between the tables, and good ventilation, allowed us to enjoy the experience. (We are both vaccinated.)

I'm having knee replacement surgery on Monday. In a few months, I hope to be mobile enough to be able to take a trip to NYC (my first ever) and enjoy walking around the various neighborhoods. In many ways, it feels like life is slowly opening up again and getting back to normal. It's a good feeling.

Major Tom, good luck with your knee replacement. DH had his knee replacement 5 weeks ago and is doing well. He slowly walked a half mile yesterday. On the other hand, I as his caretaker am not doing so well--it hurt my back to help him and I have an appt with a back doctor on Monday. It's always something.

 

[W2R]

It felt good to be dining around other people, and to be able to properly see them. The servers were all masked. Most diners were masked coming into the restaurant. Some stayed masked until the food arrived, while others were a little more casual.

This is how restaurants have been locally for the past year or so. And then last month, the mask rules (and other rules for restaurants) were abolished and restaurants can choose their own masking policies. At first people followed the restaurants' policies. But by now, people (other than us) are almost always unmasked even if the restaurant has a "mask required unless seated" sign.

One of the big joys of eating out these days, is seeing the delighted smiles on other customers' faces as they see so many other faces.

I'm having knee replacement surgery on Monday. In a few months, I hope to be mobile enough to be able to take a trip to NYC (my first ever) and enjoy walking around the various neighborhoods. In many ways, it feels like life is slowly opening up again and getting back to normal. It's a good feeling.

Good luck with your knee replacement! I will be "rooting for you" as you go through the surgery and recovery. The recovery period can be challenging for a few weeks. But for me the ultimate results have been phenomenal and I hope your results are too. Even now, over two years later, my knee keeps surprising me by getting better and better. It's probably 10x stronger than the knee that didn't have surgery and I love having all that stability.

 

[jcfradio]

We have eaten indoors now twice and it does feel liberating.

I'm jealous! Around here it is going to be a while before we can do that. Even though our local new daily case counts are only 2-3 per 100,000, province wide they are just over 100 per 100,000 so everybody is restricted. We might get limited patio dining with masks later in June, limited indoor with masks by August. Our government is being extremely cautious. Heck, today was the first day in 5 weeks that golf courses were allowed to open!

 

[11522914]

We recently got back from a 2 day vacation in Wrightsville beach. First vacation in 18 months.

We were a little nervous staying in a hotel. Just sprayed everything down and we're good to go.

Ate at 3 restaurants, outside, first time since February 2020. Still a little nervous about eating inside.

Had a great time and nice to start getting back to normal.

DW is flying to Fort Lauderdale in June and we're celebrating our 30 year anniversary in an all inclusive beachfront hotel in Jamaica in October. Can't wait.

 

[tmm99]

I'm jealous! Around here it is going to be a while before we can do that. Even though our local new daily case counts are only 2-3 per 100,000, province wide they are just over 100 per 100,000 so everybody is restricted. We might get limited patio dining with masks later in June, limited indoor with masks by August. Our government is being extremely cautious. Heck, today was the first day in 5 weeks that golf courses were allowed to open!

I know! The weather is finally warming up, but nothing is open!! No restaurants, non-essential retail stores. (I've been told they can open in June once we meet our vaccination target. Evidently, our 1st dose rate is now higher than the US...) I was starting to feel like a caged animal, so I'm glad the weather warmed up. We have a garden - We're trying to keep ourselves busy planting veggie seedlings, doing yardwork, etc.

 

[nap470]

This past Thursday, I enjoyed my first meal at a restaurant since January 2020. I met a friend from my old company, we were both vaccinated and sat outside on the patio. It was really a strange feeling at first, but so great to meet up with a friend again.

What was really unusual was that there were no menus. Each table had a QR code attached and you scanned that to bring up the menu on your phone. A much more limited menu than pre-Covid. The service staff were all masked.

 

[Markola]

Not a dining comment but yesterday I went to the REI sale. They had a lady out front telling customers, “If you are fully vaccinated, masks are optional”. It’s a big, airy space and I’m fully cooked, so I didn’t wear a mask. Probably 10% of shoppers didn’t either. I just figure that REI is going to be science-based and, if I am too, it’s time to start acting like it and getting on with life.

 

[Koolau]

I think we are all waiting for your sushi bar to reopen. When you finally hear Irasshaimase! it means that nature is healing

Funny, I've actually wondered about that - from the true perspective of nature. In this Covid hiatus, have the seas healed somewhat? Are the Tuna getting bigger, fatter, more plentiful just waiting for our next bowl of Poke or plate of Sashimi? Inquisitive minds want to know.

I always enjoyed going to the out-of-the-way local farmers markets and finding a whole Blue-Fin Tuna for sale on ice. Not that I'd know what to do with it or have anyplace to store that much. They're just so colorful and beautiful. I hope we never run out of tasty creatures to eat. Tastes are all over the place as are our attitudes of what is good or proper to eat and how to prepare it. Therefore, YMMV.

 

[W2R]

Funny, I've actually wondered about that - from the true perspective of nature. In this Covid hiatus, have the seas healed somewhat? Are the Tuna getting bigger, fatter, more plentiful just waiting for our next bowl of Poke or plate of Sashimi? Inquisitive minds want to know.

Tuna reproductive capabilities are amazing - - each female produces millions of eggs per year. Survival of the fittest being as it is, most of these eggs don't grow up and make it to adulthood due to competition. But some do, as many as the ecosystem can support. Harvesting fewer tunas shouldn't have much effect on how plentiful they are.

 

[travelover]

I’m not waiting for 100% protection, especially as that is not available, but I am waiting for area cases to drop to low levels before going maskless into crowded busy indoor places with no masking or distancing for an extended period of time...........

That's where we are at, too. Cases / 100,000 locally are still high. I've waited over a year, not gonna blow it now.