Poll: Are You Ready To Return To Your Favorite Dine In Restaurant?

[W2R]

I said it would take more than 2 weeks for us to go back, but our first (outdoor) dine in was only 13 days after phase 2 and we did indoor dine in today after 16 days. We just couldn’t stay away. In both cases we went early and were the only diners, so we really didn’t test the limit - we’d have done takeout if we were uncomfortable with the “crowd” or the cleanliness. I’ve seen some crowded outdoor dining scenes lately, that we wouldn’t have gone for (yet)...

So glad things are improving in your area! We have eaten lunch inside our favorite restaurant ("dine in") on 20 of the past 24 days since May 15th, when doing this was first allowed here. If anything we feel healthier as a result, perhaps because our spirits are lifted by doing this.

For the first couple of weeks, there was never more than one other customer inside, and usually none. Lately there have been more than that but no overcrowding at all, and we still feel it is done safely. We never liked crowds even before the pandemic so as always, we just wouldn't eat there if it was crowded.

 

[gwraigty]

I just noticed today local fast food places are still keeping dining rooms locked, allowing drive thru only - even while sit down restaurants are jumping through hoops to comply with 50% capacity guidance. I wonder if fast food places are resisting dine in to protect employee and customer health - or because it takes fewer people with drive thru only, more profitable. Maybe some of both...

It seems to be much the same around my area. Yesterday I was in a Taco Bell and their dining room was still closed. They didn't even have a cashier to take orders. There was a piece of paper taped to the register to direct customers to order at the single kiosk they left open. The other kiosk had a piece of paper taped to it that said it was closed for social distancing. There's a sign on the door of my neighborhood McDonald's that lists all the ways you can still order. It would have been simpler to just post you can order any way you want, but you still can't dine in. From what I can tell, the only fast food/fast casual chain in my area that is allowing dine in is Panera Bread. I'm not sure about the pizza chains that have a small dining area.

 

[Cobra9777]

Soon, I'll be dropping a ribeye in the sous vide. Two and a half hours at 127. Then the searzall for a minute or so on each side. Some roasted garlic, sauteed mushrooms and onions. Spinach and arugula salad with avocado and cherry tomatoes from our garden. Maybe some grilled zucchini. Definitely some Bourgogne Pinot Noir.

 

[sengsational]

I came across this article. Last update was a couple of months ago, but I think it's well researched and still valid. Addresses a lot more than the risks of going out to a restaurant. I concentrated on eating restaurant food, and they've got some well-researched advice on cold assembled foods (which is my concern). The bottom line is that even if the food isn't heated, there's not a lot of risk there because the normal procedures reduce the risk, the viral loads, if present, probably aren't huge, and the process of consuming the food doesn't give any virus present much chance to set-up in the mouth. I'm thinking take-out, even cold stuff, is going to be on the list again for me very soon.

https://www.seriouseats.com/2020/03/food-safety-and-coronavirus-a-comprehensive-guide.html

 

[statsman]

DW and I will be eating out for the first time since the lockdowns this Saturday. Texas goes to 75% on Friday, so it is time for us. DD has requested this dinner out. Not looking forward to be served by people who look like they could be working in a hospital cafeteria.

 

[Badger]

We went out for the first time since January to get an ice cream cone from an outdoor take out. We were the only people there so we were able to place our order at the window and walk back to the car to enjoy them within 2 minutes. I had close enough to the correct cash so didn't need change and then used sanitizer when we were finished. Neither one of us feels any inconvenience with taking precautions and eating away from home has never been a necessity for our enjoyment of life. Besides we are able to prepare meals as tasty as any restaurant we have been to and most are chain restaurants that serve meals with simple recipes that are easily copied. The ice cream really tasted good but at about $5 each we don't go often. Not when I can buy a half gallon for the cost of 1 cone.


Cheers!

 

[Chuckanut]

The ice cream really tasted good but at about $5 each we don't go often. Not when I can buy a half gallon for the cost of 1 cone.


Cheers!

A half-gallon! Where do you get those? In my area the half-gallon is now a quart and a half. Blue Bell stills sell in half gallons but they are not in my area. $135 for four half gallons to be shipped to me. Oh well, less calories to consume. That's the only plus.

 

[REWahoo]

A half-gallon! Where do you get those? In my area the half-gallon is now a quart and a half. Blue Bell stills sell in half gallons but they are not in my area.

In our area both Blue Bell and HEB's brand are sold in 1/2 gallon containers. More of a curse than a bargain...

 

[Badger]

A half-gallon! Where do you get those? In my area the half-gallon is now a quart and a half. Blue Bell stills sell in half gallons but they are not in my area. $135 for four half gallons to be shipped to me. Oh well, less calories to consume. That's the only plus.

Blue Bell and Publix brand both come in half gallon size. Sometimes Publix has 2 for 1 of their brand ice cream for about $7 or $8 . Then it is celery sticks and carrots for a few days to keep my boyish figure.


Cheers!

 

[Midpack]

Quality versus price, apples and oranges, age old conversation...

 

[John Galt III]

I was cruising up the main drag in my eastern Pa town today, just out of curiosity, to see what was happening at the sidewalk cafes. Lots of folks packed into 4-person tables, looking happy. And hey, they walled off some parking spaces and put tables there instead, for extra seating. Cool..... And then I noticed it... no one was wearing a mask! Only the waiters and waitresses.

 

[Midpack]

I was cruising up the main drag in my eastern Pa town today, just out of curiosity, to see what was happening at the sidewalk cafes. Lots of folks packed into 4-person tables, looking happy. And hey, they walled off some parking spaces and put tables there instead, for extra seating. Cool..... And then I noticed it... no one was wearing a mask! Only the waiters and waitresses.

I wasn’t expecting diners would be wearing masks, kinda hard to eat and drink, and presumably most diners are at tables with family members or very familiar friends.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

I ate out twice the last week and a bit. Oddly, I felt more comfortable at the restaurants versus grocery shopping.
Different restaurants seem to have slightly different rules and configurations.
The first restaurant was just a chain restaurant I went to, to visit a friend for a few beers. Servers wearing masks. Tables very spaced apart except for the back to back to back booths. Plexiglas hanging from the ceiling along the bar, if you wanted to sit there and kibbitz with the bartender. Arrows on the floor to coordinate floor traffic. Drank winter ales (dark beer with a hint a vanilla) which are normally gone/sold out by April since it's a seasonal brew.

Second restaurant was a Japanese lunch place. Servers wearing masks.
Way less tables to allow for distancing and Plexiglas dividers between tables. They also took down a name and telephone number from each table to aid in contact tracing if it came to that. Fricken delicious curry udon.

 

[harllee]

In my state restaurants that have employees who test positive for Covid-19 are not required to report this to the health authorities or reveal this to the public. I am hearing that some local restaurants have had positive cases among employees--one is a restaurant where I have been doing take out. I called the restaurant and asked if they had employees test positive and they said no--but how can I be sure? What are other states doing on this issue?

 

[Midpack]

In my state restaurants that have employees who test positive for Covid-19 are not required to report this to the health authorities or reveal this to the public. I am hearing that some local restaurants have had positive cases among employees--one is a restaurant where I have been doing take out. I called the restaurant and asked if they had employees test positive and they said no--but how can I be sure? What are other states doing on this issue?

Of course they can’t tell an anonymous customer who calls in, but in N.C. they are required to:

• Conduct daily symptom screening of workers, using a standard interview questionnaire of symptoms, before workers enter the workplace
• Immediately isolate and remove sick workers;

Some employees volunteer the information, and they are entitled to leave.

https://files.nc.gov/governor/documents/files/Phase-2-FAQ.pdf

And the CDC restaurant guidelines state:

• Make sure that employees know they should not come to work if they are sick, and they should notify their manager or other designated COVID-19 point of contact if they become sick with COVID-19 symptoms, test positive for COVID-19, or have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 or have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 symptoms or a confirmed or suspected case.

And finally a restaurant that isn’t practicing safe precautions and has an outbreak will suffer business losses. That’s a deterrent as well.

 

[harllee]

Midpack, thanks for the info. But how is the public to know if a restaurant has an outbreak? There is nothing in the NC rules that allows the public to find out about outbreaks. There is much discussion in my neighborhood about restaurants with outbreaks, but then the restaurant denies it so what is a customer to do?

 

[gwraigty]

In my state restaurants that have employees who test positive for Covid-19 are not required to report this to the health authorities or reveal this to the public. I am hearing that some local restaurants have had positive cases among employees--one is a restaurant where I have been doing take out. I called the restaurant and asked if they had employees test positive and they said no--but how can I be sure? What are other states doing on this issue?

I'm not aware of any requirement in Ohio that a restaurant has to report COVID-19 cases to the public. I'd be surprised if a business would admit it to a customer, if asked. They run the risk of breaching confidentiality of an individual's medical condition and exposing themselves to a lawsuit by the affected employee. Here's the CDC's position on it:

Considerations for Restaurants and Bars

Near the end of the page:

Notify Health Officials and Close Contacts

• In accordance with state and local laws, restaurant and bar operators should notify local health officials and staff immediately of any case of COVID-19 among employees, while maintaining confidentiality in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

I think the restaurant has to notify the other employees who are considered close contacts. Naturally, if an employee is suddenly absent for 2 weeks, the other employees may guess correctly that So-and-So is the one who has COVID-19. As long as the restaurant doesn't officially admit to it, they probably can't be successfully sued by So-and-So for illegally disclosing the confidential nature of their illness.

 

[Midpack]

Midpack, thanks for the info. But how is the public to know if a restaurant has an outbreak? There is nothing in the NC rules that allows the public to find out about outbreaks. There is much discussion in my neighborhood about restaurants with outbreaks, but then the restaurant denies it so what is a customer to do?

You can't know for sure, like many things in life. You drive on the road with drunk, high, distracted or otherwise impaired drivers who could kill you all the time - just one of many examples.

We've been to a few restaurants in the past few weeks that make it clear they are taking every possible precaution, employees with masks, above and beyond spacing, hyper cleaning, minimizing contact, more disposable items, monitoring employees/sending sick employees home & notifying other employees, etc.

There are other restaurants where they obviously aren't or it's unclear, we won't be going back to any of them any time soon if ever. We've walked out of a few in the past few weeks because it was clear they weren't taking the CDC or state guidelines seriously. If you're in doubt, you have to use your best judgement - as always in life.

As an aside three restaurants in Charlotte closed themselves as soon as they discovered they had an employee with Covid-19. They were completely open with the public and their employees. A smart restaurateur will do the same to preserve their business long term. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/c...orkers-test-positive-for-covid-19/ar-BB15GAPc

Any restaurant that tries to conceal an outbreak and is then caught, may lose their business altogether once word circulates.

 

[W2R]

There is a place up the street that was having a $8 chicken parmesan special today (and we love that dish!) but we haven't been going there since the pandemic because they aren't really enforcing the guidelines to our satisfaction. Too many people, too close together, and more, well, you get the idea.

So, we "reverted" to getting take-out and brought it home. It was great.

Louisiana was supposed to go into Phase 3 this coming Friday, but I just found out that will be delayed a month. Although New Orleans' COVID-19 situation is getting better, apparently as a whole the state hasn't improved enough to merit going to Phase 3 yet.

At first that was downright depressing, but then it occurred to me that most of what we enjoy doing is possible in Phase 2. We aren't really interested in being with large crowds of people and so on, which would require Phase 3. It is still so sad to know that Acadiana and other parts of the state are not doing well in their recovery.

 

[Car-Guy]

We've been eating out ~twice a week since the state (Texas) allowed the re-openings. One of the safety items here is to use one time disposable menus. Most restaurants have simply copied their regular menus onto 8x11 paper using both side. Trouble is they had to shrink the fonts to get everything to fit. I told the waitress today that I needed the over 65 menu since there was no way I could read that small font. She smiled and brought me "an original" full size menu...

 

[lucky penny]

She smiled and brought me "an original" full size menu...

No mask?

 

[harllee]

A poll taken on Nextdoor in my area is somewhat similar to this Forum's poll ( around 200 have people have taken the Nextdoor poll so far):

Ready to eat inside at restaurants 15%
Ready to eat outside only 14%
Only doing pick up/take out 52%
Only doing delivery 7%
Not using restaurants 11%

Restaurants in my area can only open at 50% capacity. Many restaurants have have not reopened yet (my favorite restaurant has not reopened--the owner says they cannot make it at 50% capacity and they do not want to do take out) and several have announced they are closing permanently. A few restaurants are doing a booming take out business. I am afraid it is going to take a long time for the restaurant business to recover.

 

[W2R]

We've been eating out ~twice a week since the state (Texas) allowed the re-openings. One of the safety items here is to use one time disposable menus. Most restaurants have simply copied their regular menus onto 8x11 paper using both side. Trouble is they had to shrink the fonts to get everything to fit. I told the waitress today that I needed the over 65 menu since there was no way I could read that small font. She smiled and brought me "an original" full size menu...

The last time we went to our favorite restaurant, for the first time ever they had a QR code laminated to the top of each table, providing customers with a "no touch" menu. They also have menus xeroxed onto one sheet of 8.5x11" paper.

 

[Winemaker]

Midpack, thanks for the info. But how is the public to know if a restaurant has an outbreak? There is nothing in the NC rules that allows the public to find out about outbreaks. There is much discussion in my neighborhood about restaurants with outbreaks, but then the restaurant denies it so what is a customer to do?

With HIPAA regulations, who is required to report to who?

Our has county with 212,000 population and 170 cases/6 deaths, and it is the state, that is reporting statistics. Our county commissioners and the county health commissioner has no information whatsoever on the caseload in our county, and they should be the first to know to take adequate action. Go figure.

 

[Teacher Terry]

10 restaurants and or bars here are not reopening and are for sale.