Customers Show Up For Restaurant Reopenings: GA Coronavirus
GEORGIA — After Gov. Brian Kemp announced last week that restaurants could open Monday if they follow strict guidelines, businesses across Georgia got to work preparing for customers by sanitizing everything, ordering protective gear and removing some tables to create open space.
After Randy Altmann, owner of Copper Coin Coffee in Woodstock, heard the news, he began cleaning.
"While we could only offer takeout and delivery, we spent all of last week and completely removed all tables and chairs from the floor," Altmann told Patch. "We double scrubbed all the empty floors, and sanitized each table that we put back on the floor."
When the shelter-in-place order had ended all in-person dining options in Georgia, Altmann's business altered operations to takeout and delivery options. But as a coffee shop with no drive-up window, he said this was not a successful way to conduct business.
So on Monday, Altmann opened his store to customers who want to dine in, while following the 32 state mandates for reopening that applied to his business, including:
Chairs/tables are spaced to allow 6 feet of space between occupants.
Customers who come in groups are asked if they are co-habitants, if so up to six can sit at one table; if not (think: kids studying together), they must be at individual tables.
Dedicated staff to do nothing but clean and sanitize any area where someone was seating.
All staff are wearing face masks.
No outside seating due to concerns about cleaning/sanitizing, and maintaining social distance,
Temporarily removed games and books from the library area out of an abundance of caution.
See more: GA Coronavirus: Reopening Guidelines Released For Restaurants
"Our staff is incredible, and all have come back to the store," Altmann said. "Customers were appreciative that we had stayed open and now are happy they can choose to sit inside. Obviously, customer count and traffic are still much below normal. Now more than ever, your local stores and restaurants need your support. Remember, even the chains employ local workers."
Altmann was not the only business owner who was open for business again Monday.
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Jenna Aronowitz, owner of 1920 Tavern in Roswell, also reopened her restaurant Monday.
"We are all about the experience at 1920 Tavern," she told Patch. "Our sales dropped to a never-before low, as we are not known for takeout and are not affiliated with Uber Eats or any of the other food delivery services. This caused us to have zero income to pay our bills or staff. We used our savings to pay all our staff in full so that they didn’t have to suffer through this. My husband and I are the epitome of a small business. It’s just the two of us trying to make money to feed our family."
Aronowitz has been preparing to reopen for the last six weeks with staff training.
"We knew that when we would reopen, that there would be restrictions and regulations," she said. "We started purchasing our PPE [personal protective equipment] four weeks ago before supplies were depleted. So we have more than enough. We also painted and sanitized the entire restaurant. We took every piece of equipment and furniture out of the restaurant and deep cleaned it, even the entire kitchen."
And on Monday morning, the doors to 1920 Tavern were back open.
"We are open today and are very grateful for the incredible guests and citizens of Roswell who are supporting us through this very difficult time," Aronowitz said. "All of our staff, including me and my husband, are wearing masks. We are taking every person who steps into our restaurant's temperature. We have sanitizer available on every table. We are only seating 10 guests per 500 square feet and have our tables set 8 feet apart.
"We are delighted to say that we have been busy from the time we opened. Our wonderful guests have been patient with our new systems. They have also been OK with us taking their temperatures."
Even with the newly implemented restrictions, Aronowitz said they did not take the decision lightly.
"We want to make sure every guest and staff member is safe and would never want to put any of them at risk, which is why we will follow the regulations and guidelines to the 'T,'" she said. "We are not just business owners, but humans, too. We are very involved in our community and pray we will continue to do so for many years to come."
Other restaurant owners said they will not open their doors to customers to dine in just yet.
Angelita Palmer is the manager of Smokejack BBQ in Alpharetta, and said they plan to reopen in about three weeks.
"We feel it is too soon for dine-in," Palmer told Patch. "With the mandates what they are, the amount of people allowed in our dining room would be minimal."
While they continue to offer takeout and curbside pickup options, Smokejack is also working on updating the restaurant.
"We are taking this time to do a revamping of our dining room and the flooring throughout the restaurant," Palmer said. "When we reopen, we want people to be able to come back to a fresher look. Now is the time for any large projects to make things better for the future."
Another downtown Alpharetta restaurant, Chiringa, will also not open its dining room Monday or this week, according to its partner, Travis Brown.
"We'll be taking a conservative approach with reopening with our patio open for seating only, no service, at this point," Brown said.
Sunny and Dee Patel own Great Harvest Bread, which has locations in Johns Creek and Alpharetta, and they built an online ordering system from scratch.
Before the shelter-in-place order, the Patels already closed their dine-in areas and stopped giving out samples. They implemented curbside pickup and were able to maintain employee hours by offering delivery to the local area, including for care packages that were purchased for isolated neighbors, family or loved ones. They also include grocery items to their menu that appeal to families at home.
While they did not close the entire business, they do not intend to open the dining area right now, or potentially the next month.
"Employees to date have been protected from long periods of contact with customers through our curbside and lobby-only service," Sunny Patel said. "By allowing people to congregate in an enclosed space, then ask that my staff sanitize between customers, puts additional risk and pressure on an already strained team.
"Our focus going forward will be on the bakery element of our business rather than the cafe side. We recognize we will not see our loyal customers as often, but we will adapt our menu to allow greater choice each day."
Bankhead Diner Restaurant, 11949 Veterans Memorial Highway in Douglasville, did open and says it's following strict Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and practicing social distancing.
In other metro Atlanta communities, owners chose to keep their places closed today.
Topps Bar & Grill Restaurant in Douglasville says it is still offering takeout, but the dine-in option is closed until further notice.
Adams Bar BQ Restaurant in Cartersville didn't open either. Customers can still use takeout and curbside service. It said it hopes to open by Friday.
El dorado Salvadorian & Mexican in Cartersville is only open for takeout. The dine-in option is closed until further notice.
Austin’s Burritos, 2463 Hamilton Mill Parkway, didn't open its dine-in area Monday either.
Universal Joint in Decatur remained closed and says it is watching to see how things progress. There is no date on when its dine-in area will reopen.
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This article originally appeared on the Canton-Sixes Patch
