The Waffle Shop in northwest Fresno opened for dine-in customers Thursday, defying city and state orders mandating it do takeout orders only.

The breakfast restaurant on Figarden Drive at Brawley Avenue opened at 50% capacity, after the owner announced it would do so on a Facebook group.

The restaurant had about 10 tables of customers dine in throughout the morning – not all at the same time.

Customers were seated at every other booth or table, which is more than six feet apart. Workers wore masks and gloves.

When The Bee arrived shortly after 10 a.m., just one customer was dining at a table just inside the door.

The Waffle Shop owner Ammar Ibrahim said he was inspired to open the restaurant’s dining room after attending Wednesday’s Freedom Rally outside City Hall.

“How much more money do we have to lose? How many more employees do we have to lose?” he said. “I’m not going to go belly up because (California Gov. Gavin) Newsom and our government can’t figure things out. … It’s not about defying a city ordinance. It’s about standing up for what’s right.”

City rules

Two City of Fresno employees showed up to remind Ibrahim that restaurants are only allowed to do carry-out business right now and give him a copy of the city’s emergency order.

Businesses that violate the order first receive a visit from code enforcement, after which most businesses comply with the rules voluntarily, a city spokesman has said.

If they don’t, businesses can then be fined $1,000 for the first violation, and $5,000 and $10,000 for the second and third violations. They can also be shut down completely.

Despite the warning, “I’m still going to operate,” Ibrahim said. “They’ll end up giving me a fine and I’ll take the fine.”

He wouldn’t be the first. Bernie Siomiak, better known as “Crazy Bernie,” has been cited three times and fined $5,000 for keeping his furniture store open during the city of Fresno’s shelter-in-place orders.

The businesses are defying orders as tensions flare locally and nationally amid a push to reopen the economy.

The City of Fresno will allow some businesses, like furniture stores and auto sellers, to open with restrictions Monday. Other retailers have been given the green light by the city to do curbside pickup and no-contact delivery.

However, the state on Thursday released a new set of criteria that jurisdictions must meet in order to start doing curbside pickup. It’s unclear how Fresno Mayor Lee Brand’s plan to reopen certain businesses in city limits fits into the governor’s guidelines.

By midday Thursday, the state announced that California counties could soon be allowed to reopen restaurants for inside dining if they are able to meet a series of criteria laid out by the Newsom administration.

The controversy comes at a time when the number of COVID-19 cases continues to grow.

Fresno County had two days in a row of 50 new positive test results each, coming as the number of coronavirus patients at intensive-care units in local hospitals increases.

The total case count in the six-county region in the central San Joaquin Valley passed 2,200 Thursday. The death toll from the disease was 56 as of Thursday morning.

The number of people who have recovered from the disease was 570.

Financial pain

For the Waffle Shop, being closed for so long has taken its toll.

Ibrahim has two employees – a cook and a person taking orders – working limited hours doing takeout. The rest of his 14 or 15 employees aren’t working. Business has dropped 85%.

He threw out about $10,000 worth of food when the emergency orders first were announced, a loss he says insurance won’t cover.

In addition to takeout, he’s sold food from his suppliers, like eggs and bacon, directly to the public. He’s also given away gallons of milk for free to families in need.

Overall though, he said he’s missed out on about $150,000 in sales, while bills for rent, PG&E, water and garbage are piling up. He applied for a Paycheck Protection Program loan, but said the bank keeps asking for more information. He applied for another small business loan through the city, but didn’t get it.

“It’s a game of survival at this point,” he said. “In another 30 days, in another 10 days, we can’t recover.”

Customers

Sandy Worstein, 70, was the the only customer dining in the restaurant mid morning Thursday, finishing up her bacon, eggs and crispy potatoes. A regular, she said she missed getting coffee and meals and chatting with people.

“I didn’t like them being closed. It’s kind of hard,” she said, wishing the business could get back to being open.

Despite having multiple sclerosis and being at higher risk because of her age, Worstein said she’s not worried about catching COVID-19.

“Not really,” she said. “If I get it, I get it.”

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