Masks and disposable plates? Here’s how restaurants could change after the pandemic

As states begin unveiling their phased reopening plans, restaurants are looking ahead to how they might best keep customers safe in a post-pandemic world.

The result could make dining experiences look a little different.

Unique precautions

Twisted Citrus, a breakfast restaurant in Ohio, is slated to reopen on May 21 and has a unique plan to promote social distancing — clear shower curtains hung between tables, CNN reported.

Ohio’s guidelines for reopening restaurants require tables to be 6 feet apart or separated by a barrier, according to the outlet.

“Six feet between tables would have limited us to maybe eight to 10 tables, which financially would not have made it worthwhile to open back up for us,” co-owner Kim Shapiro said, according to CNN.

Shapiro said she chose shower curtains because they’re easily disinfected and can be cleaned in the dishwasher at the end of every day, the outlet reported.

Hanny’s, a restaurant in Phoenix, is taking a similar approach, installing plexiglass barriers in the restaurant to better separate customers, KSAZ reported.

The eatery has also put up a number of signs to keep patrons moving in the same direction and prevent cross traffic, according to the outlet.

To help protect diners, some restaurants are planning to implement more costly changes such as replacing heating and cooling systems, creating separate entrances and exits as well as installing automatic doors, CNN reported.

Reopening in a hot spot

Andrew Rigie is executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance and said the organization is working on guidelines for how restaurants in the coronavirus hot spot can safely reopen, WABC reported.

He said patrons can expect to see restaurants using disposable plates and silverware as well as more outdoor seating, according to the outlet.

“The dining public will probably be more comfortable eating on a sidewalk than they would inside a restaurant, so how do we look at pedestrian plazas, areas of the street and repurpose it,” Rigie told WABC.

He added that some restaurants will likely only take credit cards — potentially moving to online ordering and payment — and keep menu exchanges to a minimum, according to the outlet.

Other precautions

States that have already reopened to dine-in customers have capped how many patrons can be in the restaurant.

In Georgia, restaurants can only seat 10 patrons for every 500 square feet, Slate reported. Texas limits restaurant capacity to 25% in counties that have had more than five cases of coronavirus, according to the outlet, and Tennessee limits it to 50% across the board.

Servers at Chappy’s, a restaurant in Alabama, wear masks and wait on tables that are spaced apart, the Associated Press reported. Restaurants in the state were allowed to open to dine-in customers on Monday.

Indiana restaurants were allowed to reopen the same day at half capacity, the Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly reported.

All workers are required to wear masks and observe social distancing guidelines, according to the newspaper. Paper menus are also expected to become part of the new normal.

Some restaurants, however, are holding off on dine-in customers.

“We are ready to reopen, but we are not in a rush,” Kyle Baker, owner of Pizza Forum in Indiana, told the Business Weekly. “We have gotten tremendous support from our customers.”

His restaurant is only offering carry-out, according to the newspaper.

Armando Vera, owner of Vera’s Backyard Bar-B-Que in Texas, told Bon Appetit he wouldn’t reopen at 25% capacity. The restaurant closed to dine-in customers in March and shifted its focus to drive-thru orders, the magazine reported.

“There are still a lot of people who are very concerned. I want to respect that. I would rather keep things the way they are,” Vera said, according to Bon Appetit. “Opening up will depend on if people get more comfortable, or if they come up with some kind of shot that will control the virus.”

This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 7:34 AM with the headline "Masks and disposable plates? Here’s how restaurants could change after the pandemic."