Restaurant owners are scrambling to reopen fast after learning Wednesday that they can open for outdoor dining on Thursday.
The outdoor patio at Lemoncello in East Rochester is being readied to accommodate diners.
“It was a little unexpected since we were planning on being open in the next week or two, but we are eager to get our customers back,” said Shelby Griswold, a server at Lemoncello.
Under Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s order, restaurants will be able to serve customers food and alcohol outdoors as long as they follow new guidelines from the state.
Those guidelines include spreading tables six feet apart, workers wearing masks at all times, and customers wearing masks until they are seated.
Bruce Nightingale, the owner of the Silverball Saloon, says the timing of the news left him unable to gather the staff needed to reopen by Thursday. He is hoping to have his doors open by the weekend or next week.
“If I knew ahead of time, I would have had more staff available. I would have called more people back. Now, it’s going to be trying to reach out to staff who maybe don’t feel comfortable. Now I have to go through my whole staff and see who is ready to come out,” said Nightingale.
It’s also a big adjustment for restaurants without much room for outdoor seating.
Good Luck in Rochester says it is trying to be creative by using much of its sidewalk and its garden across the street from the restaurant to spread out tables and seat as many people as possible.
“It’s actually not something we have done in recent years,” said Melissa Feldman, the general manager of Good Luck. “We’ve actually have been working on our garden to kind of replant and making it a little bit more of a welcoming space and we will be cleaning up that area so we can keep a safe distance and keep everyone safe and healthy.”
Restaurants across the area admit it will not be an easy transition. But, they are excited about it.
“It’s going to be very stressful the next couple of days, the next couple of weeks getting back into our system and semi getting back to normal with taking precautions and following the guidelines,” said Griswold.
— 13 WHAM