SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Restaurants across California are reopening their dining rooms and patios to customers as state officials ease coronavirus restrictions.
On May 22, Sacramento County permitted restaurants to allow dining inside and on patios. Restaurants that open must be able to maintain strict physical distancing of six feet, as well as adhering to other restrictions. Along R Street and in Downtown Sacramento on Memorial Day, restaurants were packed with pedestrians not wearing masks or following physical distancing guidelines.
The California Department of Health issued a 12 page set of guidelines for restaurants to reopen dining areas which includes requirements for specific workplace plans, employee training, individual control measures and screening, cleaning and disinfecting protocols and more.
“To tell you the truth, we’re completely prepared,” Chin White, the general manager of Bento Box, said.
Even though Bento Box’s Downtown dining room has been shuttered for more than two months, the restaurant has been open for take-out.
“So, we are trying to take as much possible what we can do here to make that everybody here is safe,” White said. “That’s the first and most… priority of this place right now.”
White says making all of the required changes and bringing staff back would add expenses that may not be made up with additional sales.
He says it’s a major financial risk for the business that used to rely on dine-in for as much as 80 percent of its revenue — Now 100 percent take out and business is suffering.
“It’s very, very difficult to stay afloat,” White said.
While it may be too early to tell, state and local officials have said they can tighten restrictions again if areas see a second wave of coronavirus.
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