Some life has returned to the streets of downtown Franklin after local restaurants reopened dining rooms this week.
Restaurants across the state on Monday welcomed customers at 50% capacity after two months of carryout-only service due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
For some, it was business as usual Monday. At Ann’s Restaurant, orders nearly doubled, manager Jim Klein said.
"We were hoping it wouldn’t be insane because, to be honest, we don’t want to have to send people away," he said. "We were happy with the pace it was at."
Ann’s moved some of its downstairs dining tables upstairs, and opened outdoor seating. The new arrangement is working well, and the dining room isn’t as "jam-packed" as it used to be, Klein said.
Business is also booming at The Willard in Franklin, owner Tony Priola said. To accommodate social distancing, they’ve removed all the bar stools from the bar and some tables to readily stick to the 50% capacity rule.
"We’ve had the best Monday we’ve had in months," Priola said.
But not every restaurant is doing well. Court Street Cafe served a total of six tables all day Monday, and the dining room remained mostly empty for lunch Tuesday, owner Sherry Young said.
Carryout orders are the same as they’ve been for two months, but revenue hasn’t increased so far. Now, Young is spending more money to keep the dining room fully staffed, she said.
"If it’s not going to gain me anything by keeping the dining room open, I might as well shut it down again," Young said. "If it costs me more money, I can’t do it … we’re barely doing it now."
Young hopes more customers come in throughout the week and on Saturday, which is usually Court Street’s busiest day, she said.
"I would like to reassure people that they are perfectly safe coming in here," Young said.
Dining out does look different. Dining rooms have fewer tables, and most places won’t seat parties of more than six people per the state’s social distancing guidelines, part of its Back on Track Indiana plan to reopen the economy in stages through July 4.
Stage Three of the plan begins May 24, when restaurants can open dining rooms at 75% capacity. By Stage Four, which is set to start June 14, restaurants can fully reopen while continuing to practice social distancing.
Customers are encouraged to stay home or do contact-less delivery from restaurants if they have symptoms of COVID-19, or if they have been exposed to the virus. Those most at risk for the illness should also stay home right now, according to industry guidelines posted on the Back on Track Indiana website. Customers who are dining out should also be prepared to wait or be turned away if a restaurant is full.
Employees, including servers and kitchen staff, have to wear masks while working, which Klein said he hopes changes soon because masks are extremely hot and impractical to wear in the kitchen.
But the guidelines are part of a new normal that will take some getting used to for restaurants and customers, he said.
"It’s different. It’s all new to everybody," Klein said. "I think the mentality of the customer has changed based on what we’ve been through in the past two months."
At the Willard, customers are more at ease seeing servers wear masks, Priola said.
"A lot of them don’t know our servers and don’t know their health, so it puts them at ease to know our servers are wearing masks and we’re sanitizing all the tables," he said.
Among the customers who did dine in at these restaurants, the general consensus was they were excited to be out again, the owners agreed.
"They were very excited to finally get back to some sort of normalcy," Priola said.
Most restaurant employees were also ready to get back to work. The Willard cut its staff to 15 from 45 when it closed its dining room, he said. Most furloughed staff members were asked to come back this week.
"I don’t think they cared about having to wear a mask or gloves or anything. They were ready to come back and make some money again," he said.
A few employees chose to not come back to work for their safety, which Priola fully supports, he said. Ann’s had a similar issue.
"I’m just blessed that we’re finally getting back to some normalcy," Priola said.
