Tired of takeout? SC restaurant group requests May 4 for outdoor dine-in services
Restaurants should be allowed to open with outdoor dining beginning on May 4, with indoor dining beginning two weeks later on May 18, the S.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association says.
The association’s suggestion was disclosed Wednesday at a meeting of Accelerate SC, a group S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster formed to evaluate how the state can restart the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The group does not have the authority to reopen restaurants, but their suggestion could help influence McMaster’s thinking.
With May 4 approaching quickly on Monday, and the recommendation in hand, McMaster said he hopes to make a decision soon.
“It’s not a question of a magic date, but a question of notice so they could get ready to open, so they could get their workforce ready, get their supplies in,” McMaster said. “We want to move as quickly as we can ... If we were going to do something on May 4, we would have to make some decisions pretty quickly.”
In March McMaster closed dine-in service and limited restaurants to take out or delivery only to slow the spread of the virus. The governor has not said yet when he will lift his ban on dine-in services.
The Restaurant Association also recommends:
▪ Spacing tables at least 6 feet apart and expanding procedures for sanitation.
▪ Increasing customer traffic counts over three phases. However, dates for each of the phases were not included in the recommendation as it would depend on the decline of COVID-19 cases in the state.
▪ Have signs in restaurants that say people with fevers or persistent cough to stay away from restaurants, and telling people to sneeze or cough into a cloth or tissue.
▪ Not allow customers to fill their own beverages, and use paper menus or sanitize menus after each use.
“We definitely want to get back in business, but we have to do it as safely as possible,” said Bobby Williams, the chairman of the restaurant association and the CEO of Lizard’s Thicket.
However, a struggle that could put some restaurants at a competitive disadvantage is whether a restaurant has outdoor seating.
A lot of upscale and fast food restaurants have outside dining, and Williams argued places can create outdoor dining.
“It will help with overall business and carryout business,” Wiliams said.
“I personally believe outdoor dining should have never closed. I think it’s safe, you’re outside, beautiful sunshine, you’re spaced (out),” he added.
But even as restaurants eye a reopening, there will be challenges. The May 18 date allows restaurants time to rehire employees and order the necessary food and supplies.
He said there are difficulties getting some products, such as ground beef or flour. Problems people see at grocery stores are the same as restaurants.
“The supply chain needs time to refill,” Williams said.
The recommendations were formulated by the restaurant and lodging association after it formed a “resilience task force.”
Ultimately, the restaurants are asking for the option to reopen.
“It’s letting the restaurants make that call,” said Helen Turner Hall, the CEO of Explore Charleston.
This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 4:41 PM.
