Pandemic to transform the restaurant industry
Reduced capacity. Adapted menus. Employees wearing gloves and masks with their company’s logo.
Increased reliance on takeout and delivery.
Outdoor seating on patios or even streets and sidewalks.
These are among the ways dining could be transformed once restaurants reopen,said Scott Dolch, executive director of the Connecticut Restaurant Association.
His association is working closely with state and other officials to develop a plan and monitor successes and failures in other states.
“We are a creative industry,” Dolch said. “We have entrepreneurial spirit. We adapt.”
Restaurants may change menus, especially if foods like poultry are in short supply, and rely more on local farms and breweries, he said. Customers ordering takeout may want more family-style cooking, Dolch said.
Maggie McFly’s, a chain restaurant with five locations in Connecticut, expects takeout and delivery to drive business, owner Ray Harper said.
He anticipates being at 50 percent capacity when reopening, seating every other table or installing partitions between booths. Ordering food would be “as touchless as possible,” with mobile menus and pay, Harper said.
He would prioritize bringing back employees who may be immune to the virus, but some staff earn more on unemployment and may be afraid to return.
“A slow start is going to be easier for me,” Harper said.
The pandemic has further heightened restaurant workers’ concerns over cleanliness, which should make the public feel safe, Harper said.
“They have the same fears a customer would,” he said. “They’re doing all the precautions.”
Still, 3 percent of the state’s 8,500 restaurants already permanently closed and another 6 percent reported in a survey they would need to shutter if they cannot reopen around mid-May, Dolch said.
This could mean jobs lost for restaurant employees and others — from fishermen to accountants — who work with the industry, he said.
“Everyone is working together to find solutions to help every restaurant they can,” Dolch said. “Because they know the impact that it has if it doesn't get back on its feet, how it can hurt a community.”