100% DOESN’T MEAN 100%
Restrictions are set to be lifted on the state’s restaurants, but when it comes to capacity ...
“My restaurant and tavern are tiny places. The 100% capacity has no impact on us. I think saying we can go to 100% is a little deceiving. I don’t believe anyone is going to be at 100%.” Mark Dion, of Mark’s Restaurant in Enfield and Mark’s Tavern in East Windsor
In a few days, when Connecticut residents walk into their favorite restaurants, COVID19 restrictions on capacity will have been lifted, following an announcement Thursday by Gov. Ned Lamont. Butin many restaurants, 100% capacity isn’t really 100% anymore.
The new guidelines, which still call for social distancing to be maintained between tables, require restaurants to close by 11 p.m. and bars to remain shuttered, ensure customers will see the same limited spaces they’ve seen since earlier in the pandemic.
In many restaurants, there just isn’t enough room to add any more tables and still comply with the distancing regulations. Restaurateurs understand why distancing is still necessary, but that doesn’t muffle their disappointment.
“We used to have 14 tables. Now we have eight. I’m probably going to keep it at eight. If we add one or two back, they will not be 6 feet apart,” said Lisa Maurer, referring to her restaurant, the Crown and Hammer in Collinsville. She also owns Lisa’s Luna Pizza in Simsbury, another small restaurant.
“People who come after March 19, both places will be basically the same,” she said.
When indoor dining reopened with limited capacity early in the pandemic, Maurer reconfigured the Crown and Hammer bar area with a few tables. That will not change either.
“A lot of places put in Plexiglas dividers. We felt like that was going to be a big expense but it would not give me much more capacity. So we bought the bar side tables instead. They’re 6 feet apart. We can’t fit in anymore. We only have so much room,” she said.
Mark Dion, of Mark’s Restaurant in Enfield and Mark’s Tavern in East Windsor, has the same dilemma.
“My restaurant and tavern are tiny places. The 100% capacity has no impact on us,” Dion said. “I think saying we can go to 100% is a little deceiving. I don’t believe anyone is going to be at 100%. Some might be able to go to 75, 80%, but you have to have a big place to do that.”
The Angry Egg in Manchester will be able to go up to about 80%. Full capacity is 40 people. Liz Hall, who owns The Angry Egg with her husband Steve, said she has been operating with 20 seats, but when 100% capacity returns, she only will be able to go up to about 32.
“My tables are divided by plexiglass, but we don’t have plexiglass at the breakfast bar, where there are eight seats, so we can’t open those seats,” she said. “I can’t go to 100%.”
Deb Dalena, co-owner of Riley’s Hot Dog and Burger Gourmet in New Britain, called the new guidelines “disheartening.
“You read ‘100% capacity’ and you think that’s great, but then in the next paragraph it still says we have to have the same distance between tables,” Dalena said. “We’re still stuck at half capacity. It’s really just kind of a wash.”
Even in larger spaces, 100% doesn’t mean 100% anymore. Helmar Wolf is CEO of Mill Restaurant Group, which operates Mill on the River in South Windsor, Abigail’s in Simsbury, Republic Gastropub in Bloomfield, Market Grille in Manchester and Republic at the Linden in Hartford. Wolf said his restaurants can’t add much more capacity and still comply with social distancing.
“There’s only so many tables you can get in there. Nothing will change,” Wolf said.
He is happy, though, that capacity has increased for private parties. Mill on the River has one floor dedicated to public dining and two floors for private functions. The new regulations expands allowable capacities at private gatherings at indoor commercial venues from 25 to 100.
“We can increase the party size for showers, birthday parties, corporate functions. That’ll help a little bit,” he said.
More than government regulations, restaurateurs are pinning their hopes on two factors: warmer weather, which will allow outdoor dining, and the vaccination rollout. Some restaurant owners already see an uptick in dining due to the vaccine.
“People have come in the past several weeks who have been cooped up for a year. It was the first time they’ve been out because now they’ve been vaccinated,” Dion said. “Some people are becoming regulars again who we haven’t seen in a long time. The vaccine is the magic. I would say we’ve had a 20% growth just because of the vaccine.”
Luz Ramos, owner of The Sloppy Waffle in Newington, said she can see the effect of the vaccines in the faces of her customers. “I’ve seen more of our seniors venture out than I have seen before. The younger crowds are still coming, like they did before, but I have seen a difference in the age ranges starting to re-emerge,” Ramos said.
Dennis Demos, general manager of the Vernon Diner, has not seen that uptick — “people are still afraid to come out and dine,” he said — but he hopes spring will help lure people in. “We’re an inside business and some people are uncomfortable, but we’ll be opening our patio soon,” he said.
Maurer is looking forward to spring, too. “Every day I look at the weather to see when it’s going to get warmer,” she said. She added, though, that even if the new regulations don’t help right away, they do make diners feel more confident.
“It’s going to give people a sense that soon this is going to be over,” she said.
“That will give people hope and a sense of comfort. With that feeling, more people will come out to eat.”
Dion agreed. “The 100% doesn’t do anything for my business, but it sends a message to the public that things are safer and going in the right direction.”