State slowly begins phased reopening
‘Very careful and very cautious.’ Some area restaurants, stores emerge from shutdown.
Ruby and Preston Strickland briefly took off their masks Monday to enjoy a lunch of chicken and dumplings and meatloaf at the Colonial Room Restaurant.
The Orlando couple were driving around when they saw the spot they frequented in downtown Sanford had reopened, six weeks after being shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Preston Strickland, 82, and his wife said they weren’t nervous about being out on the first day that restaurants were allowed to reopen their dining rooms after Gov. Ron DeSantis announced they and many retailers across much of the state could open for business again at 25% capacity indoors.
“We’re very careful and very cautious,” said Ruby Strickland, 76. “I feel like they’re trying very hard to make sure everybody’s safe.”
Servers wore masks inside the restaurant and owner Michelle Simoneaux said she took her employees’ temperatures that morning in addition to reducing the amount of seating inside.
“This restaurant’s my heart and soul,” Simoneaux said. “I’ve missed seeing all the people.”
‘We’re fully booked’
At Antonio’s Maitland, an Italian restaurant, customers were ready to get back to having dinner out.
“The phones started ringing the moment the governor finished his speech,” said owner Greg Gentile. “We’re fully booked.”
It’s exciting news for Gentile and Chef Patrick Tramontana, both of them eager to take a careful step toward normalcy.
“We’ve posted safety and cleanliness guidelines,” Gentile said. “We want people to know we’re doing everything we can to ensure their safety and comfort.”
At George’s Café, most of the outside tables were full. Inside, other customers sat at the counter and more lined up for takeout.
Owner George Paul is no stranger to the Orlando food scene; he started the business with his mother about 40 years ago and relocated his restaurant to a treeshaded spot on Park Avenue in Winter Park on April 1.
“We were busier yesterday, right?” Paul joked with one of his employees about how much takeout business the restaurant was doing during the shutdown.
‘Tired of being stuck at home’
Restaurants weren’t the only Central Florida gathering places that could cautiously reopen Monday.
Malls across the Orlando area opened up their doors, but many of their stores remained shuttered.
At Seminole Towne Center in Sanford, anchors such as JCPenney and other retailers, including Bath & Body Works, were closed midday. It was the same story up the road at Oviedo Mall, with Dillard’s and Barnes & Noble not yet back in business.
Twenty-three of 67 tenants at Oviedo Mall opened Monday, general manager Kevin Hipes said.
“It’s a Monday morning. Nobody goes to a mall at 11 o’clock on Monday morning,” Hipes said of the shoppers who turned out. “There’s still a lot of people concerned who are staying home that will probably venture out in a few days and maybe longer.”
But Oviedo resident Laura Bachman and her 4-year-old daughter, Hailey Rose, were there.
“We were tired of being stuck at home,” the 33-year-old said. “As soon as we heard the mall was opening back up we decided to just go walk the mall.”
Corey Richardson, 31, and wife, Dora Richardson, 32, were also eager for a return to normal, and Monday morning that first tentative step came in the form of a breakfast flatbread and an omelet with potatoes at Orlando’s Omelet Bar near the University of Central Florida.
The Richardsons live local, and though they’ve been “doing the driveway-social thing” with close friends, most people they know are antsy, waiting for a chance to eat at a restaurant again.
“We just wanted to get out of the house,” said Corey Richardson.
It was a similar story for Orlando resident Brian Verner, who took his 1-year-old son, James, to Green Springs Park in Volusia County before stopping in at Hollerbach’s Willow Tree Café in downtown Sanford.
“I’ve been cooped up with him for six weeks,” the 34-year-old said. “My wife works, she’s working all the time from home, so [I’m] just trying to give her a break and get out.”
Retailer Magpies Modern General Store also opened in downtown Sanford, offering a 25% off sale. Inside, directional markers on the floor were ready to help keep potential customers 6 feet apart.
Contact Austin Fuller at afuller@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5664; Twitter @afullerreporter; Want to reach out? Find Amy Drew Thompson on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com.