No customers inside and none outside
Smoke, heat make service even more difficult
The fight against the coronavirus sent their businesses outside.
Then swirling ash and acrid smoke from wildfires kept their customers indoors.
Restaurateurs, fitness trainers and other business owners across the Bay Area wondered where they were supposed to serve people, as one crisis made indoor service illegal and another made the outdoors untenable.
Sweltering conditions prevailed Wednesday as what the National Weather Service called the worst extended heat wave since 1913 blasted the region. Lightning
sparked blazes lit up the area, combining into fire complexes that sent pillars of smoke billowing into the skies, choking the air.
“At this point, I’m waiting for the plague of locusts to come,” said Wendy Klein, who started Nandi Yoga in 2008 in San Mateo.
For the past month, most businesses aside from stores have been allowed to serve customers only outdoors, if at all, under strict regulations imposed on most of the state in an attempt to quell a surge in coronavirus cases. Restaurants that had been allowed to restore indoor seating this summer had to go back to serving customers outdoors or by delivery and takeout; malls closed and gyms and salons were likewise restricted.
Seeing ash on her car and feeling a tickle in her throat, Klein canceled the 2 and 4:30 p.m. classes that she had planned Wednesday. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued a “Spare the Air” alert that day, as it had Tuesday.
Smoke can irritate eyes and airways, and elevated particulate matter can trigger wheezing, so the agency suggested people stay inside and close doors and windows. That left few options for businesses only allowed to operate outdoors.
“The sky is orange and purple, because it’s covered in smoke,” said Sonoma Fit owner Adam Kovacs, who canceled outdoor classes at his three gyms Wednesday morning after seeing dimesized ash on his car. “Nothing is working, man. It’s horrible. It’s really, really horrible.”
Bay Area restaurant owners stepped outside Wednesday morning and wondered if they should open for business at all.
Toby McMillen’s Waterdog Tavern in Belmont has weathered the coronavirus relatively well because it has a leafy, 2,700squarefoot patio. But he’s worried about the air quality this week, recalling the smoky air that blanketed the Bay Area during last year’s Camp Fire in Paradise.
“We were unable to seat one single person in the beer garden. People just weren’t interested and I can’t blame them,” he said. “It’s going to have a huge effect on us if this keeps up.”
McMillen decided not to open Waterdog at all Wednesday, since his restaurant doesn’t do much takeout business and it didn’t make sense to pay the kitchen staff.
“To go one, two or however many days without income is devastating,” he said. “It’s been a tough enough year as it is — we’re trying to make the most of the warm weather and then to have this happen, it’s disheartening.”
Some restaurants saw an impact Tuesday, with canceled reservations and a noticeable dip in takeout orders. That was the case with Palo Alto’s Lotus Thai Bistro, which has seven outdoor tables set up on California Avenue. The restaurant will leave the tables as an option for diners but owner Rungsiri Tantavirojn is guessing there won’t be any for a while.
Only a third of the restaurant’s business is dinein, so Tantavirojn said she thinks Lotus Thai won’t be too hurt this week by the lack of outdoor dining — but she worries people won’t leave their houses at all to get takeout and perhaps delivery drivers will opt to stay home.
Tantavirojn is also concerned about her workers. During the pandemic, she’s left the front door and windows open to maximize air flow inside the restaurant. But now, she wonders if she should close them to prevent smoke coming in.
“It’d be good to get guidelines on that,” said her daughter, Rae.
A couple of blocks away, Zareen Khan found a layer of white flakes of ash on the outdoor tables at her Pakistani restaurant, Zareen’s. She plans to skip outdoor service and hopes there are enough delivery orders from people who feel it’s too hot to cook.
The haze feels all too familiar to restaurant owners in Wine Country, some of whom spent thousands of dollars to build new patios to sustain their businesses during the coronavirus.
“This was my joking concern when we were building our patio: Great, we’ll get it up and running and then it’ll be fire season,” said chefowner Liza Hinman of the Spinster Sisters in Santa Rosa. The restaurant opened its new patio earlier this month.
Despite being so close to wildfires, Santa Rosa’s air felt breathable Wednesday thanks to wind patterns, so the Spinster Sisters’ garden patio will stay open. That’s crucial for the restaurant — revenue is at about a tenth of its usual levels and only a quarter comes from takeout.
“This whole era of the coronavirus has forced you to really only look three or four weeks ahead because everything changes so quickly, but there’s always been in the back of my mind this looming feeling that fire season will get here eventually and we won’t escape unscathed,” Hinman said.
Stores are still allowed to bring customers indoors — health officials reason that most are in and out quickly to make a purchase. Retailers aren’t seeing an uptick in customers seeking refuge from the heat and the smoke just yet, though some anticipate an influx if conditions persist.
San Francisco’s BiRite is still limiting the number of shoppers allowed indoors and requires masks for anyone in line inside and outside its stores. With the pandemic, the heat wave and fires happening simultaneously, Sarah Holt, the store’s director of marketing, said she hopes the community continues to be patient and respectful with one another. She said the workers there want to provide “a place of calm and comfort.”
Saudagar Cash and Carry, an IndoFijian grocery store in Hayward, hasn’t seen more customers than usual, though that could change as the heat wave and fires continue, said Manik Chand, the store manager. He said the heat wave may be keeping customers away, and those who do come don’t linger.
“I think people just want to go as soon as they can,” he said.
Brian Christensen, coowner of Brian Comics in Petaluma, reopened his comic bookstore for indoor sales at the end of July and business has steadily bounced back. But then the fires broke out, adding yet another layer of difficulty for small businesses. While foot traffic has been fairly consistent, his customers this week are pointing out the tumultuous weather all over the Bay Area, he said.
“People come in here thinking it may be cooler because we’re in the basement but since there’s a cooling center nearby, I haven’t seen greater numbers of shoppers come in just yet.”
Christensen said things may change as the day goes on, and if fires worsen.