Darden opens chains where allowed with safety restrictions.
With restrictions, safety measures
Darden Restaurants is opening back up its Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and other chain dining rooms in states where it is permitted, but with restrictions and safety measures like temperature checks for employees.
The Orlando-based company closed all of its more than 1,800 dining rooms in March and shifted to takeout because of coronavirus. About 100 restaurants in Georgia and 11 in three counties in Tennessee have reopened so far, spokesman Rich Jeffers said Wednesday.
Darden — which owns Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze and Eddie V’s — also is preparing for other states that are set to open again. With restrictions on how many people can be inside the restaurants, not all employees will be back to work.
“We are staffing the restaurants based on the guidelines from the local officials,” Jeffers said.
He said in Tennessee reopening is progressing at a county level, and Georgia limits no more than 10 guests per 500 square feet. NPR reported Monday Tennessee is restricting restaurants to 50% capacity.
Restaurant analyst John Gordon said the amount of restaurants reopening seems like a lot at this point.
“There’s quite a bit of research indicating customers aren’t ready to return to dining out until they feel safe,” Gordon said. “A more moderate approach could have been to roll out a smaller group of units and tested and then rolled out more units based on those results similar to what Starbucks announced yesterday.”
Employees at all of the company’s restaurants, most of which are open for takeout, are now subject to daily temperature checks, a policy Walmart has also instituted. Workers will wear masks and customers will also be asked to wear them when not at a table.
Employees with
afever would be sent home and can use their sick time, Jeffers said. Darden rolled out sick leave in March for all of its hourly employees.
Paid sick times accrues at one hour for every 30 hours worked and employees with the company at the time the policy launched received a starting balance based on their most recent 26 weeks of work. New hires begin accruing sick time upon starting and can use it after 90 days.
Dining room layouts have also been reconfigured for social distancing and tables will be disinfected after each visit.
Darden last week reported its ongoing, weekly cash loss at about $20 million based on how it performed over the previous two weeks. Its stock price was up more than 4.5% to $78.21 at close Wednesday.
The company’s CEO, Gene Lee, was previously announced as participating in White House groups focused on reviving the economy from the impact of coronavirus.