Dining rooms open to small crowds
Those that open anxious to get economy moving
When Cattle men' s Steak house reopened its dining room Friday morning, regular breakfast customers were waiting outside at 6 a.m.
“It was nice to see our old friends,” owner Dick Stubbs said. “I was at home watching on my laptop, but just seeing how happy people were was great.”
When he arrived in time for the lunch shift, Stubbs had his temperature taken, put on his Oklahoma State University orange protective mask and was ready to greet guests.
But the lunch rush never came. At noon, t he dining room with capacity of 290 served no more than 30 guests.
That appeared to be the norm for dining rooms reopening Friday as Oklahoma City navigates the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
When 2020 began, Stubbs had ear marked next week to celebrate 30 years since he purchased Cattle men's Steakhouse from Gene Wade, but those plans will have to wait.
“We'll celebrate it at some point,” Stubbs said. “First, we've got to make sure we've
still got a business.”
Servers clad in protective masks and gloves walked the floor, which Stubbs and partner David Egan say hasn't been this empty during business hours in the 30 years since they took over.
Stubbs said he opened Friday so they could navigate a weekend in operation to gain some insight on how to plan for the coming weeks.
“Opening Friday and Saturday is kind of scary, but we hope to know something by Sunday,” he said. “Right now, we just don't know.”
If Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt' s comments Friday are any indicator, local restaurants should manage expectations.
“I am not c hanging my behavior in any significant way,” Holt said at Friday's press conference. “I expect to still be at home most of the time in the weeks ahead.”
That sentiment could explain why not every restaurant reopened on Friday.
“We just didn't feel like we were ready yet,” Rococo and Manhattan owner Bruce Rinehart said. “God bless everyone who went ahead. For us, it just didn't make sense to push it so we think we're going to continue with curbside, delivery and carryout meals at Homeland until mid May. But it could all change tomorrow.”
Across the street from Cattlemen' sin historic Stockyards City, McClintock Saloon and Chophouse was quiet at noon.
“We haven' t had any business yet,” said general manager Michael Harper “But we've got about 20 on the books for tonight.”
He said they aren't requiring reservations, but they are encouraging them.
“We' re taking walkins because we've got the saloon,” he said. “We've got the biggest bar in the state, but it only has 10 available seats.”
Across town, the oldest existing Johnnie's Charcoal Broiler location opened its dining room on Britton Road, but take-out business at the iconic family burger joint appeared busier than the near empty dining room.
“We've had seven guests come in,” co-owner David Haynes said at about 12:15. “We've got plenty of room at this location to spread people out so we opened this location first.”
Haynes said he and his brother Rick plan to reopen the remaining locations carrying their father's name on Monday.
“We' ve got to get the economy moving again ,” Haynes said.
Stubbs agreed.
“It took us 30 years to get where we were,” Stubbs said. “In one day, we went immediately back to where we were 30 years ago.”
Asked if he thought Cattlemen's could get back up there, Stubbs smiled and said, “Yeah, just hope it doesn't take another 30 years.”