Prairie Grove restaurants deal with covid rules
PRAIRIE GROVE — Brandon Vansickel with Mel’s Diner knows the date. The restaurant closed to inside dining on March 17, 2020, because of the covid-19 pandemic and mandates put in place by the governor and the Arkansas Department of Health.
On March 23, almost exactly one year later, the restaurant opened its doors to allow customers inside.
“We’re the last restaurant to open its doors in this area,” Vansickel said, but he also notes Mel’s Diner is unique in that only Vansickel, his wife Melissa and their two children work in the restaurant.
“If one of us gets sick, we’re closed,” he said.
During the past year, Mel’s Diner has served its customers through a drive-through window, and Vansickel admits times have been tough because of covid-19.
Since he and his wife opened the restaurant nine years ago, revenue has increased each year, except the past year. He estimates the business lost 25% to d30% in revenue because of the effects of the pandemic.
There was a point, about six months ago, he didn’t know if they would be able to stay open.
“You use all the festivities each year, like the Clothesline Fair, to pad up your bank account to help during the slow times, but we didn’t have that this year because the festivities were canceled.”
He’s optimistic festivities will return this year with great success.
Vansickel said he didn’t apply for any of the grants or loans offered this year for small businesses through the federal covid-relief funds but did receive help in other ways that saw them through.
“We relied on if God wants us to bring us to a certain situation, he’ll bring us out of it,” Vansickel said. “The community has been gangbusters for us, but I think God sent the community.”
Regular patrons and church members have ordered take-out meals from the restaurant. Customers who once came once a month ordered weekly from them. New customers came through the drive-up line and continued to support the restaurant. “We have sacrificed financially to not open the inside but the neat thing about the pandemic is the new customers the restaurant has gained and the loyalty from many of them,” he added.
The state has allowed restaurants to reopen with decreased capacity the past year, but Vansickel said he and his wife did not want to reopen for inside dining until the vaccine showed the covid case numbers were down and there were not any more restrictions in place. Restaurants now are allowed to open with full capacity.
A statewide mask mandate, which has been in place since July, is expected to be lifted by the governor on March 31. Even if the governor lifts the mask mandate, Vansickel said the restaurant will continue to tell its customers that masks are “preferred” for safety reasons.
They’ve made changes inside the restaurant to improve safety, including new highback booths to provide more separation between tables. Their outside patio, which was installed last year because of covid, will continue to be available for customers who prefer to eat outside.
“A year has passed. We’re still making it and we’re coming out on the other end of it,” he said.
In Lincoln, Gary Ezell has owned Burgerland for four years and this past year has been very different for the business.
“It was definitely tough in the beginning,” Ezell said, estimating that their business was down by as much as 66% at one point during the year.
He’s proud that he did not have to lay anyone off this year because of the covid pandemic.
“My number one goal was to keep everyone working, maybe not as many hours, but to keep them on,” Ezell said.
The restaurant has seven employees. Ezell said one or two employees have left this year but that was their choice to move on.
The restaurant provided a drive-through or carry-out service at first. It opened with 33% capacity in June and with 66% capacity in August. While the inside was closed for dining, employees worked on the inside of the restaurant. They refinished the bar top, repainted, installed new ceiling fans and replaced lights with LED lights.
“We’ve tried to make the best of a bad situation,” Ezell said. “We tried to make do with the time we had. That was one way to keep everybody on. We were working on the inside when we weren’t busy.”
Ezell said he’s been able to keep the restaurant open the past year because of his drive-through service and his customers.
“They’ve been good to us and they’ve taken care of us,” Ezell said.
Edgar Zarate, owner of Agaves in Farmington, said the restaurant began serving its customers through
“A year has passed. We’re still making it and we’re coming out on the other end of it.”
— Brandon Vansickel, Mel’s Diner, Prairie Grove
carry-out, drive-through window and curbside when the governor closed restaurants to inside dining in March 2020, to help slow down the spread of the coronavirus.
Agaves opened its dining room when the governor allowed restaurants to open with 66% capacity. Now, the restaurant is open with full capacity.
“We’ve been open the whole time because everyone kept supporting us,” Zarate said.
The restaurant started a new feature on its menu, called “Family Bundles,” and Zarate said these helped business. The bundles provided a package to feed three to six people. Now, the restaurant’s business is about 50% carryout or drive-through and 50% in-house dining.
“In the beginning sales dropped a lot,” Agaves said. “Overall, it wasn’t bad at all, especially after the word got out about our Family Bundles.”
Zarate said most of his customers are from the Farmington area, but he also has customers from Prairie Grove, Lincoln and Fayetteville.