Eateries take it outside for dining
People in the south and southwest suburbs appeared to display a range of emotions Friday as many businesses reopened and Illinois shifted into the next phase of its response to the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
Some seemed joyful to get out and resume activities thatwere suspended for 10weeks during a stay-at-home order. Lunch customers filled an outdoor dining area at Bailey’s Bar& Grill, 17731 Oak Park Ave., Tinley Park.
“It feels great,” said Chester Zielinski, who shared a tablewith Cheri Folkers, both of Frankfort Square. “It’s been a long time.”
Zielinski said they missed socializing with other people and were enjoying Friday’s sunshine and comfortable temperatures. They did not make reservations, they said. They did not wait to be seated and were served with disposable menus, cups and cutlery.
“We started with some great wings,” Folkers said. She had a delicious chicken Caesar salad, she said. Zielinski said he enjoyed a Buffalo chicken wrap and bowl of French onion soup.
Servers at Bailey’s wore masks,
but hardly any of the 50 or so people sitting at tables did. People seemed happy to be out after being cooped up for nearly the entire spring.
Others expressed a sense of caution and concern. As establishments resumed serving customers at tables, itwas clear that the dining experience would be different than it was in early March.
“Wewant them to feel safe,” Flossmoor Station Bar& Grill owner Carolyn Armstrong said of her customers and employees.
Couples sat at tables in an outdoor beer garden that features a historic caboose and inviting fire pit. Servers wore masks and had their temperatures checked before their shifts started, Armstrong said. Customers were asked towear masks until theywere seated at their tables.
“If they don’t have one we’re giving them one,” Armstrong said.
Restaurants are adapting to the new restrictions in variousways. Some establishments are only accepting advance reservations and asking people to wait in their cars until they are notified on mobile devices that their tables are ready. Some venues are asking customers to view menus on their mobile devices.
Several eateries are charging customers by the hour for tables. All are required to continuously clean, disinfect and sanitize areas shared by patrons, such as door handles and restrooms.
Employees are trained howto respond to customers that might refuse to wear a mask while walking to their table, Armstrong said.
“We’re doing the best we can,” she said. “It’s about getting people to respect one another.”
Mother Nature could disrupt efforts to serve customers at any moment. Gusts of wind might overturn umbrellas, or rain may force reservations to be canceled with little warning.
Workers with the Flossmoor Public Works Department on Friday morning placed concrete barriers and set up a tent on a portion of Sterling Avenue. The street will remain open to traffic, though vehicles will be unable to park in diagonal spaces in front of shops and restaurants.
The space will allow Dunning’s Market and The Bistro on Sterling to serve customers outdoors. Armstrong said Flossmoor Station would not use the space, but that she worked with village officials on a plan to provide seating for other restaurants.
“We support each other,” she said.
Restaurants grabbed a lot of attention during Friday’s reopening, but many other businesses also resumed services. Phase 3 of the Restore Illinois plan allowed retailers to open at limited capacities and barbershops, hair salons and fitness centers to offer some services.
Groups of 10 or more are still prohibited, and only limited numbers of customers are allowed inside stores at any given time.
A hair salon appeared to be one of the busiest establishments Friday morning along a commercial stretch of Lincoln Highway that bustles with shoppers through New Lenox, Mokena and Frankfort.
A scattered group of about 20 people— all wearing face masks and staying at least 6 feet apart — stood in the sunshine on a sidewalk outside Great Clips, 11240 Lincoln Highway, Mokena.
“I’m here because my wife was tired ofmy beard,” said Alex Kolesar, of Frankfort. He waited outside with his daughter, Isabelle, 4, while an older son was inside getting a haircut.
“He couldn’t wait for it,” Kolesar said.
Kolesar said he’s only left his home “three or four times” since March 10. He has been doing his information technology work from home, he said.
The COVID-19 respiratory disease had killed nearly 5,300 Illinois residents, more than 102,000 Americans and more than 360,000 people worldwide as of Friday.
Many summer festivals, concerts and other events that draw large crowds have been canceled this year. Professional sports leagues are negotiating with players’ unions to resume contests without fans. More than 40 million Americans have sought unemployment assistance in the last two months.
In many respects, daily life may never return to how it was before the pandemic. But Friday signaled a turning point in a collective quest for a return to “normalcy.”
People could once again visit their favorite eating and drinking establishments, sit at tables and be served food and cocktails. A lot of people had been looking forward to that day since the middle of March.