Reopening LA restaurants: Workers brace for ‘whole different ballgame’ as shifts move indoors

Maxwell Reis drove to work Monday morning at Gracias Madre in West Hollywood with the unsettling feeling that things were moving too fast.

As restaurants across Los Angeles reopen to indoor diners, his workplace plans to open up 32 indoor seats Wednesday, the first time in roughly a year that people will eat inside there.

“I do think it’s incredibly rushed,” said Reis, the restaurant’s beverage director, adding he also acknowledges his struggling industry could use the revenue boost. He got his first vaccine dose this month, presumably offering some protection against severe COVID-19, but the second dose is weeks away, “and now I need to be inside with people without their masks on.”

Wait staff and workers at restaurants across Los Angeles County reopening to indoor diners starting Monday are bracing for uncertainty as they resume shifts inside for the first time since June.

Some are anxious about coming close to maskless customers. Some are eager to see their longtime regulars again. Many aren’t sure what to expect just yet, with so much changing, and fast, for both individuals and businesses as vaccinations ramp up and a semblance of normal life returns.

In-restaurant dining at 25% capacity returns in L.A. County alongside the resumption of indoor activities at gyms, movie theaters and other venues. That comes after California met its initial target of administering 2 million COVID-19 vaccinations in the hardest-hit and most disadvantaged areas. Food workers, including restaurant staff, became eligible for vaccinations in L.A. County on March 1.

As restrictions loosen, public health officials are warning about the risks of eating inside at restaurants, where the risk of COVID-19 spread remains significantly higher than in outdoor activities. L.A. County requires that people dining indoors together live in the same household, while three households are allowed to gather when dining outdoors.

For people such as Reis, the risk isn’t confined to himself. Reis lives with a roommate who helps take care of relatives with health issues. “My roommate was cool with me wearing a face shield and serving outside, but this is a whole different ballgame.”

John Gamboa, a 23-year-old cashier at La Brea Bakery, got his first vaccine dose last Tuesday and is “a little worried” about coming into closer contact with more people. He and colleagues get a temperature check each morning. A sensor at the door checks customers’ temperatures as they walk in. When the virus surged in the late summer and fall, those measures didn’t feel protective enough, he said.

Now, the continued vaccination effort brings him some reassurance. “That’s giving me a sense of security,” said Gamboa, whose job involves faceto-face interaction with customers.

Many workers are awaiting vaccine protection. Those who already have it are greeting customers with greater relief.

“I’ll feel a lot better after Wednesday,” said Nancy Cooper, a waitress for 21 years at Maria’s Italian Kitchen in Pasadena. She is scheduled for her first vaccine dose that day.

In Los Feliz, at local mainstay Figaro Bistrot, tables on the sidewalk were packed but inside only Jairo Ramirez sat with his laptop and a cup of tea. He peered at the wooden tables around him, each shielded by plexiglass barriers.

Ramirez said the sight was somewhat startling. “I’m not sure how to act — should I take my mask off or leave it on?” he said. “It will take a while to acclimate, to feel like things are safe.”

Waiter Boris Macquin, 30, said many customers have gotten used to sitting outdoors and it remains to be seen how many may venture back inside. Macquin got his first vaccine dose last week and said he has felt comfortable with the restaurant’s safety protocols.

“We’ve followed all the rules, and I haven’t gotten COVID so far so it seems to have worked,” he said. As for the restaurant, he said it’s not the first time this last year that businesses are maneuvering a quick reopening. “This time, I think it will stick.”

Los Angeles Times staff writer Hugo Martín contributed to this report.