Fresno-area restaurants say ‘devastating’ Newsom order to end outdoor dining will hurt
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order that will require restaurants to close for all but takeout and delivery in the coming days will have a devastating effect on Fresno-area restaurants, according to people in the industry.
The new regional COVID-19 stay-at-home order applies to Fresno County and the rest of the San Joaquin Valley from Kern County in the south through San Joaquin County in the north.
The measure would be triggered when hospitals across that region dip down to 15% or less of capacity in their intensive-care units.
The governor predicts the order will be triggered in the Fresno area by early December. He said he expects that four of the five regions could reach that level “within the next day or two,” and that the entire state would be included by the end of December.
Similar to the shelter-in-place order in March, restaurants can still do takeout and delivery when it takes effect, but must close indoor and outdoor dining for at least three weeks.
Bars and wineries must also close.
“I think it’s a mess. I think that you’re going to lose at least 40% of your restaurants by the end of the year,” said Chuck Van Fleet, head of the Fresno chapter of the California Restaurant Association and owner of Vino Grille & Spirits in northeast Fresno.
Although some restaurants like pizza places are ideal for delivery, many are not, especially fine dining establishments that rely on the experience of dining in. Their food, such as high-end steaks and seafood, does not travel well.
“You’re looking at small restaurants that aren’t going to make it through this because takeout and delivery isn’t their model,” he said.
Bigger chains will survive because they can pull in money to keep restaurants afloat from states that don’t have such restrictions, Van Fleet said.
Ending patio dining
For now, Fresno-area restaurants are allowed to serve diners on patios under the purple tier of the coronavirus restrictions. But as soon as the region’s hospitals dip below 15% capacity in ICU beds, that will end.
Losing outdoor dining means employees will work fewer shifts, may be laid off, and get fewer tips because fewer people are ordering, Van Fleet said.
The owner/operator of Max’s Bistro & Bar said when the restaurant loses outdoor dining, it will have to temporarily lay off some employees.
“That’s devastating,” said J.J. Wettstead. “It’s Christmas time.”
The restaurant will revert to the takeout, delivery and curbside delivery model it did for most of March through June.
But that doesn’t bring in enough money to pay for running the business, he said.
“We lose money every day we open our doors to do takeout and delivery and curbside,” he said. “It amounts to basically a marketing exercise and act of goodwill to keep people employed.”
The announcements Thursday also came with some financial help from the state of California for small businesses.
It includes $500 million in COVID-19 relief funds and grants of up to $25,000, along with tax credits and an automatic deferment of sales taxes for three months for many businesses.
What about the data?
Many restaurant owners are closely following several lawsuits in Los Angeles with high hopes. The restaurant association and others are suing Los Angeles County, which last week banned outdoor dining.
A judge has since told public health officials they must provide data proving the link between dining at restaurants and rising coronavirus cases.
During his press conference, Newsom was asked by a reporter about the data behind the spread of coronavirus and why businesses in some sectors were closed and others not.
He responded by saying the order was a way to get people to stop mixing with others to reduce the spread of COVID-19, a strategy that has worked in other countries.
“We want to mitigate mixing – period, full stop,” he said. “We want to diminish the amount of mixing and we really need to send that message broadly and we need to create less opportunities for the … extended time of contact that occurs at many of these establishments.”
The stay-at-home order also asks people to stop gathering with those outside their household.
California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said activities where people can’t wear masks consistently that used to be “relatively lower risk” are now more risky because there is more COVID-19 circulating among people.
“We have more COVID in our communities and it’s able to transmit, not necessarily more easily, but because we have more of it circulating in our communities, more people will meet someone who is COVID positive unbeknownst to them and then have a high chance for transmission,” he said.
Restaurants staying open?
It’s no secret that some area restaurants have remained open for indoor business – especially in Clovis – despite the county moving to the purple tier, which banned indoor dining.
Will more try to stay open for indoor or outdoor dining once the stay-at-home order takes effect?
“Yes, because they have to,” Van Fleet said. “If they do this, they’re going to lose their livelihood, they’re going to lose their business, they’re going to lose their retirement program.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 3:17 PM.
