‘We’ve missed you all.’ COVID restrictions lift in Fresno. What restaurants are saying

After more than a year of strict COVID-19 restrictions in the Fresno area, life moved a little closer to normal at restaurants and other businesses on Tuesday.

Most of California’s coronavirus restrictions were dropped Tuesday, as the state ditched its color-coded tier system

Still, some businesses will take longer than others to adjust and confusion over some rules remains.

With a few exceptions, businesses will no longer be required to have limitations on capacity, and people won’t have to physically distance, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

People who are vaccinated and two weeks past their last dose can stop wearing masks in most indoor situations. However, businesses can still require them.

Masks will still be required for unvaccinated people in businesses and indoor public settings, according to the guidance from the state Department of Public Health.

Some restaurants celebrated the change in rules. Jimy Wen’s, a Chinese restaurant at Cedar and Herndon avenues, is opening its dining room for the first time in a while Tuesday.

A post peppered with heart and smile emojis on Facebook said: “So very looking forward to seeing and serving all of our wonderful customers. We’ve missed you all so much! Please forgive us if we get a little bit emotional today. We’re so happy.”

Others used the change in rules as a chance to reopen after being closed completely for weeks or months.

Quirky Cafe has been running its food truck, but its downtown restaurant closed temporarily months ago because business was slow. Now that things are starting to get back to normal, it reopened Monday.

Return to normal? Not so fast

Irene’s Cafe in the Tower District was flooded with customers Tuesday, perhaps because of the rule changes, said owner Irene Saul.

Customer Deon Hicks of Fresno and his family ate on Irene’s patio.

“I am excited to see everything opening back up,” he said. “It feels good not to wear the mask.”

It’s still bittersweet, he added, because not everybody is vaccinated, but progress in fighting the coronavirus is a good thing.

Because of Tuesday’s rule changes, Irene’s opened up a back section of tables that can seat about 10 that it had not been using during the pandemic. Unlike the booths, the back tables didn’t have plexiglass dividers, so the restaurant felt it was safer to keep them off limits.

“The extra business is very much appreciated,” Saul said of the unusually busy mid-morning crowd.

There’s a sense of relief, she said, especially since the nearly 30-year-old restaurant came close to not surviving the pandemic.

But Saul and some other restaurateurs aren’t celebrating just yet.

Confusion remains over workplace rules, like whether employees still need to wear masks, Saul said. Her staff still is.

Despite the governor lifting restrictions, restaurants and other businesses still operate under another department, Cal/OSHA, said noted Chuck Van Fleet, owner of Vino Grille & Spirits and president of the Fresno chapter of the California Restaurant Association.

That agency is still requiring social distancing and employees to wear masks. Businesses could be fined or sued for not following its rules, he said.

Those rules could change after a meeting later this week. But until then, some businesses may follow the old rules, he said.

“The waters are as muddy as they were when we started this procedure,” he said.

Of course, some restaurants in Fresno abandoned the rules weeks ago, not requiring masks and operating well above 50% capacity.

Gradual reopening

At Ampersand Ice Cream, customers can expect a gradual return to normal.

Owner Jeff Bennett said he’s both excited and cautious about what happens next.

The shops’ two locations – one in the Tower District and one at Herndon and Marks avenues – will slowly get back to doing ice cream samples and allowing indoor dining, he said.

The shops will also do away with the limits on the number of people that can be in their lobbies, which had been six in Tower and eight in northwest Fresno.

“We still have some staff that don’t feel totally comfortable, even though they’re vaccinated, or we have some customers that don’t feel totally comfortable,” he said. “It’s trying to balance those pieces. At Ampersand, one of our biggest goals is making an environment that’s comfortable for all.”

Some COVID-19 restrictions have been in place so long that new employees have been hired and have never worked under “normal” conditions.

Bennett said he needs to train those employees on how to give samples of ice cream and how to deal with long lines.

Some COVID rules remain

According to the latest COVID data reported in Fresno County, as of Tuesday where were 17 new confirmed cases and no additional deaths.

Since June 1, there have been 313 confirmed COVID cases and 13 deaths in Fresno County, according to the state Department of Public Health.

Since Jan. 1 this year there have been 37,431 confirmed coronavirus infections and 1,008 deaths in Fresno County.

Since the pandemic began in March 2020, there have been 102,812 confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,719 deaths in Fresno County.

Some exceptions to the lifting of the rules remain.

Vaccinated or not, people must still wear masks in some situations, including:

• On public transportation, such as airplanes, trains, buses, ships, taxis and ride-shares such as Uber or Lyft; and in transportation hubs including airports, bus and train stations.

• Indoors at elementary, middle and high schools (grades kindergarten through 12), child-care centers and other youth settings.

• Hospitals and health-care settings, including senior-care or long-term care centers.

• State and local correctional facilities and detention centers.
• Homeless shelters, emergency shelters and cooling centers.

Also, large “mega events” continue to have some limitations.

Events that attract more than 5,000 people to indoor venues will be required to confirm proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test for admission. Outdoor events with at least 10,000 people will be encouraged, but not required, to seek the same confirmation, according to information from the state health department. Such proof, however, can also be through self-attestation.

This story was originally published June 15, 2021 at 12:48 PM.