Worries realized as Fresno restaurants face COVID-19 dining restrictions for holidays
Since reopening its dining room in September amid the coronavirus pandemic, Cracked Pepper Bistro in northwest Fresno has been operating in a kind of limbo.
Customers are just now getting comfortable with the idea of dining out again, so staffing and food costs have been a challenge as the restaurant deals with limited capacity and the inability to accurately predict how many customers might be coming in on a given day.
The restaurant’s outdoor seating, which was expanded this summer, will shrink again as winter moves in, and the temperature drops.
Plus, there’s the real worry of another shutdown. And for good cause: Fresno County on Monday was placed back in the purple tier by California.
“We’ve been running our business kind of two weeks at a time,” says chef Vatche Moukhtarian, who owns the restaurant at Herndon and Palm avenues.
The state reopening map determines the loosening or tightening of coronavirus restrictions by county. Since Sept. 29, Fresno County had been in red Tier 2, which means there is a “substantial” risk for COVID-19 to spread in the community. The red tier allows restaurants indoor dining service at up to 25% capacity or 100 people.
With Fresno County slipping to purple Tier 1, restaurants once again are limited to outdoor dining, take-out, or delivery.
For the first time since August, Fresno County last week exceeded 260 new coronavirus infections for two consecutive days, according to the California Department of Public Health. That means Fresno County has had more than 1,330 people newly infected by the virus over a seven-day span, and hospitals are bracing for the impact.
“Speaking frankly, I think we’re going to have a purple Thanksgiving,” said Dr. Rais Vohra, interim health officer for the Fresno County Department of Public Health.
Will Fresno County restaurants keep dining rooms open?
The restrictions would come at a time when restaurants typically expect a holiday rush that carries them through into the new year, and as the weather makes outdoor dining less appealing.
Some restaurants, like Eureka! in northwest Fresno, are preparing by winterizing their outdoor seating. The restaurant recently added a heated tent that covers half of the existing patio and extends into the sidewalk and a parking space with a deck. The restaurant also moved toward a completely contactless dining experience.
Those kinds of set-ups aren’t cheap, says Chuck Van Fleet, president of the Fresno chapter of the California Restaurant Association.
A large tent like the one seen outside Pismo’s Coastal Grill can run up to $12,000 a month in rental fees, Van Fleet says. Even a small patio set up like the one at his restaurant, Vino Grille, and Spirits, can run $3,500 a month.
And keeping those spaces heated in the winter becomes a cost issue, Van Fleet says. He recently refilled two propane tanks at a cost of $45 and says he’ll likely go through eight to 10 tanks a week.
While some restaurants in the area received PPP and EIDL funds at the beginning of the pandemic, that money is now gone, and many places, his own included, are simply working to manage losses.
“We will lose a lot of restaurants by the end of the year,” Van Fleet says.
Facing those facts, Van Fleet expects some restaurants will keep their dining rooms open regardless of restrictions, much like the city saw at the start of the pandemic.
“Do I think there will be back-door openings and that sort of thing? I absolutely do.”
Fresno: ‘Fix, not fine’ approach to dining violations
On its end, the city of Fresno has been discussing possible education and enforcement plans in the chance the county moves back to the purple tier. As it stands, the city’s Code Enforcement will continue to respond to complaints, but to “fix, not fine,” according to Mark Standriff, the city’s director of communications and public affairs.
Citations will be only be given for egregious violations, he says.
Agents with the state’s department of Alcohol Beverage Control will continue to visit licensed businesses to check for potential violations, though the department also prefers education over enforcement when making site visits, says John Carr, a public information officer with the department.
If the ABC receives a complaint, agents will follow up and try to resolve any concerns with a phone call or an in-person visit and conversation.
So far, compliance with state health orders has been very high, Carr says. Since July 1, when ABC started its work with the California Office of Emergency Services COVID–19 Task Force, agents have made over 85,000 site visits to businesses and issued only 140 citations for health order violations.
Seven were at businesses in Fresno and Tulare counties.
“ABC understands the economic stress businesses face during the pandemic, and has adopted several notices of regulatory relief in order to assist them,” Carr says.
That includes approving more than 9,000 temporary catering authorizations, allowing businesses to expand their premises in order to keep social distance among patrons. The department also has allowed the to-go sale of mixed alcoholic beverages, provided they are in a sealed container with a lid and either sold or delivered to someone of legal age.
“The department keeps an open line of communication with the industry because we understand these are challenging times,” Carr says.
Are restaurants still being singled out?
Chef Moukhtarian finds frustration in all the talk of restaurants during the pandemic, while box retailers like Costco and Home Depot are thriving and allowed to operate without conditions.
Those businesses could just as easily offer curbside pick-up and deliveries, he says.
“Restaurants are not the problem,” says Moukhtarian, noting much of the current concern revolves around house parties and other social gatherings, which will likely only increase in the absence of restaurant dining.
“If they’re not going to restaurants,” Moukhtarian says, “they are entertaining at home.”
This story was originally published November 16, 2020 at 5:00 AM.