Restaurants across Florida are reopening this week with reduced capacity. Under state orders, restaurants can open indoor seating at 25% capacity and outdoor dining as long as tables are six feet apart. While some Tallahassee restaurants have chosen to stick with delivery and take-out only, others are opening their doors.
Jim and Milt's BBQ co-owner Jim Flury says for his restaurant, 25% capacity is about 45 people. He explains that they didn't reach the max today but came close.
"[The customers] were waiting outside before we opened saying...Thank you, thank you, ready to be back—a lot of faces that we, you know, regular customers that we see, and they were ready to go. They were like 'this looks great; we feel comfortable, we're ready to eat.'"
Flury says all his employees are wearing masks and gloves, and that they wipe down the menus and pens regularly. The restaurant also has a table with hand sanitizer customers can use. When WFSU was interviewing Flury, customers weren't wearing masks.
"It's for each person to decide, but we will have masks and gloves on at all times," Flury says.
Flury explains that thanks to his employees, his restaurant was able to keep its head above water, but it was still difficult:
"We're a full-blown dine-in establishment. We don't have a drive-thru or anything like that, so for us, it was a big hit."
Flury says today is a big step in the right direction, and he hopes to get to 100% capacity as soon as possible while keeping people safe.
In a different part of town, Uptown Café it's opening its outdoor dining area, but there won't be servers waiting on anyone. Instead, employees will give customers their food in take-out boxes—those customers then have the option of sitting at a table if they want. Co-owner Nic Tedio says some people weren't happy with not being able to eat inside.
"One of the things I said to them was that at this point in time, I'm not comfortable—giving a customer a plate or silverware, or a cup that someone else has drunken out," Tedio says.
Tedio explains that his staff sanitizes equipment, but it's still a liability if someone gets sick with COVID-19. Sen. Jeff Brandes (R-St. Petersburg) is working on a bill to protect businesses like Tedio's from getting sued if a customer catches the virus. Companies would have to be following CDC and state guidelines for the legislation to work.
In the meantime, Tedio says his biggest concern is what to do if one of his staff catches the virus:
"What happens to those employees? Are they let go because they can't come back and infect the rest of us with COVID? If that's what happens, I don't want to do that to my staff. But at some point in time, one of them is going to test positive. The odds are against me. How do I move forward with that?"
Tedio says he'll go as slow as he needs to keep everyone safe.
