Business as Usual? How to Reopen a Restaurant after a Pandemic

As Florida determines a timeline for reopening the state's economy after mandated stay-at-home policies, owners of restaurants and eateries will need to determine how best to welcome guests back into their dining rooms, with many new challenges to be faced. Can their spaces allow for 6 feet of separation between tables, if that's even enough distance? What kind of new sanitation practices will be needed? Should they use disposable flatware and menus? Will there be disruptions to the food supply chain that make menu planning more difficult? Will there be enough workers to employ? Are restaurateurs liable for any guests who get sick with COVID-19 while dining at their establishments? Will customers be eager to dine in-house?

On a recent broadcast of WJCT News program First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross, Allison D'Aurizio, co-owner of 1748 Bakehouse and Edible's editor Lauren Titus discussed these and other issues local restaurateurs are dealing with as they prepare for the next phase of dining in the era of COVID-19. Read more in this story by Heather Schatz.