Many of you are like the TL family in that you live in areas that have ordered restaurant dining rooms to close or to greatly limit hours and the number of customers. If you aren't living in such an area, you may very well be soon.
If you are in such an area, how are you handling it? How are the businesses around you handling it? If you aren't in such an area, how do you think you might handle such restrictions should they be imposed?
We're in Harris County, Texas (which is mostly Houston), and all dining rooms are closed through the end of March. Restaurants are limited to delivery, takeout, or drive-through. Bars and clubs are completely closed. Most of the surrounding counties have either imposed the same measures or significant restrictions (e.g., no more than 50 customers; tables must be 10 feet apart; dining rooms must close no later than 8pm, etc.) Some places just closed up from the get-go. Many restaurants are retooling for takeout business, even if they had little or no takeout before (including one of our favorite fine dining restaurants). Some are offering their own delivery, even if they never had delivery (like that same fine dining restaurant) or only dealt with a third-party service (like DoorDash or Uber Eats). Here's hoping that works out, as it allows them to keep at least some of their workforce busy.
We love cooking around here, so we'll certainly be doing plenty of that. However, we're also making a point over this period to order more takeout and delivery than we normally would to try and provide some degree of life support to our favorite places. We tend to go to smaller, local places, and they have little or no safety net at the moment. Buying gift cards is something else we'll probably do. It's tough to plan on being shut down so suddenly, and we want to help a little.
We've talked with some of industry friends, and it really is a situation where every dollar really does count.
Please, please, please keep politics out of this. We're talking about what YOU are doing, not what any government has done or should do. That is what it is, and it will be what it will be.
If you are in such an area, how are you handling it? How are the businesses around you handling it? If you aren't in such an area, how do you think you might handle such restrictions should they be imposed?
We're in Harris County, Texas (which is mostly Houston), and all dining rooms are closed through the end of March. Restaurants are limited to delivery, takeout, or drive-through. Bars and clubs are completely closed. Most of the surrounding counties have either imposed the same measures or significant restrictions (e.g., no more than 50 customers; tables must be 10 feet apart; dining rooms must close no later than 8pm, etc.) Some places just closed up from the get-go. Many restaurants are retooling for takeout business, even if they had little or no takeout before (including one of our favorite fine dining restaurants). Some are offering their own delivery, even if they never had delivery (like that same fine dining restaurant) or only dealt with a third-party service (like DoorDash or Uber Eats). Here's hoping that works out, as it allows them to keep at least some of their workforce busy.
We love cooking around here, so we'll certainly be doing plenty of that. However, we're also making a point over this period to order more takeout and delivery than we normally would to try and provide some degree of life support to our favorite places. We tend to go to smaller, local places, and they have little or no safety net at the moment. Buying gift cards is something else we'll probably do. It's tough to plan on being shut down so suddenly, and we want to help a little.
We've talked with some of industry friends, and it really is a situation where every dollar really does count.
Please, please, please keep politics out of this. We're talking about what YOU are doing, not what any government has done or should do. That is what it is, and it will be what it will be.