Dining In L.A. and Orange County Restaurants Allowed to Re-Open Now - Lessons Learned?

I unfortunately think this is a likely outcome. There are lots of places I would consider mid level restaurants that come out to around $40-60 with T+T for a family of 4. It’s not a cheap meal but certainly not unreasonable. Earthen, BBQ chicken, Young Dong soon tofu are places at the top of my list but I’m not taking my family there in the next few months. Other places a little on the higher end of the spectrum ($80-$90) like Kang Ho Dong, Mo Ran Gak, J Zhou, Izakayas aren’t going to see me for a while either. Take out is an option but it’s just not the same experience.

Many of the higher end restaurants in OC are still not ready. Playground 2.0. Vaca. Taco Maria. This is not a situation where you want to be first.

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Restaurants that make their living serving lunches to the people who work at big corps are gonna get wrecked.

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I think you are over estimating peoples common sense. Did you see the amount of people & families that went to the beach over memorial day weekend not wearing masks also hiking. Yes there is a percentage of people who are social distancing because it’s the right thing to do but there is also a percentage who are doing it only because its the law of the land. I don’t pretend to know how this will play out

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But does that group overlap w/ people who frequent really tasty mom-and-pop type mid-priced places (as opposed to bland chain restaurants or places that have a strong social-media presence)? I fear it does not.

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maybe, could be -eh who knows. what i don’t believe is that people aren’t going to take every advantage of the loosening of social distancing that benefits themselves.

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I totally agree. Some people will decide to dine out as soon as they can, but when you look at the big picture, will those people be enough?

If I put myself in the shoes of a restaurant operator…

What percent of my regulars will decide to dine-in once they are allowed to? Is this number less than 100%?

Of these guests that do decide to visit, will their frequency decrease?

What will be the impact on new guests? Will I get the same percentage of new guests coming to my restaurant?

Even once a vaccine is widely implemented, how will increasing unemployment and an economic recession affect people’s spending?
How will the permanent shift towards Work From Home affect my customer counts?

These are all major concerns and unfavorable answers could spell ruin for a large number of restaurants.

a lot of that is a moot point imo because even if 100% of your previous guests want to comeback, sit and eat. legally they won’t be able to. How many restaurants can survive on the margins of seating 50% capacity for 1-2 years until it takes to come up with a vaccine.

I’m not arguing that most restaurants will survive this I just don’t think it’s going to be because guests better nature is keeping them at home. It’s for a good reason gov’ts have laws.

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Agreed. My post is saying that even if the doors are flung wide open right now and there are no restrictions, even if there are people that decide to eat out right away, the outlook for many restaurant is very bleak.

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Off the top of my head, Henry’s Ocean View Dining (Waterfront Hilton) and North Italia both have bars that are open to the outside. Henry’s has become a favorite stop for happy hour. Cap the bartender is great. Not sure when either is opening again, but I’m guessing something like that will be near the top of the list.

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I’ll leave the science to others, but some good points here.

It seems under these restrictions it would be more feasible financially for restaurants to keep things the way they are, especially with the allowance of takeout alcohol. They have figured out how to make the dining-in ban work for them, now this.

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Side note: I hate to be a party pooper, but when do the lawsuits from employees allergic to latex start rolling in?

Nitrile gloves are pretty common. There shouldn’t be anyone who can’t get access to gloves that are non latex

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Restaurant employees that weren’t already using gloves probably shouldn’t anyway. As health officials have repeatedly noted, in many cases it’s more effective to wash their hands all the time, as the health code already requires them to.

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Yeah, I only want gloves if they’re changing them after each prep or each serving. Otherwise I prefer bare hands.

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Yah that’s what Milkfarm was doing (for Takeout Cheese & Charcuterie & Wines when we went a few weeks back). They posted a sign and explanation saying that they calculated if they swapped out gloves after every transaction (or if they had to touch the register for payment and then the customer wanted something else), they estimated they’d blow through 500 pairs of gloves per day. So for the environment and more efficiency they wash their hands instead.

We saw them (open store area) diligently washing their hands, then helping the next customer, and if they touched the register, they immediately went to wash their hands again, etc.

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https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=HSC&division=104.&title=&part=7.&chapter=3.&article=4.

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Thanks @aaqjr. Wow, it feels like way too soon for L.A. (especially seeing the numbers). :frowning:

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It seemed like the mayor was intent on holding out another month. So I’m not sure where this is coming from. Don’t know if it’s good or bad but it sure doesn’t give restaurant owners much time to ramp up. Come up with a safety plan rehire and train people.

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Dat nigiri bank teller

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