‘Thank you for being patient.’ SLO County restaurants, stores begin to reopen after shutdown
San Luis Obispo County restaurants and retail shops got the go-ahead Wednesday afternoon to reopen with restrictions — but most will need a few more days to adapt to the new guidelines.
The streets of downtown San Luis Obispo were busier Thursday morning than they had been when the shelter-in-place order first went into effect in mid-March, but the area was nowhere near as bustling as before coronavirus-related closures.
Small groups of people, some wearing face masks, lined the sidewalks in front of Higuera Street restaurants waiting to pick up their meals. Several shoppers wandered into the handful of stores that had their doors open.
As of Thursday, most restaurants were pickup or delivery only, but many were buzzing with employees preparing to reopen in a few days.
According to the California Public Health Department, San Luis Obispo County has met the criteria needed to move forward through Stage 2 of the state’s reopening plan.
Before reopening, however, businesses and restaurants must perform a detailed risk assessment and implement a site-specific COVID-19 plan.
They must train employees on proper safety protocols, implement physical distancing measures, and implement individual control measures and screening. Public Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein said this may include taking employees’ temperatures at the door.
There are also industry-specific guidelines for retail businesses and restaurants to follow.
Some SLO restaurants slow to reopen
Big Sky Cafe owner Greg Holt says it will be 10 to 14 more days before his downtown San Luis Obispo restaurant begins dine-in service.
“Lord knows I’d love to be feeding them in here right now,” Holt said.
In order to maximize space and adhere to social distancing guidelines, Holt decided to remove 25-year-old archways along one wall of the Broad Street restaurant that he said would create a distancing issue.
“I want to get my people back in here, my customers, my regulars, but I want to make sure they’re safe and that we’re safe,” Holt said.
Holt said everyone who enters Big Sky Cafe will have their temperatures taken and all employees will wear masks.
Although Holt anticipates about another two weeks before reopening, some downtown restaurants will be open as soon as Friday.
Urbane Cafe marketing manager Caprice Kindgren said the eatery will open its Higuera Street patio to customers Friday. Once the long Memorial Day weekend is over, she said Urbane Cafe will begin figuring out the best way to provide indoor seating.
“It all kind of happened so fast,” Kindgren said.
Linnaea’s Cafe will open on Garden Street this weekend. According to owner Marrianne Orme, the coffee shop will have indoor and outdoor seating options at limited capacity.
Some San Luis Obispo restaurants were ready to reopen almost as soon as they were given the OK.
Seeds owner Rammy Aburashed said that, as of 2 p.m. Wednesday, the Garden Street restaurant had filled out the necessary self-certification forms to reopen and reformatted its space to allow for a six-foot separation between tables. All seating at Seeds is outdoor for the time being.
Aburashed said Seeds already served its first dine-in customers and staffers are excited to serve more.
“It has been a lonely few weeks,” Seeds general manager Everett Marr said. “We’re excited to have people back.”
Firestone Grill also reopened its patio area on Higuera Street.
Santa Maria resident Sal Salazar and a companion stopped at Firestone Grill to eat after they saw it had outdoor seating available. Salazar said it was their first restaurant outing since the shelter-in-place began.
Within the next few days, Firestone Grill will open every other table of its indoor seating area as well, according to restaurant employee Nico Reynolds.
Downtown stores welcome customers
Restaurants weren’t the only local businesses beginning to welcome back customers. Downtown San Luis Obispo boutiques such as Ambiance, Summerland Co. and Apropos were open for business Thursday morning.
Kelly Yates, owner of Summerland Co., said she and her daughters were overjoyed to hear the store could reopen.
“It came fast,” she said. “We thought we had to wait until mid-summer, so my daughter and I were down here last night doing all the cleaning, getting all the signs ready.”
Two hours after opening Thursday, the Morro Street boutique had already made nearly 10 sales.
“You hope you survive something like this, and it’s sad to see some businesses that weren’t able to, so it was just a matter of weathering that storm,” Yates said. “I woke up excited this morning. I couldn’t get down here fast enough.”
Popular Paso Robles eateries, shops will reopen soon
Restaurants and boutiques in Paso Robles are also gearing up to open for in-person dining and shopping.
Downtown favorite Fish Gaucho announced via Instagram it will open for dine-in dinner service at 3 p.m. Friday.
The restaurant has been offering take-out food and bottled cocktails during its dining room closure.
“Thank you for being patient with us as we practice the new guidelines our health officials have set for us to keep you safe,” the Instagram post reads. “We are taking every precaution to ensure you not only have a great time with us but a socially distance safe one as well.”
General Store Paso Robles, another downtown staple, will allow in-store shoppers starting on Wednesday. The 12th Street store has been offering internet ordering and curbside pickup and will continue doing so even after customers can shop in person again, co-owner Joeli Yaguda said.
The store’s three owners and their employee have been figuring out how to safely open for the past two weeks.
“Our goal with all this is to implement the guidelines in a way that feels responsible,” Yaguda said. “We also want to celebrate the fact that this will bring back a little bit of normalcy.”
General Store staff are changing the store’s layout, installing directional signs, removing some fixtures and making sure there’s a safe distance between customers and cashiers during checkout.
Customers will also be required to wear masks, which the store will provide at the door, along with hand sanitizer.
General Store will also shorten its hours to allow for additional cleaning before and after customers enter the store.
“This is a different way of interacting with our customers,” Yaguda said. “There is a little bit of anxiety about doing things right.”
Oceano Mexican restaurant tries out new guidelines
Although Old Juan’s Cantina could have theoretically reopened in Oceano on Thursday, owner Adam Verdin said he instead chose to do a series of dry runs throughout the weekend to ensure staff would be ready.
“I think that customers are going to have a different expectation coming into the restaurant than they did pre-virus,” he said. “So I think for us, it’s important to execute on that well.”
Staff had to be trained on new procedures for bringing guests into the Pier Avenue restaurant and serving, Verdin said.
Now diners wishing to eat inside Old Juan’s Cantina will need to phone ahead to make a reservation, he explained. Once they arrive, they’ll be asked to stay in their car, and call to alert a staff member they are there.
A greeter will then meet them at their car and lead them inside directly to their table, Verdin said.
All of the changes added up to a need to make sure it could all run smoothly, he said.
“It’s almost like a new business, or a new way of doing business,” Verdin said. “If you’re opening up a restaurant you typically have a soft opening, for a number of reasons, but mainly to make sure you are delivering on that promise to customers.”
The restaurant will have a full reopening sometime early next week, he said.
This story was originally published May 21, 2020 at 2:52 PM.
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