Is it too soon to dine in? KC restaurants try to set the table for a safe reopen
If you’re on the fence about getting back to eating out, the following is not an inducement.
But it may tempt you nonetheless.
“We don’t want anyone coming in that is on the fence,” says Colleen Schorgl, chief operating officer of O’Neill’s Restaurant and Bar in Leawood. “I think if you are nervous about your health, if you’re scared about yourself or your loved ones, then I think the best thing to do is to still stay at home. I mean, we’d love to have you in the restaurant, but we don’t want anyone to ever feel unsafe or nervous about coming in.”
That’s the thing, though. I was on the fence. I was a little nervous. I’d been sitting on a friend’s lunch invitation all week, not sure whether to accept it.
Until I talked with Schorgl.
The localized care and global thinking — literally — that she and owner-husband Brian have put into their dining room’s — well, grand reopening — are both staggering and reassuring. The new eating utensils (or one-use plastic, if you prefer), new decor and, of course all-new protocols blow your mind when you hear the details.
Results obviously vary, as does the amount of restaurant-operator diligence, and each place has its own approach. But these scenes are playing out over and over across Kansas City’s world-class restaurant community, which has been through a kind of world war. Restaurants reopening in the age of COVID-19 have a ton to think about, and these folks have done the thinking — in the case of O’Neill’s, even going so far as to glean ideas not just from government guidelines and the National Restaurant Association, but also from a lessons-learned handbook from a restaurateur in Singapore.
“We kind of combined a document of all these best practices from all these different areas and came up with our own handbook,” Schorgl says.
New safety protocols are baked in
Informing and reassuring employees before opening the dining room was a priority, she says: “We want them to feel comfortable. It doesn’t work if they’re not feeling safe.”
Thus, the new practices and protocols are not only baked in, they’re twice-baked: All employees had individual conversations, followed by a group meeting before O’Neill’s dine-in opening last Monday. The social distancing rules, the provided masks and optional gloves (there’s a school of thought that handwashing is better), the hand sanitizers on the tables, the every-15-minute all-surface wipedown, the new handwashing stations and more were all explained. With the sparse and uneven seating of a restaurant capable of handling 300 diners but now hosting up to 130, servers voted to pool their tips at first to spread the love.
Those employees who were still unsure were allowed to opt out of coming back until they feel safer. Sara Burns isn’t one of them.
The nearly four-year server-turned-bartender is fully confident — enough that she and her mom, who live apart and alone but who see each other in their own tag-team quarantine, think the table is set for a safe return to dining in.
“I do feel comfortable with everything that (the restaurant) did. I feel pretty safe,” says Burns, 32.
One of the biggest adjustments for Burns — since she was already familiar with the restaurant’s souped-up sanitizing observed through the shutdown’s curbside pickup operation — is if customers wear masks. She’s used to reading lips and facial expressions to keep those at the bar happy.
“I say, go for it if you feel comfortable,” Burns says. “We’re doing everything we possibly can to keep everything clean, protect ourselves, protect you. We’re really trying to do everything we possibly can to keep everybody safe.”
Surviving first the shutdown, now the reopening
Again, this isn’t an inducement. It’s but a look-see. While I happen to like what I see, the decision of when and how much to reengage with society as the coronavirus is still lurking unfettered is too personal to be the subject of even gentle persuasion. And again, I admit to being a little skittish myself.
But when it comes to Kansas City restaurants, I have a fervent rooting interest. I grew up on them and was quickly reminded of the amazing fare here when I returned home last summer. It’s our restaurants I missed most in the shutdown, next to family and friends, and I’d put some eateries in front of some of them.
O’Neill’s became a favorite to root for, even besides the pot roast, because its biggest holiday — which is St. Patrick’s Day — was the first day of the stay-at-home surreal ordeal. Big blow for an Irish pub.
They’ve survived the shutdown, as have many other restaurants. Now they need to survive the reopening.
The best way they can do that? Simple: best practices.
And letting folks know about them.
