Which towns are in Onondaga County’s new coronavirus yellow zone? See the map
www.syracuse.com/coronavirus/2020/11/which-towns-are-in-onondaga-countys-new-coronavirus-yellow-zone-see-the-map.htmlInteresting is someonemoving tables:
CNY restaurants react to new coronavirus limits: It’s a ‘messy situation’
Updated 6:16 PM; Today 4:36 PM
It could have been worse: Restaurants in parts of Onondaga County are suddenly faced with new coronavirus restrictions, requiring them to seat no more than four people at a table and close no later than midnight.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo today declared the city of Syracuse, the villages of Solvay and East Syracuse, and the towns of Salina, Clay and Lysander to be in a “yellow zone” due to rising coronavirus cases.
The restrictions, which take effect Wednesday and will last at least two weeks, are less severe than if Cuomo had placed the areas in orange or red zones. That could have imposed additional regulations on restaurants like outdoor dining/takeout only (orange zone) or takeout only (red zone.)
But it’s also hard to predict how long this phase will last.
“This is going to have an effect, no doubt about it,” said John Tassone, owner of Tassone’s Wine Garden in Baldwinsville. “I’m just glad we’re not in an orange or red zone.”
The restrictions on the size of the parties at each table, which had been ten before the new order, will require Tassone and other restaurant operators to make a lot of phone calls in the next few days.
“We’re now looking at calling bookings of six people or eight people and telling them they have to split up,” Tassone said. “And then it’s a puzzle because we’re not going to be able to know what we can take in reservations until we get it sorted out.”
Even worse, Tassone said, is the timing comes just ahead of Thanksgiving, typically a day that draw larger family-size parties. Even if the yellow zone restrictions last just two weeks, they would end the day before Thanksgiving, making reservations a dilemma.
“It puts us in kind of a messy situation,” he said.
Other restaurants are also figuring out what to do.
“It’s a not a killer, at this point, but it will mean we have to manage it,” said John Stage, owner of of the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que restaurant in downtown Syracuse. “It could have been worse if we had to go back to takeout only, much worse. But at this point, we’ve become very good at rolling with whatever we have to do.”
Stage said the coronavirus has cut the size of parties coming in in any case. “We’re mostly seeing twos and fours (at a table) anyway,” Stage said. “So it’s not the worst thing that could happen.”
But the impact depends largely on the type of restaurant and its location, said Bud Loura, a dining industry consultant who runs a company called Restaurant QB.
“If you’re the type of place that is regularly seating larger groups, then you’ve got to figure out how to make that happen,” Loura said. “Remember, the tables still have to be six feet apart. That’s going to be extremely difficult for lots of places.”
Thanksgiving, Loura said, will be challenge. “They’re going to have to pull up their sleeves and get to work on that.”
Loura also noted that it could have been much worse. He had suggested that a return to a takeout-only model for an extended period this fall could have led to the permanent closing of dozens of businesses.
continued:
www.syracuse.com/restaurants/2020/11/cny-restaurants-react-to-new-coronavirus-limits-its-a-messy-situation.htmlWill they meet the challenge! Will the almighty dollar win especially with Thanksgiving around the corner! If this fails what about Christmas and God Forbid: New Years Eve!!!!!!!!!
