For the first time since November, restaurants, bars and breweries in the Portland metropolitan area will be allowed to reopen their limited-capacity indoor dining rooms later in the week, Governor Kate Brown announced on Tuesday.
The shift comes at a time when falling COVID-19 cases led Brown to move 10 Oregon counties – including Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington – from the “extreme” to “high” risk category, allowing partial reopening of some businesses, including restaurants, gyms and cinema theaters.
For restaurants, the change means that, as of Friday, dining halls closed since November can be occupied up to 25% of capacity or 50 people, whichever is less, with parties limited to six people from a maximum of two households. Restaurants will still have to close at 11 pm
Oregon’s four risk categories are “extreme”, “high”, “moderate” and “low”. During the most recent two-week state-monitored period, Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties each had less than 200 cases per 100,000 residents and test positivity rates of less than 10%, qualifying them to drop out of the more restrictive category. .
In a statement, Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association President Jason Brandt called the announcement a “step in the right direction”.
The lobby group described “opening and closing restaurant operations” as the number one challenge faced by the industry, with restaurants forced to fire or re-hire employees and predict the amount of food they need to buy based on the fact that indoor meals open or not. Brandt recommended eliminating the “extreme” risk category altogether to give restaurants more flexibility in the future.
The Independent Restaurant Association of Oregon sounded a more cautious note, calling the move from a “double-edged sword” to restaurants that may temporarily close to deal with outbreaks of COVID-19 at work, all without a safety net.
“We have heard several times that scientists and doctors are concerned about the spread of the virus in closed spaces with people eating and drinking – an activity that cannot be done with a mask,” said Katy Connors, chairman of the group’s board. “Restaurant workers should not be forced to choose between their financial health and their physical health. They need access to the vaccine now. “
Dean Griffith, president of the Old Spaghetti Factory, said the Portland-based chain is planning to reopen its facilities in the metropolitan area on Friday, although “high” risk restrictions remain expensive.
“Our restaurant in Portland can accommodate 450 people, so having 50 customers in a restaurant this size, it’s pretty empty,” said Griffith. “We will not be able to occupy all tables in the riverside area. I’m not sure how having a couple of extra people who are socially distant could create more problems. “
Griffith is frustrated by the state’s lack of transparency regarding the decision to close restaurants.
“They are saying that statistical analysis says that restaurants can be part of the problem,” said Griffith. “But we were open for three months in the summer and saw no increase in the load of boxes. So, they shut us down and it took months for the box load to decrease, and the incubation period is much shorter than that. “
Gabriel Rucker, the award-winning chef at Portland’s Le Pigeon and Canard restaurants, said he is in no hurry to reopen, although he is open to reconsider “in a month or more” if the case count continues to drop.
“We don’t even know about the new variants that are emerging,” said Rucker. “Why are we doing this now, just because we have reached an arbitrary number? It doesn’t make sense to just get it under control instead of more or less control it?
Le Pigeon was already planning to open a different type of face-to-face dining concept on Friday – delivering three-course meals to private rooms at Jupiter Next, a nearby hotel. The new concept has allowed Rucker and business partner Andy Fortgang to double the workforce of Le Pigeon, which has been focusing on food delivery since November.
“I feel blessed because people are back,” said Rucker. “But I just did the litmus test to make the calls, and there are people who are not comfortable with that. And many of our employees have left the restaurant business. It’s been a year! So, for me, I’m going to wait, make sure that it’s really going to catch on and see if we’re going to do it right, because it costs a lot of money to do it right. “