With the pandemic going on longer than anyone predicted, it’s certain that you’re ready to reopen your restaurant to keep your business running. It’s also quite likely you’re a bit nervous about ensuring the safety of your customers and staff while running a business during the COVID-19 crisis. Check out these tips for reopening your restaurant during COVID-19 to learn ways to keep your restaurant as safe as possible for employees and customers alike.
Limit capacity and enforce social distancing
Many states and cities have regulated rules for how many people may enter a restaurant and how far apart tables must be, but even if your state or city isn’t enforcing these rules, your business should. Require face masks upon entry to your restaurant until the party is seated at their table. Ensure all guests are at least six feet from the next party over. This means measuring six feet from a non-pushed in chair at a table, not the table base itself. Many restaurants are choosing to only allow 25 percent of their typical capacity to follow social distancing practices and provide a safe space to walk through for servers, bartenders, and other staff members.
Disinfect often
In between each party, you should thoroughly disinfect the tables, chairs, menus, and any other communal or reusable items. This can be time-consuming and may delay seating tables a bit, so it’s also important to have a safe and distanced waiting area for patrons to wait for a table while maintaining a safe social distance and wearing masks. Investing in a disinfecting cordless sprayer can help to speed up the process and make disinfecting easy and simple for staff members to complete, which can make your restaurant safer and more efficient.
Provide PPE to employees
Provide employees with things to help keep them safe and healthy and prevent them from spreading any potential infection to other employees and customers. This means providing employees with face masks or face coverings to help prevent the spread of germs through their mouths and noses. It also means offering the option of gloves to prevent their hands from being contaminated. You should stock up on hand sanitizer, hand soap, and disinfectant sprays as well. One of the most important tips for reopening your restaurant during COVID-19 and keeping both employees and customers safe is to encourage employees to call in sick without fear of repercussions. Employees should stay home and quarantine if they fear they have been exposed to COVID-19, are exhibiting symptoms, or test positive for the virus.
