Re-Opening Your Restaurant
Local First Arizona encourages the food & beverage businesses reopening to do so safely, and respects the choices of those that remain closed. Whether or not your business has chosen to reopen, you will need to start preparing so you can adapt to new changes in operating your business.
Local First Arizona, in partnership with AWE Collective and Kind Hospitality have created a detailed and comprehensive guide explaining necessary steps for restaurant reopening.
Restaurants, bars, taprooms, and tasting rooms can allow dine-in services as of Monday, May 11, 2020. You can read the Governor’s Executive Order on the reopening here.
Operations will begin to reopen in limited capacity for onsite dining, and with new options for delivery and pickup. Restaurants must now enact new measures to ensure the safety of their staff, customers, and supporting businesses. Doing so will help protect the health of our community and also to build much needed trust with diners.
The first step in reopening is to develop a plan. Having a structure for and training of staff on the correct protocol is critical. Next is implementation of the plan which likely involves the use of new or different chemicals, cleaners, and personal protective gear for staff, as well as new social distancing protocol.
Welcome Diner Tucson
As the implementation begins, it is imperative that restaurants maintain, review, and revise their plan should the public health situation or operational concerns shift. Restaurants should not expect things to be “business as usual”, instead envision a new look and feel with new seating arrangements, hand sanitizer stations and similar safety protocols in place. Also, it will be necessary from a health and business standpoint to conduct operations with limited staff.
Operationally, each restaurant should check with suppliers on availability of food sources as well as cleaning and to-go supplies. As you seek and order your ingredients, consider sourcing from local farms! Good Food Finder is Local First Arizona’s free online resource that can help you find nearby farms that are available for wholesaling. Many of them deliver, just how you’re used to.
The restaurant itself must be prepped for reopening. Long periods of inactivity may have created issues with beer taps, soda machines, and general cleanliness of the establishment. Full cleaning and sanitation of the facility is needed prior to safely reopening.
Information and guidelines for these new procedures are plentiful, as a resource for our local restaurants trying to navigate these new operational challenges Local First has put together this quick reference list:
Clean and sanitize the entire business.
Clean and sanitize everything on guest tables between each seating
Transition to disposable paper menus or write the offerings on a chalkboard as a more sustainable option
Rely on touchless technologies and payment systems when possible
Clean hands immediately after handling money
Make contact-free hand sanitizer available for staff and guests
Reconfigure dining areas to accommodate social distancing
Limit party sizes to 10 or fewer
Encourage reservations and call-ahead seating
Post clear signage barring entry for individuals exhibiting signs of illness or COVID-19 exposure
Take all necessary efforts to encourage social distancing- stagger employee workstations, use floor markings to separate waiting guests
Offer masks to wait staff and hosts
Do not allow ill employees to come to work.
Follow all handwashing, mask and glove wearing guidelines at all times
Consider implementing contact-free temperature checks
Make sure all managers hold food-safety certifications and that someone certified remains onsite at all times
Discontinue use of buffets and salad bars, have to go options readily available
Train all employees providing curbside and to go services in safe-handling and -packaging practices
Additional Resources
Detailed reopening information from Arizona State, Centers for Disease Control, and the National Restaurant Association.
The Food and Drug Administration has guidelines for restaurant owners and workers should they have an employee that has been infected here.
The Environmental Protection Agency has a list of approved disinfectants that kill the virus that causes COVID-19, you can find the list here.
On that list is Quaternary Ammonium, the active ingredient in Accurate Chemical's Accu-Quat. Tempe based Accurate Chemical’s resource page for this product can be found here.
Social Spin Laundromat has a mask service for workers. They deliver, collect, and sanitize masks for restaurant workers. You can learn more about their program here.
If you need help with marketing and getting the word out about being open and any guidelines for guests reach out to AWE Collective, the premier marketing company specializing in restaurants.
To-go cocktails at the Royal Room Tucson
The COVID-19 crisis has showcased the ingenuity and creativity of our restaurant entrepreneurs. They are capitalizing upon the moment as a way to create new revenue streams and exploring innovative ways to grow their restaurant’s customer base. If you are healthy, and you feel safe, support these businesses as they reopen their doors and share their passion and creativity with the public through dining in, picking up carry out, having food delivered, or buying drinks to go.
The Local First Arizona, AWE, and Kind Hospitality guide explaining necessary steps for restaurant reopening can be found here.