Brian Kendall
During my short drive to my first visit to a restaurant in over eight weeks, on what appeared to be almost the exact hour Governor Greg Abbott’s stay-at-home order was lifted, I realized I had left my makeshift medical mask back at the office. Rather than return to retrieve it, I fashioned a mask out of a T-shirt I had left in the backseat of my car — a shirt that, despite not being completely odor-free, was at least COVID-free.
It did cross my mind how I would eat and drink while attempting to comply with the CDC recommendations, which suggests wearing a mask whenever out and about. I considered approaching the restaurant sans mask but ultimately resolved to only remove the mask once I was served my food — I was, admittedly, mostly worried about the judgment I might receive from other patrons if I was noncompliant. After all, as one so selflessly pointed out to me, compliance with the CDC is as much about your own safety as it is about those with whom you come in contact; it’s very possible I could be an asymptomatic carrier of the virus.
To my surprise, I felt self-conscious with this T-shirt wrapped around the lower part of my face, as every one of the restaurant’s guests had clearly decided to ignore any recommendations from bureaucratic health officials. No one within my line of sight, outside of the restaurant’s employees, were wearing masks, and many were dining in large groups of four people or more (doubtful these were groups of quarantine buddies). Whether this is an act of defiance or merely an oversight on the part of those willing to test the dining-in waters, I don’t know. But as I continued dining out for the remainder of the week, it was a troubling trend.
When asked if she’ll be hitting up restaurants this week, Jan Morga, who also owns Jango Java, says, “Absolutely. This thing was blown way out of proportion.”
Others are claiming that restaurants are far safer than establishments that have remained open, such as Walmart or Target.
“Safer than grocery stores or takeout,” Facebook follower Heather Collinge says.
As restaurants open, it’s clear they’re taking all the precautions necessary to ensure the health and safety of their patrons — the constant sanitization of tables, pens, silverware, and employees wearing gloves and face masks are now universal. While this means additional duties for their staff, at the end of the day, doing their part to ensure the virus doesn’t spread means a second wave of stay-at-home orders is less likely.
“I spent all week sanitizing the tables, bathrooms, literally every square inch of this place,” Buffalo West manager Dalton Woody says. “We’ve been preparing for this since before the order was lifted.”
When I went to Woodshed on a balmy Monday afternoon, the hostess took my temperature (a vampiric-like 97.2 degrees) and collected my phone number and email address in case they needed to contact me.
Restaurants are strictly abiding by the 25% occupancy rule, which in turn is causing lines outside of restaurants’ doors — making social distancing rules difficult to enforce. Restaurants like El Fenix and Mi Cocina are going through what both called “extreme precautions” to protect their patrons. But drive by their dining rooms at the height of restaurant rush hour, and you’ll see a horde of people awaiting entrance — few standing more than six feet apart.
However, both establishments offer calling and texting services once customers are on the waitlist, meaning they don’t have to stand by the entrance to listen for their names to be called. One could easily wait in their car, but many locals are choosing not to.
While people were touting this idea of the “new normal” sweeping through society — something akin to TSA security checkpoints at airports in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 9/11 — those daring to enter dining rooms appear eager to return to the days before social distancing.
