Ready to dine in? Restaurants aren't sure limited seating is worth opening up for
Graham Couch
This is part of a series highlighting Lansing-area restaurants adapting to the threat of COVID-19 and a new normal.
For those in the restaurant business, what’s next is almost as unnerving as the months they’re leaving behind.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Monday afternoon that she'll ease restrictions on restaurants and bars throughout Michigan beginning on June 8, allowing for limited dine-in service.
It sounds like hope for Lansing-area restaurants suffering financially during the COVID-19 pandemic. But it comes with this caveat: It’s not a sustainable long-term model and they know it might be their new reality for a longer term than the takeout-only era they’re enduring now.
“If we’re not full, if we’re not busy, we can’t make money and that’s in regular times,” said Nina Santucci, co-owner of Red Haven in Okemos.
Gov. Whitmer mimicked her May 18 executive order for northern Michigan, letting restaurants and bars in the lower part of the state open to 50 percent capacity, with patrons at least 6 feet apart.
That’s if restaurants deem it worth it.
“At 50 percent, we would not open (up the dining room) immediately,” Charles Semerly, co-owner of Steakhouse Philly Bar and Grill in Lansing, said last week, ahead of Whitmer’s presumed order. “We’d wait and see, get the lay of the land, see what other people are doing out there.
“We’ve got carryout kind of on autopilot. We’re not in a hurry to go to 25 or 50 percent (dine-in).”
Most restaurant owners and general managers interviewed for this story said they’ll open their dining rooms as soon as they’re allowed. But, like Steakhouse Philly, they’re not enthusiastic about it, given the restrictions and uncertainties and definite headaches.
They don’t know exactly what this is going to look like — how they’re going to organize their staffs, whether it’ll truly bolster their bottom line in any meaningful way and, first and foremost, whether their customers are ready for this.
“You’re pulling all these (employees) back in and are people really going to come eat in an enclosed space?” said Bobbi London, owner of El Azteco West in Lansing. “When you ask me these questions, I take a deep breath. It’s a gamble for me and everyone.”
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“There are a lot of very smart people who are very good at their jobs that don’t have the answers right now,” said Greg Sinicropi, owner of Art’s Pub in Lansing. “This was a reasonably predictable business before now. To take a reasonably predicable business and make it unpredictable is a scary idea.
“The biggest thing (for me) is how to set up the customer interaction with people who are scared (of the coronavirus) and people who don’t care. How do I ask a server to police that?”
No one has any idea how comfortable their customer base will be. And, in some cases, whether their employees will see the risk as worth it.
The challenge with staffing is real. Most restaurants have laid off the majority of their servers, cooks and bartenders, who are now all making more on unemployment insurance — thanks to the extra $600 a week from the federal government through the end of July — than they would be at their restaurants, even in the best of times. These aren’t those.
“If you have an 18-foot bar, what are you going to do, put three people on that rail 6 feet a part?” Semerly said. “How are you going to get somebody to work that shift? You’ll have to give a bartender a couple tables close to the bar, I guess.”
Michigan’s Work Share program, which allows employees to collect prorated unemployment benefits — but still receive the entire extra $600 weekly, no matter how many of their hours have been cut — might turn out to be a helpful answer. It’s not something folks in the restaurant business seem all that familiar with.
Restaurants are also up against a looming June 30 deadline to meet the staffing requirements to have their Payroll Protection Program loan forgiven.
“We’re just finally getting answers (to all we need to do) with the PPP, because it’s not been static,” said Soup Spoon Cafe general manager Keith Buchele. “We’re lucky to have a lot of loyal staff, a lot of staff interested in coming back, that wants to support our business, wants to support us.
“But at 50 percent capacity, that knocks everything down (tips, shifts, sales).”
Whether it’s financially worth it varies by restaurant. Every place has a different cost structure. Steakhouse Philly is doing OK with low labor costs and take-out orders. Soup Spoon sees its dining room environment as a massive part of its food culture, so that takes priority. And for places that rely heavily on alcohol sales, this will be an opportunity to sell something with a decent profit margin — especially at a time when food costs are skyrocketing.
“If somebody comes and gets a burger and then drinks two beers, those two beers will pay for everything and then you can actually make money off of that customer,” said Scott Rolen, co-owner of Lou & Harry’s in East Lansing.
The size of your dining and patio area makes a difference, too. If you’ve got to allow for 6 feet between tables and you only have a couple dozen seats, like at Good Truckin’ Diner in REO Town, you’ve got a challenge.
“I’ll go down to 12 seats maybe inside. I have my patio outside, which will save me,” said Good Truckin’ Diner owner Nick Sinicropi, the brother of Greg at Art’s Pub. “We’ll be scrambling when we get toward (colder weather) if we’re not at 100 percent (capacity). I might have to look at another building or enclose my patio.”
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The Sinicropi brothers have a stake in a restaurant Up North and also have friends in the business up there who’ve been open for a little while now. One thing the Sinicropis and other local restaurant owners were hoping is that Whitmer provides them more clarity on the restrictions and time to get things in place than she gave their brethren in the northern part of the state before they were hit with Memorial Day weekend crowds. They’ll have a week this time.
“You could tell it was done by someone who doesn’t understand the business,” Nick Sinicropi said of the Up North easing of restriction. “Nothing against the governor or anyone who works for her. But you could just tell.”
Unfortunately for the folks running these restaurants, they do understand it. In some cases, all too well.
Stefan Farrell, owner of Tony M’s in southwest Lansing, understands what 50 percent capacity looks like. He sees that every year during the slow months, mid-summer, and knows that can’t be his norm. He’s dipping into his real estate business to cover the difference for now.
“I sold one of my houses,” Farrell said. “I’m going to put that much toward it. If that doesn’t cover it, then I’m done. I have to draw a line in the sand somewhere.”
Santucci said she’s on the cusp of making “some pretty major structural changes” at Red Haven, with her eye on the future. Perhaps fewer tables, becoming more of a farm-to-table grocery destination instead. For now, if restaurants are allowed to open at 50 percent capacity, she plans to open just the outdoor area.
“Basically, we need to decide in the next month whether we’re going to make a major shift in the business model or not,” Santucci said.
“All the things that make us busy are basically gone right now — people traveling for business, Wharton (Center performances), job candidates. Are there even going to be people to fill that 50 percent?”
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Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.