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'The Less Patrons I See, The Safer I Feel': Restaurant Workers On The Return Of Indoor Dining
By
James Ramsay
Published Feb 8, 2021
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Scott Lynch / Gothamist
By
James Ramsay
Published Feb 8, 2021
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With food service workers now eligible for COVID-19 vaccines, New York City restaurant owners are hailing Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to allow indoor dining to return at 25% capacity on Valentine’s Day weekend (beginning Friday, February 12th). Among servers and bartenders, reactions are less rosy.
"I’m glad the city is putting restaurant workers in the vaccination pool, that makes me really happy," said Samantha, a server at a restaurant uptown (all servers Gothamist spoke to asked that we not publish their last names or identify their employers, out of fear of retribution). "But even if I got my first dose today, I’d have to wait three weeks to get another dose, and then two weeks after that for efficacy. And I can’t get an appointment today — nobody can get an appointment today! So in what world does it make sense to open [on Valentine’s Day] when literally no one in the restaurant world will be vaccinated at that point?"
"I think it’s greed and restaurant owners wanting to be open on a big holiday when they know they’ll get a lot of business," she added. "And the government saying, ‘It’s okay,’ makes people think it’s okay, when it’s not."
Mary, a server in Manhattan, said her restaurant doesn't plan to open for indoor dining until at least March, despite the rule change.
"It doesn’t make sense to me that we would open restaurants, especially on Valentine’s Day, one of the busiest days of any restaurant, especially in New York City," said Mary. "We all know that people are going to come out, and I get the financial aspect, I understand from an industry perspective. But safety wise, I think it’d be much smarter and I’d feel a lot more at ease for them to wait for more people in the restaurant industry to get the vaccine."
Whether indoor dining is safe during the COVID-19 pandemic is a point of contention. Data released by the state in December indicated that bars and restaurants accounted for only 1.4% of COVID-19 cases recorded between September and November, when indoor dining was briefly reinstated in the city. By contrast, private households and social gatherings accounted for over 73% of cases, according to the state.
Industry leaders and restaurant management seized on the figures as evidence that indoor dining can be done safely.
"Follow the science — it’s telling you that restaurants are sub-2.5% [as a source of COVID-19 spread]," said Reggie Warren, the special events and catering director at Melba’s in Harlem, who’s also been serving and bartending during the pandemic. "You come in with your mask and your party less than 10. We’re going to have socially distanced seating. We’ll have air being recycled. We’ll do our best to make sure you’re as safe as possible."
Warren said that to his knowledge, no Melba’s employees have gotten sick from the coronavirus. And when indoor dining came back in the fall, even staff members who had been home collecting unemployment were eager to return.
"We’re a pretty close-knit crew, we serve comfort food and we try to have a relationship where we’re almost a family on the inside," Warren said. "So if someone might have been making more money on unemployment with the restaurant not at full capacity, there was still that responsibility to each other, and pride to be able to come back to work."
When indoor dining reopened last fall, with cases lower than they are now, epidemiologist Dr. Stephen Morse told Gothamist, "I haven’t personally mustered the courage for indoor dining,"and offered some best practices for those willing to take the chance it, while noting that the restaurant staff are at risk.
Scott, a 20-year industry veteran who was working at two different restaurants in the city last year, said that after socializing exclusively on Zoom for the early months of the pandemic, he was excited to go back to work for in-person dining. But he quickly found that the types of customers who wanted to eat indoors were disproportionately people who didn't take the pandemic seriously.
"It’s like, I’m in a mask trying to bring you fries and a burger and beer so you can feel some normalcy, but you’re screaming at me about this burger being not hot enough or something," said Scott. "I literally had people yelling in my face with no mask on. And I’m just like, wow, what are we doing right now? And then to have the owners of restaurants be more concerned about their money, being like, 'Well hey, you have to accommodate the customers.'"
Ever since the pandemic threw restaurants into an existential crisis — an audit last year found that up to a half of the city’s bars and restaurants could be forced to close permanently — the idea of dining out has, for some, become something of a civic responsibility. We're no longer buying dinner from a for-profit business; we're supporting a local establishment in need.
"Folks who have the means — and a lot of people don’t right now — but thank God many people do, they should go out there and support restaurant workers and restaurant owners," Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a press briefing last September. "If you prefer outdoors, go outdoors. If you prefer indoors, go indoors."
Scott, the veteran server, said it's a confusing dilemma for customers who ultimately just want to see their favorite restaurants survive the pandemic.
"Even people within the industry are like, 'We want to support our friends who own and run these restaurants,'" he said. "But it's also like, you're creating a gathering place during a pandemic. We feel bad that your small business is hurting, but it just doesn't align with all the other messaging about how dangerous this virus is."
Multiple restaurant workers who spoke to Gothamist said their message to the public, for now, is to stick to takeout; order directly from restaurants, rather than through third-party delivery apps; and tip 20%, at a minimum.
"Our restaurant is a local restaurant, so people have been coming in like, 'We have to support you guys!'" said Paris, a server in Manhattan who asked Gothamist not to include his last name or employer. "But I’d prefer if people would order from home. When you come out, you’re putting yourself at risk and me at risk. The less patrons I see, the safer I feel."
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indoor dining
restaurants
James Ramsay
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