By Spencer Smith
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Nearly a year into the coronavirus pandemic, restaurants in the Baltimore region continue to struggle financially but have found innovative ways to stay in business, according to interviews conducted last week.
Baltimore restaurant owners said Mayor Brandon Scott’s Jan. 22 executive order – which limits indoor seating capacity at 25% and places a one-hour time limit for customers eating inside the dining room – has placed an extra burden on their establishments.
Nevertheless, some restaurant owners said they are starting to see their sales go up.
“It is difficult to dine within an hour,” said Lisa Leventis, a manager at SoBo Café on 6 W. Cross St. in Baltimore. “Everyone’s health and safety is very important to us. However, if the food takes 20 minutes to prepare and place on the table, customers do not have time to enjoy themselves.”
When restaurants were only able to do carryout, SoBo Café’s sales were negatively affected and management was forced to cut employee hours, Leventis said. However, since they have reopened for indoor dinning, the restaurant’s sales have begun to gradually increase.
Some restaurants, such as Woodberry Kitchen on 2010 Clipper Park Road in Baltimore, still have not reopened their indoor dining. Instead they are running a curbside pick-up service between 4 and 8 p.m. every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“With cases rising, it didn’t feel right to keep staff indoors,” said Rida Shahbaz, a floor manager at Woodberry Kitchen.
During the summer, Woodberry Kitchen was offering outdoor dining to customers. Servers were required to wear a mask at all times, Shahbaz said, adding that all employees made an effort to keep minimal contact with patrons. Woodberry plans to reopen outdoor dining as soon as it is warm enough to do so.
Restaurants are enforcing the new regulations to customers and staff members in a variety of ways.
At Atlas Restaurant Group, which owns several restaurants in Baltimore, including The Bygone, Ouzo Beach, The Choptank, Azumi, and Tagliata, managers encourage everyone to keep their hands clean at all times.
“We have multiple sanitizer stations at each one of our restaurants,” said Brian McCormack, vice president of operations for the Atlas Restaurant Group.
“We have cleaning companies that sanitize tables, chairs, the kitchen, and all other restaurant equipment,” McCormack said. “We don’t view people as customers. We view them as guests. Our goal is to put out the best experience for our guests and move forward the best we can.”
Prior to COVID-19, The Atlas Restaurant Group let local artists perform in its restaurants. Live performances are currently restricted, which has ultimately affected the artists. They are no longer allowed to perform their music inside of restaurants.
The one-hour time limit has been a quite a challenge for the Atlas Restaurant Group, McCormack said. With guests paying a significant amount of money to go out and eat, he said, they have little interest being seated for such a short amount of time.
McCormack said the company has noticed that some guests are moving from property to property within the Atlas Restaurant Group for a more satisfying experience.
Alicia Mozina, the director of sales and marketing at Faidley’s Seafood, said the company is accepting of the one-hour time limit. However, she said it is still an obstacle for business.
“To have at least an hour has been a great opportunity for us to welcome back in our customers,” Mozina said.
However, Mozina said it is difficult to keep track of names, phone numbers and the time each customer sat down.
Mozina said the 25% capacity is affecting Faidley’s Seafood the most out of all of the restrictions. The capacity limit opens up space in the restaurant, but the number of tables has been significantly reduced.
According to Mozina, the restaurant has spent a lot of money on sanitizing equipment.
“The costly amount is the furnishings of the PPE equipment,” Mozina said. “The shields that go in front of the registers and the sanitation supplies itself.”
Even with all the restrictions, Faidley’s Seafood has been able to hold on to all of its employees.