Many Arkansas restaurants resumed dine-in service on Monday, while others took a wait-and-see approach or decided not to reopen their dining rooms yet.
Restaurants letting customers dine in must follow the state Health Department's directive, issued April 29, which set up a phased-in approach, effective Monday. Those requirements include limiting seating and keeping adequate space between patrons.
Restaurants had been restricted from serving dine-in customers since Gov. Asa Hutchinson's March 19 order to stem the spread of coronavirus.
Some who ate out Monday saw it as a gesture of support for local businesses.
"We're supporting everyone being open," said Judy Robinson of Little Rock, who joined her husband for lunch downtown at Dugan's Pub.
"We'll probably go out again tonight," said her husband, Greg, just before he took a sip from his drink.
Both said they were going to patronize "mom-and-pop" restaurants because those establishments most likely need the business most.
The Arkansas Health Department's Phase 1 requirements include limiting seating to 33% of total capacity, including indoor and outdoor dining areas; maintaining a 10-foot physical distance between tables; reservations when practical; face masks for all staff who come in contact with patrons, encouraged for staff in the back; gloves for all staff, to be "changed out between each customer, customer group or task;" face coverings for all patrons (Hutchinson has suggested that customers can take off their masks after they have placed their orders); a 10-person limit per party; and health screenings for all staff.
Phase 2 would include less restrictive measures, such as increasing the total available seating to 66% and opening bars and entertainment operations while maintaining a 6-foot physical distance among patrons. Phase 3 would represent normal operations with full seating capacity.
Paola Sosa, manager at Skinny J's Argenta in North Little Rock, said the restaurant's owner decided to continue the carry-out business for all his locations across the state, but he wanted to hold out for a little while longer before restarting the dine-in business.
"We're going to give it a little more time," Sosa said. "The plan is to wait on Phase 2. We think that's the best course to take."
Don Dugan, who owns Dugan's Pub, South on Main and Dizzy's Bistro in Little Rock, said he felt comfortable inviting dine-in customers to his pub Monday and liked the idea that he could take steps toward full capacity. He still has a limited menu and a reduced wait staff.
"It seems like the right thing to do," Dugan said of Monday's reopening the dining room. "We're ready to get back to some sense of normalcy."
Dugan expects to open the dining room at Dizzy's, which is closed on Mondays, today.
Louise Hope of Mountain Home was in town with her friend and the two decided to have lunch Monday on Dugan's Pub's patio. Hope said she wasn't sure whether the timing was right, but she also wasn't sure whether waiting longer would have any benefit.
They were one of four parties dining at Dugan's Monday afternoon.
"It's worrying, but they can't just keep everything closed forever," she said.
In downtown Fayetteville at the normally busy restaurant A Taste of Thai, a young couple had the place to themselves at noon on Monday.
Brittany Dover said she and her husband Michael Dover are from Little Rock, but they were in Fayetteville house hunting on Monday.
"The weather wasn't really great enough to have a picnic or get anything for take out, so I just called around and they were open," she said. "I thought, 'Well, if we're the only people there, then we're probably safe.'"
Pam Trongdee, who works at the restaurant, said she didn't know what to expect, but she was hoping for 10 patrons at lunch on Monday.
She said the manager initially planned to open the restaurant next week but decided to open Monday to see how things would go. Trongdee said they'll play it by ear for the rest of the week.
On Fayetteville's College Avenue a few miles to the north, Z's Brick Oven Pizza was open for dine-in service.
Brad Fry, the owner, said his take-out and delivery business had gone pretty well during the pandemic, but he still wanted to reopen his restaurant.
Fry said it was boring just doing carry out.
"I like the interaction of people coming in," he said.
Two people were eating at separate tables at Z's during the lunch hour on Monday.
Brenda Lee said Z's had the "best pizza around," so she was excited to eat there when the restaurant reopened.
Kevin Gephart said he likes to patronize local businesses.
"I like the people here and I like the food," he said.
A couple came into the restaurant during the lunch hour and the staff gave them a couple of masks to wear while ordering, in accordance with the governor's regulations regarding restaurant dining.
Jason Piazza,the owner of Hugo's in downtown Fayetteville, said he's not ready to reopen for dine-in customers just yet. The restaurant has been providing curbside service during the pandemic.
"We're going to wait for two weeks before we make a decision -- watch other restaurants and see what they're doing," Piazza said. "We had a lot of calls today [Monday] asking if our dining room is open. Hopefully the demand will be there when we open up. We just want to make sure we can do everything safely."
Here is a limited list of places in Central Arkansas that were opening for dine-in service as of Monday:
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At Arthur's Prime Steakhouse/Oceans at Arthur's, 16100 Chenal Parkway in Little Rock, "we are planning to open both restaurants on the 11th," a spokeswoman said. "We are in the process of building the best plan to keep employees and customers as safe as possible. We will be communicating the extra steps that we will be implementing as soon as possible."
Benihana, in North Little Rock's Wyndham Riverfront Hotel, opened for dine-in Monday, according to a post on the Facebook page of its sister restaurant, the Riverfront Steakhouse, which will remain closed.
A spokesman for Bone's Chophouse, 27 Rahling Circle, Little Rock, and 3920 Central Ave., Hot Springs, said both restaurants plan to "follow all the rules" as they reopened their dining rooms on Monday.
At Cache Restaurant in the River Market District in Little Rock, "all staff will be wearing a mask and gloves at all times and masks will be provided to guests if they do not have one," according to a post on its Facebook page, and social distancing will remain in place. Dine-in service resumes for dinner this week while the restaurant maintains curbside/takeout lunch options; it'll open for lunch next week.
Chris Tanner said he would open Cheers in the Heights, 2010 N. Van Buren St., Little Rock, for outdoor-only dining Monday -- he has six outdoor tables, some of which will be available on a weather-permitting basis -- and make available his indoor private dining room for parties of up to 10.
Meanwhile, he said, "we're holding tight" on Samantha's Tap Room & Wood Grill, 322 Main St., Little Rock, which has been temporarily closed for about two months, as he consults with area hotels, since "that represents a large portion of our business" downtown, he said. Tanner is eyeing a potential June 1 reopen date.
June 1 is also the target date for the reopening of The Oyster Bar, 3003 W. Markham St., Little Rock, which is undergoing an extensive renovation and menu reconstruction after Tanner and his wife, Samantha, bought it from the retiring Virginia Boyd in September.
Among Samantha's Tap Room's neighbors in the 300 block of Main Street, Bruno's Little Italy, 310 Main, will stick to what co-owner Gio Bruno has said has been a successful take-out and delivery operation. The restaurant has no plans to restore dine-in service at this time.
Soul Fish Cafe, 306 Main St. in Little Rock, which has been closed for several weeks, reopened Monday for dine-in, take-out, curbside pick-up and third-party delivery.
Brewski's Pub & Grub, 315 Main in Little Rock, posted Monday on Facebook that it was reopening for dine-in, curbside to-go and third-party delivery.
A spokesman for Allsopp & Chapple, 311 Main St. in Little Rock, said it will not reopen for Phase 1, and "we will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation." A check of the Facebook page and phone number for A.W. Lin's, 309 Main St. in Little Rock, indicates it, too, will remain closed until further notice.
Meanwhile, a manager at the Firehouse Subs at 2811 Lakewood Village Drive in North Little Rock, said Monday that while the sandwich shop is maintaining take-out only service at 11617 Maumelle Blvd, North Little Rock, customers can now consume their take-out orders in the dining room.
Purple Cow restaurants at 8026 Cantrell Road and 11602 Chenal Parkway, Little Rock; 4201 Warden Road, North Little Rock; 1055 Steel Ave., Conway; and 1490 Higdon Ferry Road, Hot Springs, are now offering dine-in service, while continuing curbside takeout and delivery."
Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux, 955 S. Amity Road in Conway, has opened its dining room, according to a spokeswoman.
And three Central Arkansas Whole Hog Cafe locations -- 2516 Cantrell Road and 12111 W. Markham St. in Little Rock and 5309 Arkansas 5 North in Bryant -- opened for dine-in, according to a spokesman.
STANDING PAT
Places in Arkansas that have announced they would not be offering dine-in service starting Monday:
Baja Grill, 224 W. South St. in Benton, posted on Facebook that it does not plan to open its dining room and will continue to operate on a take-out basis, "currently, one of our focuses is getting our flagship Heights location ready for takeout."
Meanwhile, "Our team has made the decision to keep our dining areas closed at this time," said Jacob Chi of Chi Restaurant Group LLC, which includes Chi's Asian Cafe, 3421 Old Cantrell Road; Chi's Chinese Cuisine, 17200 Chenal Parkway; Sushi Cafe & Grill, 5823 Kavanaugh Blvd.; Sushi Cafe West, 11211 Cantrell Road; Lulu's Seafood Kitchen, 5911 R St.; and Prospect Sports Bar & Grill, 5501 Kavanaugh Blvd., all in Little Rock.
"The guidelines in place to resume dine-in service does not make it conducive to serve our customers properly," Chi said. " Additionally, we do not feel that our customers and staff members would be adequately protected from exposure to covid-19. All of our family's restaurants will continue to serve our guests through curbside take-out and delivery until further notice."
Loca Luna and Red Door, 3519 and 3701 Old Cantrell Road in Little Rock, announced in an email blast to patrons that both restaurants will remain closed for "several more weeks. We are using this time to do some major upgrades to our kitchen at Loca Luna and some repairs at Red Door. Once we are finished, we plan to open back up for pick-up and delivery. At this time, we do not plan to open for inside dining until we see how things develop."
Local Lime, in the Promenade at Chenal in Little Rock, and 2103 S. Promenade Blvd., Rogers, posted last week on Facebook that it would not open for dine-in service Monday.
"The opening date ... will be dependent on having all necessary training, equipment, spatial considerations in place and mandated guidelines satisfied so that we may provide our staff and guests with the best possible working and dining experience," the post said. "We will continue curbside, take-away, call-ahead, and online ordering services."
Essentially the same message appears on the Facebook pages of other Yellow Rocket Concepts restaurants in Little Rock and Rogers -- Big Orange, Lost Forty, Heights Taco & Tamale and ZaZa Fine Salad + Wood-Oven Pizza Co.
Mike's Place, 808 Front St., Conway, is looking at a possible June 1 date to reopen.
And the North Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau sent a list of North Little Rock restaurants that wouldn't be opening for dine-in Monday either (excluding the fast-food outlets):
• Ristorante Capeo (won't open until Phase 3)
• The Joint.
• Crazy Hibachi.
• Nana's Organix.
• Hideaway Pizza.
• Layla's Gyros.
• Black Bear Diner.
• Captain D's.
• Chicot Hibachi North Hills.
• Jacob's Wings & Grill.
• Diamond Bear.
• American Pie Pizza (Lakewood and Maumelle Boulevard).
• Sweet Poppas Cafe.
• Crush Wine Bar.
• The Hybrid Kitchen.
• Hawgz Blues Cafe.
A Section on 05/12/2020