Through the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, restaurant businesses have faced many hardships. As many of our favorite restaurants have been unable to stay open, members of the NAEye newspaper have interviewed local restaurants on how they were impacted. In addition to the frustration, the government has not aided these restaurants in any way. Throughout their interview, they stated the good and the bad that the pandemic has brought on.

NaEye – What is your name and the name of your restaurant?

Valerie – Valerie Dowds. Stinky’s Bar and Grill.

NaEye – Has anyone within your restaurant contracted covid? If so, what were the regulations that had to be followed? What was the effect of this on your restaurant?

Valerie – Yes. They had to quarantine at home for 2 weeks until their symptoms were gone. While addressing this issue, we all had to pitch in a little more time to maintain our business. 

NaEye – How has your restaurant been affected by covid-19, in a good way?

Valerie – We stayed open for take-out only from the beginning until we were able to open up indoor dining again.  Since there were so many restaurants shut down, people who had not tried our food liked it, so we now have more customers that know about us and come in on a regular basis.

NaEye – How has your restaurant been affected by covid-19, in a bad way?

Valerie – Our revenue was down.  Our employees’ salaries were down.  

NaEye – What is it like to run a restaurant at 50% capacity?

Valerie – It’s manageable to work at 50% capacity,  but I look forward to being able to go to full capacity.

NaEye – What has helped keep your restaurant open during the pandemic?

Valerie – One thing that keeps our restaurant going is our food. We have a great variety, in which our customers enjoy. Our customers are loyal and love our food. Not only are our customers great, but our employees are hard-working. 

Naeye – What is your name and the name of your restaurant?

Reece – My name is Reece Duncan, I have two restaurants. The Slippery Mermaid Sushi and Nauti Taco

Naeye – Has anyone within your restaurant contracted covid? If so, what were the regulations that had to be followed? What was the effect of this on your restaurant?

Reece – I was fortunate to have zero cases within the two places. We followed protocol and registered temperatures before every shift in hopes of preventing any cases. I would say we were very lucky to be not too affected by the actual virus in our restaurant.

Naeye -How has your restaurant been affected by covid-19, in a good way?

Reece – One positive note on covid is that we were able to launch online ordering ONLY for Togo and delivery since we feel people were forced to become more used to that process in general.

Naeye – How has your restaurant been affected by covid-19, in a bad way?

Reece –One bad note is that scheduling has been an absolute nightmare and being understaffed has been tough. Running the restaurant at 50% has been good and bad. Good in terms of spacing and better flow and ticket times for the kitchen. Bad in terms of less revenue and not having people sit at the actual bar top diminishes the vibe a little bit in the room.

Naeye – What is it like to run a restaurant at 50% capacity?

Reece – Running the restaurant at 50% has been good and bad. Good in terms of spacing and better flow and ticket times for the kitchen. Bad in terms of less revenue and not having people sit at the actual bar top diminishes the vibe a little bit in the room.

Naeye – What has helped keep your restaurant open during the pandemic?

Reece – Honestly our customer’s support and our staff keeping a positive attitude have made us be able to stay open and we are very blessed and grateful.