Letter to the Editor: We survived as a restaurant last year; so can you

Dear editor,

For the last 12 months, every business has faced unique challenges because of COVID-19. At our restaurant, we have spent a great deal of time planning for the unknown, accommodating unique circumstances, and continuously refining operational plans as new and better information is made available.

Over this time, we have seen a 30% drop in business, were completely shut down for six weeks and had to make difficult decisions on how best to keep our staff employed. Since restaurant dining reopened in May of 2020, this new normal has elevated three guiding principles above the rest:

1. Protect our staff.

2. Protect our guests.

3. Create safe service and practices or shut our doors.

Doing our best to adhere to these new guiding principles has earned us compliments and criticism, understanding and defiance, often expressed in the same day. Through these challenges, we were encouraged to share our operational steps as we struggle to stay safe.

Advice
There is too much information, noise and conflicting information to make sense of or to create an operational plan. The (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and our local Health Department were identified as a source of the best available factual information. We reviewed, updated and read to find out information at least weekly to stay current. Lastly, we adopted advice from several medical professionals who graciously guided and explained this complex landscape we were all seeing.

Staff safety
We learned immediately our safety policies must be universal. There could be no exceptions for individuals, contractors or owners – we are truly in this together. A continuous and open dialogue for any pandemic subject has been key to keeping the staff informed and also on top of current sanitation procedures. Starting with our reopening in May and continuing to this day, every member of our staff checks in at the start of their shift with a temperature reading, symptoms screening and a log of outside the workplace contacts and travels. Masks are required to be worn properly at all times while on premises, and we have registered with the state and county health departments as a group for vaccine and are eagerly awaiting notice.

Dining safety
Within the first week, it became evident that the greatest success would involve going to great lengths to make dining out as easy and hassle-free for guests as possible. Fundamental steps involved social distancing tables, creating clear pathways for movement and offering masks to anyone who may need one. We found that sympathy, along with genuine dissatisfaction of how this "tiny virus" has disrupted our world has aided in guest support and adherence to masking and social distancing. Signs, reminders and expressing our appreciation for guest participation in our safe practices has paid off, most of the time.

Group safety
Operating our two private rooms has posed its own unique challenges. First, we reduced seating capacity along with implementing social distance guidelines. From there, we worked with each group to design seating arrangements and layouts that aligned with their needs, and type of gathering, all while maximizing social distancing for guests and staff.

Next steps
While we are confident that a return to normalcy is on the way, we are optimistic that this return will be guided by sound medical advice and the desire for sustainable progress and economic recovery unhindered by regression resulting in additional restrictions. For us, we are staying faithful to our guiding principles and will continue to do our best knowing full well that going forward our best plans will change, many times.

—Benjamin Rogers, owner and manager of Doe’s Eat Place Springfield