Monday is the day restaurants plan to reopen their dining rooms, but with limited capacity and new safety protocol.
Transitioning back to dine-in after several weeks of to-go orders is no different along the Southern Arizona border.
“We did drop our sales like 80 to 90 percent,” explained Patricia Gomez, owner of Mariscos Chihuahua.
Gomez explained customers still wanted to eat in their restaurant at first. Now, the customers the restaurant lost have the opportunity to come back and enjoy their food.
“We hope that when we open on Monday we get more customers back,” explained Gomez.
For German Larios, his business saw sales decline as well, until he took matters into his own hands by having his employees deliver even keeping his business open for three extra hours.
“[8 p.m. to 7 p.m.] [I] increased the hours. I don’t care if we do more, but we need to survive,” said Larios, owner of Cocina La Ley
Larios is hoping his customers will continue to mainly order to go even though dining rooms can reopen.
“In my opinion, it’s too early because nobody really knows much about this virus,” explained Larios.
Nonetheless, seating will be limited in his restaurant Monday.
“We must start slowly,” said Larios.
Mariscos Chihuahua will also be making sure its employees are protected.
“We’re just going to have like five or six tables at a time or three people and the rest of the people have to be to go,” said Gomez.
