As of this week, the state began allowing restaurants to reopen provided they follow a prescribed set of guidelines that are designed to keep customers and employees safe from coronavirus.
The guidelines, which can be found here, include requirements to space tables six feet apart, limit customers served to 50 percent of capacity or 50 people (whichever is fewer), use facial coverings, and eliminate communal table seating.
The new guidelines apply to restaurants only. Other hospitality-focused establishments, such as brewery taprooms, can’t join in unless they establish a connection to another licensed food vendor such as a food truck. That may change later in June.
As they plan for the reopening, many of Longmont’s restaurants are excited to be able to get back to serving their community and are taking care to follow the guidelines and keep everyone safe. Jean Ditslear, co-owner of 300 Suns Brewing, has been closely following regulations as they evolved with help of weekly meetings that were organized by the Longmont Downtown Development Authority.
Ditslear said that 300 Suns hopes to open by the weekend and that their employees are ready to go. When they reopen customers should expect mask requirements, sit down service, fewer tables but each table spaced 6 feet apart, and increased sanitation. While current seating is limited, they have applied for a permit to extend their liquor license to the parking lot. Ditslear expects this to go through by late June, if not sooner.
Ditslear was gratified by the levels of support customers, the Longmont business community, and even their banker has provided through the shutdown. She talked about repeat customers who bought specifically from 300 Suns and extremely generous tippers. She also talked about the stress from recent weeks, remarking that like many other community businesses, “We’re happy to be opening. To have an additional thing happening where we can say, maybe this is going to be ok.”
Sean Gafner, owner of Longmont restaurants Jefe’s, The Roost, and Smokin’ Bowls, is also making plans to reopen following the state’s announcement. After completely closing two of their three properties, they plan to reopen in stages, starting with Jefe’s which has been their focused site for to-go orders. As of this week, their estimated plan is to open Jefe’s on June 1st, the Roost on June 10th, and Smokin’ Bowls on July 1st.
The Pumphouse Brewery and The Red Zone is another business that won’t be reopening right away, despite the state’s go-ahead. Part owner and former Longmont Mayor Dennis Coombs indicated that the business may open in early June but that the owners are still talking about when and how things will proceed.
As they make the decision on what to do, Coombs shared that the owners are considering what the experience of the last few months has been like for employees. He mentioned that “It has been really, really hard for our employees. A lot of them, they kind of live paycheck to paycheck and have a hard time getting on unemployment just because of the masses of people all of a sudden filing. It’s a pretty scary thing.”
Another piece of the reopening order that Coombs is questioning is the occupancy limits as laid out by the state. Given the square footage of the property, a maximum capacity of 50 customers leaves the restaurant at just 11 percent occupancy, far more empty space than many other properties. Additional footage is enough to well exceed social distancing requirements, but that could change somewhat if Red Zone and Pumphouse can be treated as separate entities.
One of Longmont’s smallest breweries, Grossen Bart, shared a different experience. While the 10 barrel brewhouse sold to-go beer and increased their packaging capacity during the closure, owner Taylor Wise indicated that they’re eager to reopen as the downturn “has been pretty rough for most of us. We’re looking forward to getting back to normalcy.”
The brewery has plans to resume their small Thursday farmer’s market, which was a regular event prior to the shutdown limitations, this week. They also plan to work with food trucks and partner with restaurants for service. Wise said they will require masks, space tables appropriately, and increase sanitation.
Jill Preston, director of marketing for Left Hand Brewing indicated the brewery was excited to reopen, with a food truck on-site, just as it was prior to COVID-19. Their plans include the same kinds of seating restrictions, mask requirements, and sanitation processes that others are using. To keep customers seated, they planned to use a designated table notification system for when a customer needed their next beer.
Preston indicated that downtime was tough. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” she said. “At the same time, Left Hand has been part of Longmont for almost 27 years and we couldn’t have gotten through this period and continuing without the support of our community. It has really been unbelievable.”
