NC restaurants opened their doors again, and the customers came back — cautiously
At Vivace Italian restaurant, shaded in a corner of Raleigh’s North Hills, the outdoor tables seemed to offer the kind of evening refuge restaurants always have.
But everything was different Friday night, even though it initially looked the same. Servers wore masks, there was a bottle of hand sanitizer at the host stand, the windows were thrown open and all the outdoor tables were spaced apart. Stacks of chairs sat by the door, illustrating how far North Carolina still had to go in its efforts to stem the coronavirus.
Art Dec lives in the apartments upstairs from Vivace and has been coming to the restaurant for a decade, he said. Sitting with neighbors Emily Cullen and Amy Banfer, the trio said they usually came downstairs for dinner at least three times a week. Now that Vivace was back open after two months and Dec was sitting on a barstool, he had one word for the feeling.
“What’s that Mel Gibson line from ‘Braveheart?,’” Dec asked rhetorically. “Freedom!”
Count Vivace among the restaurants opening up in the first minutes of the first night of North Carolina’s new Phase Two rules aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced the “modest” Phase Two restrictions this week, and they started at 5 p.m. Friday.
Restaurants, which previously had only been allowed to offer takeout, can now open their dining rooms at 50% capacity, as long as social distancing and other guidelines are followed. Tables must be spaced out six feet apart, and shared spaces and surfaces must be cleaned constantly.
At Vivace, nearly everyone sat outside and just about every table was full.
Meanwhile in the Five Points area of Raleigh off Glenwood Avenue, the patio of Lola’s Beach Bar was packed Friday night, but socially distant for the most part.
‘Keeping to ourselves’
Jonathan and Teresa White had a bottle of hand sanitizer in front of them, splitting a plate of nachos and some margaritas. They said they felt safe in the bar, but also made sure to keep some space.
“We’re keeping to ourselves,” Jonathan White said.
“It’s good to see people respecting each other,” Teresa White added.
Respirator masks sat on the table in front of Erika Petersen and three friends as they met for margaritas. They said a week’s worth of rain had saturated their spirits, and they took the Phase Two reopening as a moment of significance.
“We’re celebrating,” Peterson said, adding that they picked Lola’s for the presumed safety of the outside air and the seaside vibes. “It makes you feel like you’re at the beach.”
At Raleigh’s Glenwood South entertainment district, there was still traffic and groups milling about, but it was far from a typical Glenwood Friday night.
Raleigh Beer Garden had a rope for guests to line up, but by 7 p.m., everyone who wanted to be inside was already there.
Getting back in the water
Raleigh Beer Garden owner Niall Hanley said the restaurant’s size offered ample space between tables, as well as a large patio. He said it was time to reopen.
“We have to get in the water at some stage, sharks or no sharks,” Hanley said. “But we’ve got to take this seriously.”
Hanley plans to reopen his Morgan Street Food Hall this weekend, and his two Hibernian Irish Pubs next weekend. To keep people from milling about and moving close to one another, Hanley said he’ll rely on seated service. If you’re not sitting at a table, you’re not getting a drink or a bite to eat.
“Seated service, that’s the angle we’re taking,” Hanley said. “There’s no walk-ups, it’s all table service.”
Hanley said he’s pleased to open up, but that the industry’s struggle is far from over after two months of shuttered and now half empty dining rooms.
“It’s like going into a war, or coming out of one,” Hanley said. “We’re not out of the woods yet. Financially we have to go back (open). But there could be untold wreckage (of closings) when this is over.”
In Chapel Hill, the iconic Mama Dip’s plans to reopen on Saturday, co-owner Spring Council said. The restaurant will start exclusively serving guests on its front porch and outdoor tables.
“It’s been a rough time,” said Council, who is the daughter of the legendary Mildred “Mama Dip” Council and now runs the restaurant with her siblings. “We’re fortunate enough to have our porch and outdoor seating. I think people are ready to get out there, cautiously of course.”
‘Part of a larger community’
The Raleigh Beer Garden became the wedding reception Friday night for Ashley L. and John H., who asked to have their last names withheld because they hadn’t yet told their parents they had eloped. Their original plan was glamorous, eloping to Ibiza, Spain. But international travels feels months away, they said.
So the Greensboro couple found a shopping center church and eloped in Raleigh. Sitting in a wedding dress and gray suit at the Raleigh Beer Garden, the couple toasted themselves in public on the first day in months they could do so.
“It’s great, we’re surrounded by strangers, but that would have been the case in Ibiza, too,” Ashley said.
Nancy Evans and Amy Jablonski swore they wouldn’t be in any rush to get back into bars or restaurants, but then 5 o’clock hit. They wore face masks at a picnic table at Raleigh Beer Garden and each brought a bottle of hand sanitizer. They said they felt safe sitting outside.
“We were just saying how we prefer this to the grocery store,” Evans said.
Grabbing a drink and a bite to eat is only part of what restaurants offer, Jablonski said.
“You feel part of a larger community,” she said. “You get to be with other people, even though there’s space between you. It’s social distancing, but together.”
This story was originally published May 22, 2020 at 7:55 PM with the headline "NC restaurants opened their doors again, and the customers came back — cautiously."
