For seven weeks, the COVID-19 outbreak has caused numerous types of strife for local restaurants.
Since mid-March, most dine-in restaurants have been confined to deliveries and curbside pickup. It has led to massive financial strain, including layoffs and temporary closure.
But for those still open, some relief appears to be coming, as Lawton restaurants will be allowed to reopen their dine-in areas beginning Friday. The City of Lawton has provided a list of requirements for restaurants as they reopen, including employees getting their temperature taken before each shift, restaurants not allowing parties of more than 10 people in main dining rooms and requiring employees who come into contact with the public shall wear a facial mask.
Not only is the move expected to provide some financial relief and help boost the local economy, it is also expected to restore the connection between local restaurants and their customers.
“Everyone I’ve talked to can’t wait until we reopen,” Kat Newland, manager at Wright’s Family Diner, said. “They’re ready.”
Longtime mainstay Burgess Grill, 617 SW C, is getting ready to welcome guests back through its doors on Friday. Owner Shizuko Burgess said that thanks to a loyal customer base, the restaurant has “done OK” financially with its curbside orders since being forced to close in-house dining. Burgess has been getting the restaurant ready and making sure everything is compliant with social distancing guidelines. Every other booth is marked off limits, while the tables in the larger dining room have been spaced out to allow more room between them.
“We had to remove two big tables from in there to move others around,” Burgess said.
Not everyone has been “doing OK” in the past few weeks. Wright’s has been closed since March 16, with no deliveries or curbside pickup during that time. In short, management had essentially no choice as to whether they would reopen.
“It’s real important. Like ... we have to open,” Newland said. “We have our whole staff that we ended with when we closed up back in March. They haven’t worked at the restaurant since then.”
But despite financial turmoil and decreasing numbers statewide in confirmed COVID-19 cases, not everyone agrees the timing is right. Burgess herself said she personally thinks it might be safer to wait several more weeks. But when Lawton Mayor Stan Booker came by the restaurant to discuss a reopening plan, the two worked out a blueprint they could agree on.
But even if the plan has been agreed upon and approved, it doesn’t mean all restaurant owners feel comfortable with the move.
“Employees don’t feel comfortable, customers don’t feel comfortable, nobody feels comfortable,” Shawn Xhinoli, owner of Milano’s Italian Restaurant, said. “If you’re going to have to put the mask on and all that, just to go out to eat, that’s not enjoyment.”
Milano’s has continued to do to-go orders and curbside pickup since the restrictions. Xhinoli’s other restaurant, Luigi’s Express Gyros and Pizza, has been unaffected, as it is drive-through only. And even though Lawton City Council member Jay Burk said during Tuesday’s meeting that “we cannot make these stores open”, Xhinoli said he feels pressure to reopen, despite his skepticism.
“I’ll open, but I don’t think we should,” Xhinoli said. “What’s the point opening now? Tto bring back the economy? It’s not going to go that way, that’s my opinion. I want people to be safe and secure, wait until we have a vaccine and all this starts to clear up and then we go from there.”
