Washington, D.C. restaurants prepare to open for outdoor seating

Record ID: 1554541

  • Title: Washington, D.C. restaurants prepare to open for outdoor seating
  • Date: 28th May 2020
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (MAY 28, 2020) (REUTERS) SMALL WEED BLOWN AROUND BY POWER WASHER RESTAURANT OWNER POWER WASHING PATIO POWER WASHING NOZZLE WITH PATIO BEING CLEANED (SOUNDBITE) (English) STEPHEN BRIGGS, AGUA 301 RESTAURANT OWNER, SAYING: "Laying out the table configurations to make sure that we're meeting the guidelines set forth by D.C. as far as social distancing. We had to rearrange the layout of a lot of the areas in our restaurant to make sure that the flow for guests that are coming in for carryout and delivery would have access and there wouldn't be logjams where people would be coming in close contact. And finally it's cleanup. It's power washing the patios, getting the tables ready, chairs washed, everything sanitized, getting sanitizer stations set up with sanitizer for our guests and our staff." RESTAURANT INTERIOR WITH PIÑATAS AND TEQUILA CRATE TIGHT OF PIÑATAS WITH TEQUILA CRATE RESTAURANT EXTERIOR AS CUSTOMER WALKS PAST, PATIO VISIBLE CUSTOMER ENTERS RESTAURANT SHOWING NAME ON DOOR AGUA 301 NAME ON RESTAURANT DOOR RESTAURANT SIGN OUTSIDE OFFERING CARRY OUT AND DELIVERY RESTAURANT PATIO WITH STACKED CHAIRS RESTAURANT PATIO WITH STACKED COUCHES (SOUNDBITE) (English) STEPHEN BRIGGS, AGUA 301 RESTAURANT OWNER, SAYING: "There are quite a few (employees) that are not comfortable coming back yet for various reasons. Either for their personal health, a lot live in generation homes where their parents or grandparents don't want to take that chance. There are some that are on unemployment now and are doing just fine and they don't want to take any chance when they don't have to at this point." FLAUTAS BEING DRENCHED WITH SALSA TACOS BEING FILLED CHEF FILLING TACOS WITH BARBACOA CHEF PLACING TACOS FOR PICKUP (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOSEPH OSORIO, AGUA 301 EXECUTIVE CHEF, SAYING: "From my point of view, my staff in the kitchen have been calling me if we're going to be hiring them again, which we are but at a slower pace because of the phases that we have to go through. We can't accommodate everybody like we used to have, a full staff, so right now we're doing what we can, just sliding through with whatever's possible to survive, I guess." TACOS READY FOR PICKUP WITH CHEF WORKING IN THE BACK SEAFOOD BEING ADDED TO FRYING PAN FRYING PAN ON FIRE WITH SALMON INSIDE, QUESADILLA GRILLED IN THE BACK (SOUNDBITE) (English) OLIVIA ANDERSON, AGUA 301 CUSTOMER, SAYING: "I'm personally not, I think if I were to, I would wait at least a couple of weeks to kind of see how things are going. Definitely not this weekend. I think I'm going to stick to my regular making food and potentially ordering out, stuff like that." DRINKS MENU OFFERING TAKEOUT DRINKS MENU OFFERING TAKEOUT MARGARITAS RESTAURANT EXTERIOR SHOWING PATIO RESTAURANT COUCHES STACKED IN PATIO RESTAURANT PATIO CHAIRS LINED UP
  • Embargoed: 11th June 2020 22:54
  • Keywords: coronavirus covid food reopen restaurants states
  • Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Health/Medicine
  • Reuters ID: LVA001CFUJOEF
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Restaurants in Washington, D.C. prepped their patios and staff for a limited re-opening on Friday (May 29), when they will be allowed to offer outdoor seating for diners.
    "We had to rearrange the layout of a lot of the areas in our restaurant to make sure that the flow for guests that are coming in for carryout and delivery would have access and there wouldn't be logjams where people would be coming in close contact." said Stephen Briggs, owner of Agua 301, a restaurant with riverside outdoor patios.
    Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser lifted the general stay-at-home order on Wednesday, making it effective on Friday, after 14 days of "sustained decline " in cases of the novel coronavirus.
    The announcement paved the way for non-essential retailers, salons and barbershops to reopen and for restaurants to serve seated customers, with restrictions.
    Agua 301 has been offering carry-out and delivery during the quarantine. Briggs said he has now called some employees back to work to help with the Phase 1 reopening, but not all employees have been able or willing to return.
    "There are quite a few that are not comfortable coming back yet for various reasons. Either for their personal health, a lot live in generation homes where their parents or grandparents don't want to take that chance," he said.
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