As we inch closer to a possible opening date, we’ve been tackling the puzzle of how to safely reopen while creating a model that is financially sustainable. We’ve completely reimagined what The 443 will look like once we get the green light.
I’m grateful for Governor Cuomo’s cautious approach to reopening. Most of the surveys I’ve read show only about half of the population is comfortable resuming normal activities right now, so simply flipping the switch and reopening isn’t going to convince people it’s safe to come out. In New York state restaurants are in Phase 3 and Arts & Entertainment are in Phase 4. I’m not entirely sure which category we’ll fall into, but we’re looking at a minimum of 4 weeks more while Phase 1 and 2 rollout. It sounds like we could potentially open in mid-June IF we don’t have a massive spike in cases during that time.
I’ve been watching closely to see the precautions put into place in other areas as they allow restaurants to reopen. I’m working on the assumption that we’ll be opening at 50% capacity, guests will need to be seated at least 6′ apart, bar seating will not be allowed and standing room won’t be allowed. It sounds like guests will be expected to stay at their tables during their visit.
Obviously I could be wrong and we’ll adjust when official guidelines are issued, but I feel confidant this is a good place to start. It’s a pretty massive undertaking, so I’m grateful to have the time to think everything through.
Seating & Room Layout
On Monday we finished removing the upholstered furniture, books, games, lamps, occasional tables and decorative accessories.
BEFORE
We brought in more small tables to create cabaret-style seating. Tables and chairs are easier to sanitize between shows and we’ll have more flexibility with the configuration.
This is roughly what the room will look like:
I don’t quite have the tables positioned correctly yet, but you get the idea. We have 3 sections in the room, and we’ll have 6 or 7 tables in each one.
Our current capacity is 88 people, so we planned to put 22 tables in the room to get to 44, or half capacity. Once we actually started moving things around we discovered we can’t fit more than 19 tables if we want to keep people 6 feet apart. So, our indoor capacity will only be 38.
Outdoor Space
2019 was our first year in business, and we didn’t get our patio open until mid-July. It was a pretty raw space on the side of our building and it took a lot of work to get it into useable condition. We were so excited about having a full season out there this year, but it appears we’re in for another short one by the time we’re allowed to open…maybe next year.
Outdoor space is critical for restaurants and bars during warm weather here in Syracuse, and I think it will be even more important this year. Everyone has been cooped up for months, plus outdoor spaces are naturally better ventilated than enclosed indoor spaces. That makes them a much safer option during the pandemic.
The weather hasn’t really cooperated much so far, but we’ve been sneaking in days here and there doing clean up and repairs. We’re hoping to add an outdoor movie screen so we can project what’s happening on the stage out to the patio. Wouldn’t that be cool? We’ll have some happy hour shows scheduled outside as well. And of course, seating will be at least 6 feet apart.
Shows, Reservations & Contact Tracing
We’re planning to do 2 sessions a night for our ticketed shows as well as our local performances. This will allow us to keep our capacity at a safe level while still getting close to the attendance we need to hit.
Our weekly Rock Bingo Music Trivia and Acoustic Open Mic will likely stay at one session. I’m not sure they will be viable financially with such a low capacity, so we’ll have to see how it goes. We may have to introduce a cover charge for these events so we can afford to pay the DJ, host band and sound tech. Or, we may have to just wait until we’re back to full capacity to bring these events back.
ALL events will be by reservation only, which will serve two purposes. We don’t want to have to turn people away at the door and as long as you make a reservation you will be guaranteed a table. More importantly, we’ll have names and phone numbers for all our visitors. This will allow us to contact everyone very quickly if we discover one of our guests has tested positive for the virus. Hopefully, this will help nip additional exposure in the bud. The reservation form will also include a health declaration with questions about symptoms and possible exposure.
Payments
All tickets and cover charges will be paid online before arriving at the bar so we can eliminate our door person handling cash. Right now I’m investigating the best way to manage this process without a significant chunk of the revenue going to fees.
We will be adding a portable contact-free credit card terminal to our Square POS system. The bartenders will be able to bring it right to the table and accept payments without handling your credit card.
I don’t think we can reasonably ask people not to use cash, so we’re still planning to accept it at the bar.
PPE
Right now, I’m thinking our staff will be wearing face shields as opposed to masks – it’s important that guests are able to see our staff’s faces as they interact. I ordered a case from a company a friend works for, they pivoted to making shields early on in the COVID-19 crisis when everyone was freaking out about finding them.
Okay, this feels pretty weird…
They are going to take some getting used to, though the shields are definitely easier to breathe in than the masks.
Now I just have to figure out how to get my readers on and off…
We will have disposable paper masks on hand as well, as soon as I can locate a supplier – Amazon is running months out right now.
Guests are a little trickier. If we were in any other kind of business I would require that guests wear a mask at all times. But, our guests are there to eat and drink. We may request that guests wear a mask when they are moving around the bar and when they go to the restrooms, which are small, confined spaces. Performers will not have to wear a mask while they are on stage, but should wear one on their set break when they are walking around the room.
We plan to have paper bags on each table so guests have a hygienic way to store their mask while they are eating and drinking.
Right now we keep gloves on hand for our food prep employees and we’ll be increasing our supply now that the bartenders will be wearing them too. We’ll be burning through them a lot faster, so I’m trying to lay in a good supply before we open.
Health Checks
I’ve purchased a contact-free thermometer to use at the bar. Guests will be checked on the way in and our staff will be checked regularly. I’ve also ordered a pulse oximeter, which is a gadget that checks blood oxygen levels. Doctors are discovering that COVID-19 patients are often asymptomatic even as they are becoming progressively sicker. The pulse oximeter can give an early warning to a Coronavirus infection, so we’ll test employees when they arrive for their shift. If we have concerns about anyone’s health they will be asked to leave to avoid infecting our staff and other guests.
Cleaning and Sanitizing
It goes without saying that we’ll be stepping our efforts to keep all surfaces clean and sanitized. Our plan is to go over high touch surfaces like door handles and bathrooms with sanitizing cleaner every hour while we’re open for business, and tablecloths will be replaced between shows. The room will get a deep cleaning once a week when we’re closed.
We’re trying to avoid it, but if we have to use pens to sign charge slips we’ll have them separated into cups for sanitized pens and a cup for dirty pens waiting to be cleaned. Menus will be sanitized between uses.
Microphones on stage will be cleaned with alcohol wipes between artists. We started doing this the week before we closed back in March and I think it’s a good regular practice regardless of whether it’s “required” or not.
We’ll have hand sanitizer stations set up around the room. I’m hoping to get my hands on a couple of the touchless hand pumps, but at the moment they are tough to find.
With the capacity at less than half, we would normally reduce the number of staff we have scheduled. But, given all the extra cleaning and constant hand washing that will be required, I’m planning to leave the staffing levels the same as they would be with a full room at regular capacity.
This list of strategies is likely to change as we move through the process of reopening and as more information from the state and county comes in we’ll adjust as necessary.
As we talked through our new coronavirus precautions, we realized we are uniquely positioned to make our new reality work. We are a small venue and most of our shows are seated, listening room style events. We don’t depend on packing people into a large standing room only space and as long as we can get people to make reservations for 2 shows a night, we should do okay. The “reservation only” model makes perfect sense for the way normally do business. We might be operating fewer days a week for a while, but I’m cautiously optimistic we can get through it.
We are taking every precaution to keep our staff and guests healthy, and we’re hoping our visitors will take safety measures as seriously as we do once we open our doors.
See you soon!
