'A Step In The Right Direction': Restaurant Owner

CLEMENTON, NJ — Restaurant owner Nick Hionas called it a "a step in the right direction," when Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday that he was removing COVID-19-related capacity restrictions at restaurants, gyms, retail businesses and churches on May 19. Those establishments currently are operating at 50-percent capacity.

Murphy revealed the updated plan Monday in a joint regional announcement with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, saying the changes were possible because the state's COVID numbers continue to improve, while vaccinations increase. Though capacity can increase, tables must remain six feet apart and masks are required indoors when customers are not eating and drinking.

Hionas, who owns the Lamp Post Diner in Clementon and the Meadows Diner in Blackwood, said new guidelines will mean different things to different establishments depending on their size and ability to maintain space between tables. He also said changes to rules are only part of the equation in returning restaurants to their pre-pandemic levels of sales and staffing.

"It's a little contradictory to say we can go back to 100-percent capacity, but still have six-feet of social distancing," Hionas said. "At the Lamp Post, it's a larger restaurant and you can distance everybody. As far as the Meadows, and for other smaller venues, (the distancing requirements) still kind of hinders you getting back to full capacity.

"It's a step in the right direction, now it's up to patrons to see how comfortable they are being indoors."

It's not just customers' comfort level either. Hionas said his restaurants, and others in the industry, are struggling to find workers. Hionas said fear of COVID, in some cases coupled with government stimulus checks, has led restaurant workers to take a wait and see approach to returning to the industry.

"It's not just these two restaurants," Hionas said. "It's (restaurant owners) calling each other and asking 'do you know anybody?' It's waitstaff, cooks, dishwahers, hosts, it's every restaurant, at pizza places, throughout the food industry, it's the after effects (of the pandemic) and they are still very real in the industry."

Hionas said that at his restaurants, each person has been doing the work of three people.

While Hionas may be lamenting staffing shortages, he certainly has been appreciative of the continued return of customers. New Jersey moved to 50-percent capacity from 35 percent on March 19, and up to 35 percent from 25 percent on Feb. 5.

"We love it," Hionas said. "In my business, it's not just about the food, it's more about relationships. When somebody comes to a diner, whether it's for their Sunday morning breakfast, or on a Friday or Saturday night, you build rapport with them. They are almost like extended family. People are coming in and you're excited to see them. It's a good feeling. But it's going to take time for everyone to become comfortable."

Magdalena Okur, manager of the Cinnaminson Diner, expressed similar sentiment about her restaurant's continued climb in capacity.

"Right now, it looks pretty good," Okur said Tuesday morning speaking by phone from the restaurant. "We have our regular customers and they support us a lot. Everybody is saying they've had a vaccine. For the first time, it's starting to get a little bit normal in recent weeks."

At Firebirds Wood Fired Grill in Moorestown, managing partner T.R. Mansfield said the increased capacity won't make much of a change at his establishment until the six-foot distancing requirements also are amended.

But after initially having to furlough employees at the start of the pandemic, and with weekly sales dropping by as much as 71-percent at one point, Firebirds has had a stroke of luck in recent weeks. Burlington County put its county-wide vaccine site in the old Lord & Taylor's in the Moorestown Mall adjacent to the restaurant. With 3,000 people per day getting their vaccine at the site, inevitably some are hungry, and Firebirds is reaping the benefits. The restaurant currently is seeing a 14-percent rise in weekly sales over pre-pandemic levels.

"We've been lucky," Mansfield said. "The COVID site behind us has generated more of a traffic flow. It's been good for us. People are getting their shot and driving around and popping in."