Bed-Stuy Restaurants Cautious As Indoor Dining Returns

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — For soul food favorite The Southern Comfort, New York City's return to indoor dining will mean weeks of preparation for only 15 seats in their usual 50-person dining room on Marcus Garvey Boulevard.

But, even so, the wait will be worth it.

"We need the seats," Shawanna McDonald, who co-owns the restaurant with her husband, told Patch on Thursday. "We're thankful for the outdoor dining, but it's not enough. The main thing is we just want to keep everybody safe."

McDonald and her husband are among restaurant owners across the five boroughs who have taken on the challenge of welcoming customers back inside with a slew of coronavirus safety restrictions, including 25 percent capacity limits, at-the-door temperature checks and mandatory social distancing.

Though, also like many owners, the start-date for indoor dining this Wednesday came a bit too soon for Southern Comfort. Gov. Andrew Cuomo officially announced New York City's indoor dining guidelines on Sept. 9, just three weeks before eateries would be allowed to open.

McDonald said the restaurant will set up their indoor seats in about two weeks instead to allow enough time to iron out safety details, McDonald said.

The extra time will be spent testing out ventilation systems and ensuring they have enough staff. Indoor dining will double the number of seats at the restaurant from 15 outdoor to 30 total, McDonald said.

"We want the customers stay warm, but we also want to make sure there's circulation," McDonald said. "The main thing is safety."

Another Bed-Stuy favorite, Chez Oskar, will also take their time letting customers back inside. The French eatery plans to open for indoor dining next week, owner Charlotta Janssen said.

Janssen said the city's now-permanent outdoor dining program will still be an option, though it will get tougher as the weather chills.

"We are hanging onto every great day outdoors," she said. "Heating outdoors is our big question mark that we fear is not being addressed enough."

For some restaurants, neither of the city's dining options have worked. At Toad Style, a vegan restaurant on Ralph Avenue, indoor dining would have only meant one of the eatery's three tables could be used.

"We’re so small of a place, we barely even fit tables anyway," employee Sam Sousa told Patch.

The restaurant also hasn't been able to open any outdoor tables, given limited space and not wanting to disturb close neighbors. But, even so, takeout has been working for the eatery, Sousa said.

"I think we’re fine, we like it the way," he said.

New York City restaurants will be able to expand to 50 percent indoor capacity starting Nov. 1, provided the city's coronavirus positivity rate stays below 2 percent.

The city's current rate is 1.38 percent over the past seven days.