John Schiltz, head chef and owner of Lake Elmo Inn, has been making use of outside seating. Once it becomes more chilly outdoors, he plans to make up for the loss of outdoor seating by making the inside of the building as safe as possible. He plans to do this by using his veranda and air filters.

“I have my veranda – that’s the glass structure at the front of my building where I can open up all the walls. I can open up the ceiling when the weather is decent enough to do that. One of the other practices is that we change our filters out every three weeks, which is something we would normally do every three months,” Schiltz added. 

After the Governor allowed restaurants to open again, the owners needed to get creative in order to save money. David Hafiz, manager of Carmines in Woodbury, found a way to manage his expenses, and because of this he never needed to let any staff go.

“Restructuring our hours would be the one thing that has helped us control labor cost and other expenses during these times,” Hafiz said.

Regulars provide a steady source of income for most restaurants, and many regulars tend to be older people. When the regulars do not show up, it can really hurt business.  Since COVID-19 affects older people more severely, a lot of these regulars tend to stay home.

“We have a very safe environment but to get people to go out of their way to come out of their house and go out to eat, it’s very difficult to do when they’re scared to death,” Schiltz explained.

If restaurant owners cannot think of a way to be profitable with the required mandates, they will be forced to shut down. However, the changes will also cost a lot of money, also potentially resulting in a shut down.

Dave Jarvis, owner of Afton House Inn, said he relied solely on takeout when he first reopened. In order for him to execute take out efficiently, he needed to spend money on new software and retrain his staff. 

Owners also need to worry about clients who feel the need to monitor the restaurant staff, and report any perceived discrepancy to social media.

“You don’t want to get caught doing something wrong. I mean, they made an example of a place down in Hastings, you know not wearing a mask or having a shield and $7,000 fine. That’s pretty steep,” Schiltz explained. 

Recent mandates have forced restaurants to operate at 50 percent capacity and this has had a direct impact on the bottom line.

Schiltz said that his sales decreased by “at least 50 percent”. Hafiz aded, “Business sales have been impacted greatly, we do not see the same revenue that we have in years past.”

Owners are hopeful, “Someday our governor will lift some of the restrictions. or that the virus starts to dwindle away,” Schiltz said.

“You don’t want to get caught doing something wrong. I mean, they made an example of a place down in Hastings, you know not wearing a mask or having a shield and $7,000 fine. That’s pretty steep,” Schiltz .