The implementation of Louisiana’s Phase Two last Friday allowed for restaurants to operate at 50% capacity. It’s a significant increase from Phase One’s 25% capacity restrictions, allowing local restaurants to put more tables out and welcome back familiar customer faces.
Stephanie Phares, owner of Zeeland Street, created a courtyard in front of her restaurant in order to make more space and allow customers to feel safe and at ease.
“I saw a lot of old customers who [previously] hadn’t been coming at all,” she says, “and some were wary about eating inside, so they chose to eat outside.”
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Cafe Americain owner Bryan Blackledge says that Phase Two brought in more customers, and he was able to reopen another dining room.
“People are tired of being cooped up and tired of being at home,” he said. “People are wanting to get out and wanting to get back to some kind of normalcy.”
While more people are allowed in restaurants, many customers are still careful about being in public spaces—which City Group Hospitality managing partner Stephen Hightower recognizes when it comes to his restaurants like City Pork Brasserie & Bar and Rouj Creole.
“There’s a lot of cautious optimism from the guests,” he says. “They want to see what they’re doing from a safety standpoint and from a business standpoint, and you have some of those folks who probably just had so much cabin fever they were willing to take that chance.”
While the upped capacity is positive for Baton Rouge restaurants, there are some questions and concerns about what the future holds. Blackledge says convincing employees to come back to work while they are receiving increased unemployment benefits is proving to be difficult.
Hightower says he would like to go back to normal operations, but he understands the need to keep customers safe.
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“Do I want to save my business? For sure,” he says. “But I don’t want to save it for the sake of harming others and our employees. It’s understanding how we balance that. Maybe we are where we’re supposed to be.”
Phase Two brought positive changes for restaurant owners, but they are eager for the future.
“We have to be positive about it,” Blackledge says. “The quicker we get through Phase Two, the quicker we can get to Phase Three and get back to being normal.”