AUBURN – Worried about the spread of coronavirus and seeing fewer customers coming through the door, Kristi’s Café on Minot Avenue is shutting down temporarily after lunch Wednesday.

Waitress Nikole Dubois said she’s not sure what she’s going to do but admits she’s a little worried “about going crazy at home.”

Restaurants and bars throughout the Twin Cities are facing questions about how they should proceed with fewer people going out – heeding the advice of medical experts to avoid others.

“We’ve had a huge drop” in people coming in during the last few days, Dubois said Tuesday, but there’s also a strong desire to “keep everyone safe” behind Kristi’s decision to close until the crisis passes.

Many area restaurants have closed, changed to takeout-only or at least taken steps to ramp up cleanliness and promote greater distance between those who do come in for a meal or a drink.

Simones’ Hot Dog Stand in Lewiston, which has switched to takeout only, is seeing nowhere near its typical crowds.

“We’ve been sanitizing and keeping up well,” owner Jimmy Simones said.

His wife, and co-owner, Linda Simones, added, “We’re looking at it as spring cleaning time.”

But they both expressed concern for local restaurants that are bound to struggle with closed doors and shrinking clientele, a situation they fear may go on for weeks.

Unlike some states, Maine has not ordered restaurants to close. But officials have cautioned the public to avoid crowds and to maintain safe distances from one another to minimize the chances of picking up the deadly new virus.

“I wish the state would tell us all to close,” Bill Hird, owner of Chick-a-Dee of Lewiston, said. “Why don’t we all just do this together?”

He said Tuesday afternoon that he had decided to close at the end of the day and stay shuttered until he could safely reopen.

Hird said he noticed a sharp drop in business last Thursday, after the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Maine, and he figured that trying to do takeout only wouldn’t be worth the trouble and the risk.

He said he feels bad for his staff, some of whom live paycheck to paycheck, but hopes the federal government will be coming forward with aid for everyone to get through this “rough time we’re going through.”

Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque said the situation remains “very fluid” in terms of what should be open and what should not.

Lewiston Mayor Mark Cayer said his city is not ready to order bars or restaurants to close. But, he added, “Everything’s on the table.”

Levesque said he’s pleased with what he’s seen so far from local establishments as they try to walk an ever-changing line to serve customers without putting anyone in danger.

“Part of me is very, very proud of local businesses,” Levesque said.

For now, at least, he said there’s no clear reason to impose a curfew that would shutter those that remain open. Levesque said, though, the city is keeping a close eye on guidance from state and federal health experts about what it ought to do.

Cayer said that even with a declaration of emergency, expected to be adopted late Tuesday, he’s not sure the city has the authority to tell restaurants they can’t operate.

He said, though, he’s pleased some prominent establishments have simply closed for the time being, including DaVinci’s Eatery and Forage Market.

Forage has a sign on its door, though, that it plans “to reopen soon with some new tricks to meet the occasion,” including curbside pickups, local deliveries and “retail four packs in your grocery.”

A number of restaurants have switched to takeout-only, including Mother India.

Even St. Patrick’s Day, typically a popular evening for people to go out, took a hit.

Gritty’s, a brew pub with three Maine locations, including one in Auburn, said it “made the painful decision to close” all of its pubs for St. Patrick’s Day “to try our best to keep our community healthy and safe.”

Pedro O’Hara’s scaled back its annual St. Patrick’s Day party on Tuesday, canceling the entertainment and scaling back hours “with limited seating for social distancing” and a commitment to ensuring the number of patrons stayed within guidelines.

But it still offered sit-down meals of traditional corned beef and cabbage, Guinness beef stew, ham and eggs. Curbside pickup was also available.

Legends Sports Bar and Grill in Lewiston remains open, but is pushing its takeout service.

It told patrons it will seat them every other table to maintain social distancing and urged anyone to “kindly help us by staying home if considered at risk “or sick.”

Hird, of Chick-a-Dee, said he thinks the government will probably tell every restaurant and bar that they can’t serve meals or drinks on premises much longer.

Some will probably try to carry on with takeout, he said, but aside from places like pizza joints that have long relied on takeout and home delivery for years, it’s going to be hard to get by.

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Live coronavirus updates: Auburn fire stations closed to the public

Next »

PHOTOS: Washburn Elementary still feeding appetites and minds of kids at home