Kristi Norcross, left, and her three daughters, Piper, Makayla and Kory, work at Kristi’s Cafe in Auburn on Wednesday. “All the regulars are starting to come back and we are seeing some new faces,” Kristi Norcross said. “Every table was full this morning.” Daryn Slover/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

Reopening inside dining at Androscoggin County restaurants was cause for rejoicing for customers. 

For restaurant owners, there was some relief and some rejoicing, but not without challenges. 

“Every part of owning a business can be stressful,” Melinda Small, owner of Legends Sports Bar and Grill in Lewiston, said. “The goal is to respond to the stress with positive thinking and problem solving. Opening for inside dining was just another level of uncertainty.” 

That uncertainty included the delay in reopening dine-in services for Androscoggin, Cumberland and York counties, which was announced five days before an initially scheduled opening on June 1, then a June 15 announcement that indoor dining could resume June 17. 

“I think what the biggest challenge is was the short response time of everything,” Michelle Gosselin, spokesperson for Sea40 in Lewiston, said. “Having to jump through all the guidelines with such short notice has been really difficult.” 

“The announcement was sudden, with little time to prepare, but we had begun preparations earlier in the month when we thought we would be reopening until the governor pushed back the indoor dining date for our county,” Kayla Emond, marketing manager for Gridiron Restaurant in Lewiston, said. “Despite the short notice we were overjoyed to hear the news and willing to make any and all alterations to make our dining room a safe and comfortable space for our guests.” 

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Gov. Janet Mills said in a statement May 27 that the delayed reopening in the three counties was “what is in the best interest of public health.” 

Small said Legends has had those same interests in mind in its reopening. 

“We responded to the customer demands with a commitment to enforcing the rules for safety,” Small said. “Ninety-nine percent of our customers are grateful. There are always the few that run against the grain. For those, we simply remind them safety is not an option but visiting with us is.” 

Floor manager Kristen Moore delivers food to customers at Gridiron Restaurant and Sports Pub in Lewiston on Tuesday. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

Kristi Norcross, owner of Kristi’s Cafe in Auburn, said her restaurant has made a similar commitment to following the state’s guidelines. 

“What they ask us to do, we do,” Norcross said. “I have a very clean cafe. It’s always been that way anyway. But we follow the rules.” 

Those rules saw some change Wednesday, when Gov. Mills made an executive order that in part requires restaurants to enforce the face covering mandate for both customers and workers. 

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“We have already been practicing the use of face masks and encouraging all customers to wear them as well,” Emond said. “We will proceed as needed and meet any/all requirements the government mandates.” 

Wednesday’s updated rules could have an effect on how law enforcement responds to the requirements, but Auburn Police Department Deputy Chief Timothy Cougle said any response by the department to complaints or violations would be “education-based, as we always look for voluntary compliance first.” 

Lewiston police Lt. David St. Pierre had a similar sentiment. 

“Our main goal is to educate people rather than charge people or businesses with violations,” he said. 

St. Pierre added that if there was a “gross or obvious violation, it is likely we’d forward our findings to the appropriate channels for sanctions that may include the loss or suspension of certain business licensing.” 

Sea40, which has been affected by the 50% capacity guideline, has tried to avoid any further loss of customers by providing face coverings for customers who don’t have one. And that has become just another added expense to the reopening process. 

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“The first couple weeks we couldn’t run any lunch specials (because some food supplies went up 35% in price) and people were being a little sarcastic about that, but they don’t understand what’s happening right now with all of these businesses and all of the money that we have to put out to buy new barriers for outdoor seating, and signage, and your masks,” Gosselin said. “People walk in without a mask, you want to provide a mask. So there are a lot more expenses this year versus last year.” 

Gosselin added that Sea40 is down to just one hibachi table to keep within capacity guidelines, and outdoor seating is limited to the sidewalk outside the building next to the parking lot on East Avenue. 

“We were not an establishment that people were flocking to. So, yeah, it’s been really, really hard” for the business,” Gosselin said. “I think for our regular customers it’s been a relief to be able to come back to your comfortable space, but we have not had an increase really in reservations, regardless if we were outside or inside. It’s just really, really slow.” 

Norcross added outdoor seating at her cafe when that was the only dining option, and it was something that she had wanted to do anyway. Between the outdoor tables and a reconfigured and renovated front inside dining area, her restaurant is close to what indoor capacity was prior to the pandemic. 

“The outside dining is huge. It’s been a huge help,” Norcross said. 

Even rainy days Monday and Tuesday couldn’t prevent the cafe from being “superbusy” according to Norcross. 

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“I think people are happy to be out and about,” she said. “We’re happy to see our people back.”

“You know, if this has got to be the new norm for a little bit we’ll figure it out,” she said. But, you know, I haven’t had people complaining. It’s been going OK.” 

Brendan Moore, left, and Avery Jones have lunch at Gridiron Restaurant and Sports Pub in Lewiston on Tuesday. “It’s definitely different,” Moore said about eating inside again after the temporary COVID-19 closure. “Can’t be kept in my house for too long,” he said. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

Emond said Gridiron has had “nothing but positivity from customers.” The restaurant created outdoor seating in its parking lot before indoor dining reopened and has kept that option even with the return of outdoor dining. Despite more spaced-out seating and the addition of outdoor seating, Gridiron has still had lines of waiting customers some days. 

“We are thankful that our guests are willing to wait a short time to be back at our tables,” Emond said. 

Legends also added patio seating at its Mollison Way location, and that has helped business. 

“In a time when companies are wondering how to keep the lights on, we are blessed to be growing,” Small said. 

Norcross said the return to indoor dining has been encouraging. 

“I want people to be encouraged that, hey, we’re heading in the right direction. But people still need to be careful,” she said. “If the restaurants, if we can help follow the rules and take care of what we need to take care of, then we’ll be better off.” 


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