Skip to content

Local Restaurants Ramping Up For Return Of Dine-In Customers

Many local businesses are following Governor Mike Parson’s plan to reopen the state’s economy this month.
In keeping with national, state and county health department recommendations, local restaurants stopped offering indoor dining around the middle of March. Barber and beauty shops, along with other so-called “non-essential” businesses, closed their doors to the public.
Now, following Parson’s guidelines for a gradual May reopening of the economy, more and more are easing back into the flow of things.
Jami Inman, owner of Cafe Genevieve, said she tentatively plans on resuming indoor dining on May 18.
Since dining in has been essentially prohibited, Inman has offered both curbside pickup and delivery. For $1, she will deliver anywhere in the city of  Ste. Genevieve.
“We’ll still do curbside and delivery, and dining in starting the week of the 18th,” Inman said. “We will still do the curbside for people who don’t want to come in.”
Inman doesn’t expect there to be many of those, however.
“We’ve had lots of people call,” she said. “We’ve had a couple of people upset that we weren’t letting them [dine inside]. I’m pretty optimistic that they’ll feel comfortable.”
May 18  was given as a frequent target date.

Cars lined up at the Old Brick House for curbside pick-up service on a recent Sunday afternoon. The Brick and all other restaurants in Ste. Genevieve County closed their dine-in services in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Herald staff photo)

Rosey Huck of the Old Brick House restaurant said they are also looking at May 18 to possibly resume indoor dining.
“We had people ask about Mother’s Day [May 10], but I said no way, with all the people who would be wanting to come in,” Huck said.
Huck is confident the health department guidelines of social distancing and so many people per square feet can be met.
“We can use the back room, but we’ll still have to be careful with how many people we have,” she said.
“A lot of our businesses are slowly looking at the May 18 date,” said Dena Kreitler, executive director of the Ste. Genevieve Chamber of Commerce. “I know some of them are  doing some limited hours now. I think for most of them, they’re kind of looking at a dine-in option about May 18. Of course that can be pushed back if our numbers or anything spikes.”
The Anvil Saloon and Restaurant will begin offering dining-in service a bit earlier.
Manager Jerry Holliday said dining in was to begin at 11 a.m. on May 11. Since the shutdown, the Anvil has also been offering pick-up orders.
Holliday thinks customers will feel comfortable dining inside.
“I think they will,” he said. “I think people are ready to get out of their houses.”
Sirros initially offered take-out only when the shutdown began, then shut down completely.
The restaurant reopened last Friday for take-out only.
Manager Susie Tatham said they will see how the take-out business goes, then make a decision on indoor dining.
“We’ll go with the same schedule and decide from there,” she said.
“We’re trying this for two weeks to see what it does,” Tatham said. “Then if it looks like we can reopen for dine-in, limited dine-in, we will. We’re just kind of taking it slow.”

See complete story in the May 13 edition of the Herald.

Leave a Comment