Dining out during Covid

[Taylor57]

I'm just curious as to what are the local rules of my fellow Ebikers when it comes to dining out in their cities. Here in Palm Springs CA, (Riverside County) no restaurants are open for dine in or dine outside. I just played golf this morning with a guy that just returned from Newport Beach, CA (Orange County) and many restaurants were open for inside and outside dining. Word was, local authorities are not enforcing the rules of no in or out dining. What's it like in your neck of the woods?

I miss going out for a nice meal....

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Saratoga County, NY here, north of Albany. Very suburban. We haven’t been to a sit down restaurant in almost a year now, and sadly, our very favorite place was an early casualty of all this.

That said, we get takeout dinners from a very snazzy place in town on occasion, where they run it right out to the car for you. I went down last night to pick up a Friday night dinner and you wouldn’t think there was anything going on out of the ordinary... in fact, the joint was jumping by even normal standards. Parking lot and street full, people coming and going, wearing masks though... mask wearing is completely the norm around this region.

I’m happy to see this business doing well, they spent almost a million starting it up a few years ago, but I wonder who all these people are and what they’re thinking. I guess it’s my old geezer attitude showing through.

The food was terrific, though!

 

[Gordon71]

Ellsworth Maine area here. To be honest I don't know the local rules but I do know several restaurants are closed and some are open. Way to cold for outdoor dining for sure. I've not been in a restaurant since late 2019 and won't be going to one until well after my second shot and haven't had my first one yet. I do miss it but prefer cooking to getting sick and maybe dying plus I have saved a lot of money.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Vancouver B.C. Canada here. We have restaurants and bars open. Here are the rules...
You must wear a mask when not at a table. Events are no longer allowed.

Restaurants, pubs and bars can continue to operate if they have a COVID-19 Safety Plan and employee protocols in place.

• Remember, a maximum of six people at a table and no moving between tables

 

[Art Deco]

Central Pennsylvania here. I haven't had a sit down inside resturant meal in about a year, just takeout, but some restaurants are serving with every other table blocked off to maintain distance. However, I don't see many people using the ones that are open. Usually all tables are empty, occasionally one or two tables in use out of a dozen or two. Short lines for takeout, two or three people max, but steady traffic. Some have cut their hours back, but not all. No new closures in my town that I know of.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

I've had exactly one sit-down indoor meal since this began, and it was under conditions so burdensome that I'm not motivated to do it again until I and a lot of other folks get the vaccine.

On the other hand, last summer and fall I had outside food and to-go food quite a few times, including a near-weekly pizza run.

And no place around these parts is open for dining in.

 

[PatriciaK]

Western WA - have fluctuated between limited indoor, outdoor, and take-out/delivery only since this started. Right now, we're back to only take-out/delivery in our little town.

 

[Dallant]

Lots of take out but no real dine out since March of last year.

 

[opimax]

Once a week or so my wife and do a day trip in GA, 400 mile round trip yesterday. We went to Albany to view Ray Charles Plaza. (Check YouTube )Spent maybe 30 minutes there viewing and walking and as always get a nice takeout.. So far always involves a crab leg or 2. I suffer some anxiety just ordering in the restaurant and getting outside to wait ASAP. We drive to any near by rec area if nice or break out our table cloth and eat in the van in the parking lot(secluded spot),back area with the door open if nice or wear the the table cloth across both of us in the front seats if needed as we did yesterday.

Most places have dine in and/or outside sitting but we won’t be there till we get shots. Playing dodge the person not masked or not masked properly just when ordering is no fun for us. You can have your opinion on if you wear or not but if the signs say wear why do you insist on not wearing? I once went to get BBQ but the place said masks not allowed , no problem did not go in, went elsewhere. We leave places where employees don’t wear when they say they are required , what other sanitary conditions do they ignore? With a light at the end of the tunnel having spent almost a year being careful as we can just not worth it to us

 

[fooferdoggie]

here in portland we have been take out the whole time. there may be some dine in for awhile I don't know for sure outside dining too but thats not always practical.

 

[Jimfastcar]

In Ontario, nothing open other than Take Out curbside. Even if they were open we would not sit in a confined space

 

[harryS]

Restaurants are reopening for 25% occupancy in Chicago and surrounding suburbs, but we won't be there Not been in a restaurant since last March.

I golfed last summer, but we didn't stick around afterwards for our usual beer, There were some interesting wrangles for golf carts. Few of us old guys willing share a cart, and the golf shops didn't have enough, Most of the time we paid an upcharge to ride alone. I was happy to pay that vs riding with someone moaning how the cure was worse than the disease.

 

[pmcdonald]

NSW, Australia. QR code sign in on entry, some nods to distancing per table (2m per patron) but otherwise business pretty much as usual. No masks required. Dining places and pubs are busy again, happy owners and punters.

 

[Taylor57]

Restaurants are reopening for 25% occupancy in Chicago and surrounding suburbs, but we won't be there Not been in a restaurant since last March.

I golfed last summer, but we didn't stick around afterwards for our usual beer, There were some interesting wrangles for golf carts. Few of us old guys willing share a cart, and the golf shops didn't have enough, Most of the time we paid an upcharge to ride alone. I was happy to pay that vs riding with someone moaning how the cure was worse than the disease.

Yeah, our club put plexiglass dividers in most of the carts. I still pay a little extra to ride alone and our restaurant/bar is closed so there is no visiting or dining after a round. Round ends, put on your mask, go right to your car. I miss a nice cold beer with the guys after a round-oh well, maybe one day...

 

[GypsyTreker]

Pretty sure it's biz as usual here in Central Fl. We have not been in a Restaurant in many, many months but have done some outside faires. Come to think of it I'm not sure if Covid19 is recognized as a problem here but there is lots of talk of how bad pneumonia has been, to the point it's killing folk.

 

[Sierratim]

California seems to enjoy policies that have a strong element of unpredictability about them. Think rotating power outages, but applied to restaurants!

First, indoor dining was OK with customers spaced apart and masks on wait staff. For most of the Summer it was takeout and dining al ftesco, but with tents and heaters. Then 25% indoor was OK, though most didn't offer this due to the excessive overhead costs for such low utilization. Then 50% again. Then stop everything except take out. Now we're back to limited indoor and al fresco with tents and heaters. So confusing.

On top of it the State won't release the stats they're using for these directives saying it'll just confuse people. I'll bet, since it seems to confuse them.

 

[AHicks]

Haven't been in one for a year now too, and missing them badly as well. We're on the Gulf Coast just north of Tampa, and it's legal to eat inside. That's being done frequently by those much braver (dumber?) than I am judging by the local news footage (most STILL not wearing masks!), but I'll be damned if I'm stepping foot in a restaurant until I'm fully vaccinated. -Al

 

[BarryS]

What are you all so scared of ? Dying Maybe ? Why? Is that worth stopping life for ? Most of you jump all over people not wearing helmets . Yet the whole world is deathly afraid of a virus you stand less then -001 % of getting . And if you do over 99% recover ? We've known for centuries to wash our hands and quarantine the sick . Why is this time so different ? Because there's surely no proof it is . You're riding a bike ??? You should have a decent set of lungs shouldn't you?

 

[Jens5]

We have not dined out in a year. Getting 1st vaccination today. Will consider dining out a month after receiving 2nd dose.

 

[AHicks]

What are you all so scared of ? Dying Maybe ? Why? Is that worth stopping life for ? Most of you jump all over people not wearing helmets . Yet the whole world is deathly afraid of a virus you stand less then -001 % of getting . And if you do over 99% recover ? We've known for centuries to wash our hands and quarantine the sick . Why is this time so different ? Because there's surely no proof it is . You're riding a bike ??? You should have a decent set of lungs shouldn't you?

If you sat down next to a loaded gun, would you use it to kill yourself? "What are you all so scared of ? Dying Maybe ? Why? Why not?"
Maybe just use it to blow a knee cap off. You're pretty sure to recover from that.....

You sit there and tell me a 300lb 70 year old has a 99% chance of surviving Covid. What a dumb a**, uninformed comment.

You want to go? Go for it. You can be another one of those already doing just that. It's the complete lack of respect for others displayed by folks like YOU that are the reason I must be double safe just leaving the house.....