SEATTLE — As bars and restaurants across Washington are ordered to close their doors – some face struggles ahead, while others find new solutions to coronavirus social distancing.
At Canlis Monday – it was the most traffic they’d seen in a while. The Seattle fine-dining staple decided it would launch a drive-thru lunch service, offering burgers and fries with car-side orders. As cars stacked up in their small parking lot, owner Mark Canlis ran around directing traffic and handling logistics.
Employees taking orders weaved in between cars with tablets taking orders. Another went around sanitizing the tablets.
Canlis said he never expected to get into the restaurant business – let alone the drive-thru business.
“Apparently it’s a brisk business,” he said. “So we’re taking this one day at a time, see what happens here.”
Canlis is also opening a breakfast bagel shack and take home family dinner service – an effort to meet the needs of Seattle as officials plead with people to stay home and avoid large groups.
Gov. Jay Inslee ordered bars, restaurant and entertainment venues to close until March 31. Drive-thru and delivery options are still allowed. Grocery stores, banks, retailers and pharmacies can remain open as long as they meet public health directives.
Canlis said all these efforts let his staff keep working and preserve their income, while keeping customers safe and separated.
“This is not the time for fine dining right now,” said Canlis. “And so – we wanted a way that we could keep feeding the city through this season, and every day we’re adjusting to figure out how to make that happen.”
“It’s crazy!” said Joy Aldrich, who stopped by for lunch. “A little bit of fun in a scary time.”
Some have not been as fortunate in this downturn though. Across Lake Union, staff at Italian staple Serafina were busy packing up the restaurant for what looked to be a long-term closure.
“Around this time we’d have seven or eight cooks getting set up for normal dinner service,’ said Christian Chandler, owner.
Some food was preserved, if possible, but much of it was either given to staff or a local food pantry. Chandler said he’d been forced to temporarily layoff the staff.
“I know Gov. Inslee said until the 31st of this month, but my gut tells me that this thing is going to last a little longer,” he said. “I’m kind of using the school closures as a guide for us.”
That uncertainty hangs like a cloud over businesses impacted by social distancing measures. Last week – Spanish tapas eatery Pintxo announced it was closing its doors forever, along with other businesses. Those that are staying afloat wonder how long they can make it without income.
For Chandler – he worries about his staff, and what the restaurant scene will look like when the virus is contained.
“Never seen anything like this before,” he said. “It’s scary. It’s scary.”
"It's a scary time and we all just need to come together and find solutions to help each other out,” said Adrich, waiting in line for her order at Canlis.