Monmouth Indoor Dining Reopens, A 'Step In The Right Direction'

MONMOUTH COUNTY – After months of empty booths, clean plates and shuttered doors, Monmouth County food establishments are finally ready to open their doors on Friday.

Following an executive order from Gov. Phil Murphy, indoor dining will resume Sept. 4 in New Jersey at 25 percent capacity. Social distancing restrictions must also be in place, according to the reopening guidelines.

Read more: Gov. Murphy: NJ Indoor Dining To Resume Amid Coronavirus Crisis

“I think I speak for everyone when I say it’s a step in the right direction. 25 percent is a start,” says Joe Hernando, co-owner of Wahoo’s Fish Taco in Middletown. “We’ve had an unbelievable summer in terms of weather. It’s time to get back inside.”

But according to the restaurateur, given the warm weather expected over Labor Day weekend, customers may want to take advantage of outdoor dining for as long as they can before autumn. While his indoor bar may see increased traffic, Hernando doesn’t foresee a huge demand for indoor dining right away.

“People wanna be outside. Even if we go back to a year ago, our patio would be full and our inside would be at maybe 50 percent,” says Hernando. "On a holiday weekend, with the beautiful weather, I don’t think that opening up to 25 percent will make a big difference.”

In fact, given the popularity of his outdoor dining patio predating the pandemic, Hernando says that he has invested in patio heaters to retain outdoor service “as long as we can.”

On the indoor dining front, Hernando’s Route 35 restaurant will be distancing tables and chairs throughout the establishment and implementing sanitizing stations. But as a fast-casual eatery with less than a 100-person capacity under normal conditions, the governor’s 25 percent capacity restrictions will only allow up to 23 customers inside.

But is that capacity restriction sustainable? Hernando says: “Over the long haul, probably not.”

‘I Will Continue Outdoor Dining As Long As I Can’

Other area eateries to open indoor seating include Old Glory Kitchen + Spirits in Keyport, The Chapter House Bar & Grill in Howell and Rooney's Oceanfront Restaurant in Long Branch.

Mike Marshall, owner of Perkins Restaurant and Bakery in Hazlet, says he too is excited to return to indoor service, calling the outdoor-only model “not the solution long-term.”

“I built up our takeout service to something decent, but nothing remotely close to where we need to survive,” says Marshall. “Even with the addition of outdoor dining, which has worked and is very successful, there’s nothing better than getting back inside.”

Related: Outdoor Dining Marks Hopeful 'First Step' For Holmdel Restaurants

At Marshall’s Airport Plaza location, sanitizers will be stationed throughout the restaurant and a plexiglass barrier will separate customers from cashiers at the register. Every other table will also be blocked off in his 250-seat restaurant.

Of course, for diners who are not yet ready to dine indoors, Marshall’s outdoor seating option will remain as well.

“I’ve had a lot of great feedback, some like to still enjoy the outdoor dining. Some are skeptical about going indoors, but overall I think having a variety is a win-win,” says Marshall. “I will continue outdoor dining as long as I can. I’ve been given the green light by my landlord as well as the township. I have portable heaters as well for those colder days.”

Inclement weather has been a majority concern for restaurant owners, with heavy rainfall and at least two tropical storms throughout the summer months temporarily closing outdoor business. The success of nearby Red Bank’s pedestrian plaza has largely come from its tranquil climate for outdoor dining, which will prove difficult to mimic during the winter.

The decision to move forward with indoor dining came at a key moment, as the plaza plans to close late September when cold weather begins to set in, according to Red Bank RiverCenter Executive Director Laura Kirkpatrick.

"We're anticipating [the plaza] to be through the fall, which gets us to the end of September," Kirkpatrick told Patch earlier this summer. "But we're also hoping that, by that time, our restaurants will have indoor seating because that's important. We need to get that done."

Read more: Red Bank Pedestrian Plaza Plans To Stay Through September

‘There’s A Lot Of Unknowns’

To Hernando, indoor dining will also allow the intimate customer experience that locals were accustomed to before the pandemic.

“It’s about customer service, it’s about dealing with customers face-to-face,” says Hernando. “it’s always better to have them in and around us rather than just walk away with food. You can fix problems when they’re sitting right in front of you. You get direct feedback, good or bad. It’s hard to do that now.”

But while the indoor bar will likely draw additional foot traffic (with bartenders “eager to start interacting with customers again”), Hernando has been forced to close iconic facets of his restaurant, including Wahoo’s salsa bar and soda fountain (“I don’t see how we can reasonably keep that open”, Hernando says).

“The biggest issue is that there’s a lot of unknowns. It’s hard to plan without knowing what [the state's] plan is," the restaurant owner concluded. "Do we go out and buy the heaters or do we wait too long? Does 25 percent [capacity] mean that we have to order more food, hire more people? It’s anyone’s guess."

Despite the collective sigh of relief that many restaurant owners took when indoor dining was finally announced, both Marshall and Hernando expressed the uncertainty that will undoubtedly define the next steps into the reopening process:

“There’s certainly a lot of question marks, but having an outdoor patio helps until we get up to 100 percent capacity," says Hernando. "And I don’t even know if we’ll ever get to that number.”

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