Some LA restaurants have found ‘creative’ solutions to ignore outdoor dining ban

Los Angeles restaurants are just starting to grapple with a complete ban on on-site alfresco dining, a major source of income over the past six months, when indoor dining was mostly unavailable ( except for a period of five weeks at half-time). summer that quickly ended due to the increase in COVID-19 cases). But some restaurants are finding ways to get around the ban on alfresco dining by openly defying the county’s health order or by setting up available seating on patios or adjacent areas without direct service to customers.

For these nifty restaurants, diners can then grab some food (which is still allowed) and sit on the premises without any further service from the workers. It’s unclear if this is actually allowed, but that hasn’t stopped restaurants from trying to keep these spaces open in an effort to maintain the level of activity they had with alfresco dining.

Los Angeles restaurants have been dealt with blow after blow with the surprise reduction of outdoor dining capacity to 50% capacity and the 10 p.m. curfew on November 20. the premises used the outdoor space they had available. A few days later, on November 25, all outdoor dining was ordered to close, which ended the discussion of capacity limits. Take-out and delivery operations were allowed to continue as a lifeline for restaurants.

Then, on November 30, a county issued a Safer Home Comprehensive Order that wasn’t as restrictive as the spring one, but certainly a ball to restaurants already hovering on thin ice financially.

Some restaurants don’t take orders without a fight. Eat at Joe’s Diner, an all-day casual spot in Redondo Beach, has openly challenged the closure of outdoor restaurants in an effort to keep its 11 employees on the payroll. The move echoes the Nomads canteen, which directly challenged Governor Gavin Newsom’s safer home order in early May and reopened for indoor and outdoor service at full capacity. Joe’s owner Alex Jordan told CBS News that “cut them [the employees] four weeks before Christmas, I was wrong. Jordan also trolled Newsom with a temporary banner declaring his restaurant “the French Laundry patio dining”, a dig at the governor’s recent questionable decision to eat at the Napa Valley restaurant in mid-November. Other restaurants in the county have openly defied the rules, such as Koreatown’s Meat Love BBQ, which continued to serve diners in its tented outdoor dining room on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, in Santa Monica, Heroic Italian converted its outdoor dining area into a “public park” offering seating and tables for all locals, not just its patrons. There is no service from the heroic staff, although the “park wardens” sanitize tables, maintain radiators, and provide access to restrooms. The workaround is similar to that of Swork in Eagle Rock, which billed its outdoor tables and chairs as a “peaceful protest,” a reference to the two exceptions in LA County for public gatherings, which currently allow public gatherings. gatherings for places of worship and protests.

It is unclear how county officials will handle workarounds or open disregard for the outdoor restaurant closures, although citations, fines and other penalties may be imposed on restaurateurs. Just today, the county announced it will provide financial assistance of $ 30,000 to operators with an all-brick and mortar site and kitchen, less than 25 employees, and an out-of-town location. the city of Los Angeles or Pasadena. Restaurants in search of rescue must also not be part of a corporate chain (and be part of a chain with less than five seats), have a health rating above “C” and have opened before. March 4.