‘This is the new norm.’ Modesto-area restaurants close, move to takeout as COVID spikes
Well, here restaurants go again.
The unwelcome roller coaster of openings and closings continues for Stanislaus County eateries as the latest COVID spike has disrupted dining rooms and operating hours once again.
This past week more than half a dozen restaurants in the area announced temporary closures and other changes due to pandemic-related issues. Some restaurants reported sick employees or shut due to exposures. Others reported short staffing and have cut back hours.
Derick Webb and his wife opened Lumberyard Cellars, a wine tasting room in Escalon, in July 2021. They’re open weekends from Friday to Sunday, but announced on Thursday, Jan. 6, that their business is closing until further notice.
Webb said when two of his daily staff members contracted COVID, he and his wife were still going to go ahead and keep the tasting room open with a reduced staff. But then his wife was exposed too, so they made the decision to close for at least a week while they wait on negative test results.
“We had a event planned (for this weekend),” Webb said. “We’re doing live music and a food truck that we try to do once a month, so that kind of limited us on that aspect.”
In Modesto, the new year started with temporary closures and notices of COVID exposures for craft ramen restaurant Konfucious Eats in the McHenry Village. The restaurant posted a notice on its social media feeds on Tuesday about a one-day closure due to a staff member testing positive for COVID, but the next day they announced a temporary closure for the rest of this week due to additional exposures.
Their message to customers ended with, “hope to see you next week,” which has become a common sentiment as restaurants continue to navigate staffing through COVID.
Fellow Modesto businesses Pizzeria Halt and Lo-Fi cocktail lounge both announced temporary closures of at least a week in response to the COVID spike in Stanislaus County. This week positive case numbers have climbed steadily each day, with 1,341 cases reported Monday through Thursday, according to the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency.
Pizzeria Halt, an all-vegan pizza place on McHenry Avenue, wrote in a post, “Hello everyone, please note that we will be temporarily closed from Jan. 7 to 16 due to Omicron virus surges. Our goal is to keep our team and customers as safe as we can! Thank you for your understanding, we’ll see you on Jan. 17!”
In Turlock, Thursday saw popular downtown spots La Mo and Center Street Grill announce brief closures due to sick staff. And over the weekend Hughson’s Agave Azul Kitchen & Tequila Bar closed early one day due to short staffing in the kitchen.
This week downtown Modesto’s all plant-based and vegan restaurant The Farmacy made the decision to pivot back to takeout only. Owner Erin Doran closed her 10th Street restaurant’s dining room due to staff shortages and to keep everyone healthy.
“We were doing much better and then this hit us again. From December to now it’s just been nuts and we’re short staffed just like every other restaurant,” she said. “Hopefully this won’t be for very long, just until we can get though this crazy wave of cases.”
Doran offers walk-up and delivery through DoorDash and GrubHub. The restaurant opened shortly after the pandemic started, in May 2020. The cafe launched with takeout only, and since moving to its new permanent location a few doors down opened its dining room.
But this week saw it close in what Doran said might become the new normal for restaurants and customers as the pandemic continues.
“I hope not, but I feel like this is the new norm. Everyday it’s something new,” Doran said. “We had to pivot really quick last minute yesterday. We hope that customers understand that we’re doing this to keep them safe, without sacrificing access.”
Restaurant owners and managers recommend checking ahead before heading to your favorite place to eat, particularly during this new surge in COVID cases with the rise of the omicron variant.
Like Doran, Webb opened Lumberyard Cellars during the pandemic so they’ve never operated without COVID protocols, from mask mandates to closures and reduced seating. Webb said he’s looking forward to a future where they can take advantage of all the seating space in the tasting room and not have to worry about staff shortages.
He expects some of the enhanced safety protocols to continue even post-pandemic, like disinfecting, but he’s hoping to return to a world without the need for COVID restrictions.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to get more people in, spread the word more as more people want to come out and about,” he said, “(and) enjoy businesses like ours.”
This story was produced with financial support from the Stanislaus Community Foundation, along with the GroundTruth Project’s Report for America initiative. The Modesto Bee maintains full editorial control of this work.
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This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
