Here’s what Modesto-area restaurants say will help them get through new COVID surge
As area restaurants struggle to stay open during the latest surge in COVID-19 cases, they are asking for one simple thing from their customers.
“I am hoping that the public is going to be patient and understand the reason we are closed,” said Kathy Monday, who owns the Squeeze In restaurant in north Modesto. “We don’t want to be closed, obviously. If we’re closed, we’re trying our best to be safe. We’re doing everything we can to be open.”
Monday’s popular breakfast and lunch spot in Village One was closed Tuesday due to staffing issues, but was open again by Wednesday. She has been strictly following COVID safety precautions, sending staff home when they report exposures to people with the virus. Over the course of the pandemic, she has spent some $10,000 on new safety measures, from air purifiers to heating lamps and outdoor shade structures.
Monday said they’ve been lucky to not have any exposures through the restaurant with her staff of about 17. But she said workers have reported exposures outside of work, and she has them stay home to keep everyone safe whenever that happens.
For larger restaurant staffs, that isn’t a problem, but she said smaller operations like hers will likely see more temporary and one- or two-day closures as the highly transmissible omicron variant continues to spread through Stanislaus County.
Like Monday, chef and owner Tye Bauer has had to close his restaurant Bauhaus for the week due to staffing issues. His other Modesto restaurant, Bauer’s Downtown Gastropub, remains open. Restaurants have had to be nimble on their feet throughout the pandemic, first pivoting to takeout and then managing new outdoor and indoor seating rules.
“Business is ebb and flow in the downtown arena. I know we are all experiencing something different on any given day of the week,” Bauer said.
Just off downtown Modesto, Surla’s restaurant has closed down until Feb. 1 due to the new waves of COVID cases in the region. Chef and owner John Surla made the decision because of omicron’s spread “like wildfire” and in hopes of keeping his staff and customers safe.
His other Ripon restaurant, Fina, remains open. But Surla’s, his flagship namesake spot, has been closed for large chunks of the pandemic as he tried to weather the staffing upheaval caused the the virus.
“I can’t cook everything myself,” he said.
Restaurant owners and managers said two things that could help them survive the current surge are more and readily available rapid tests and — as has been a continual refrain during the pandemic — more staffing.
They also advise customers to call ahead or check social media before showing up, to stave off potential disappointment with so much in flux because of staffing and sickness.
Staffing also has been an issue for Frank Machado, the owner of the Elegant Bull, a steak restaurant in Delhi. Machado has been forced to reduce his hours and cut lunch service due to a lack of staff.
He and his son Daniel, one of the restaurant’s chefs, are struggling to find cooks, dishwashers and waitstaff. Some of his servers, Machado said, work day jobs and then come to the Elegant Bull after their shifts end to work the dinner service.
“They’ve got jobs already,” he said. “They’re making money because nobody else will come in.”
Machado finally closed the restaurant for a day this week because he didn’t have enough staff. He said he’s struggling to hire not just because of the pandemic surge but because there are people still living on unemployment benefits who haven’t made a return to their jobs yet.
Contrary to popular belief, it’s often not young people who aren’t returning to work, but older Americans accelerating their retirement, according to a CNN analysis.
While Machado is looking for more staff, Manuel Fernandez, the manager of El Coco Loco, a Mexican seafood restaurant in Modesto, said his restaurant would be most helped by investment in small businesses. El Coco Loco opened in July 2019, so it wasn’t eligible for many of the loans and grants available early on in the pandemic.
The restaurant has now permanently adjusted its hours — it’s closed on Mondays and Tuesdays — and Fernandez has said the customer flow has been “volatile.”
Fernandez and his staff of 12 have been able to keep the restaurant going, but he said that with the latest case surge, some of his customers are wary of dining in person. El Coco Loco offers takeout and delivery, too, and Fernandez said that flexibility has allowed the restaurant to stay open these past two years.
“We have to find the best way to survive,” he said.
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 14, 2022 at 6:30 AM.
