Restaurants worldwide are finalizing their checklists for sanitation requirements, curbside and delivery setup, and figuring out new seating layouts for six feet of social distance. Nevertheless, there are some restaurants that are taking creativity a little further when it comes to re-opening non-essential companies.

Some government officials have instituted a Temporary Outdoor Restaurant Permit, which allows restaurants to use parking spots for additional seating. In addition to this being helpful for customers who feel safer outside than within a socially confined space, these permits also provide the option of using tents (smaller than 200 square feet). Regardless, there must be enough room for emergency vehicles and American Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility features. Restaurant owners must approve seating arrangements ahead of time with their municipality.

In Amsterdam, Mediamatic ETEN is selling tickets for customers to dine outside. Its owners have not merely created a typical outdoor bistro area with tables, chairs and umbrellas. This Dutch restaurant is selling four-course vegetarian meals for dining in quarantined greenhouses. Upcoming reservations are completely sold out until June, according to the restaurant’s website.

While seating areas near the street are not uncommon in U.S. restaurants, post-COVID-19 areas must follow stricter guidelines to help customers enjoy outside dining with added safety. Street Seats specifically, which are being installed in major cities such as New York City along the curb line or on wide sidewalks, must not be near fire hydrants, driveways, newsstands or bus stops. New installations cannot be too close to moving traffic lanes, or close to intersections and turning lanes.

In addition to creative seating arrangements, restaurants are trying to find economical ways to both save their food and help customers, too — whether customers care to dine in or not. In addition to prepared food, restaurateurs are also offering groceries to their customers. Customers can buy perishables and non-perishables directly from restaurants to use at home. While this may seem counterproductive for the restaurant’s ambiance, restaurants are finding that their customers are eager to skip long grocery lines. Some restaurant owners are also finding groceries to supplement their revenue due to impulse purchases when customers arrive to retrieve prepared food.

Sysco, a notable restaurant supplier, is assisting restaurants in the process of selling their own groceries. Restaurants often buy groceries in bulk: multi-pound bags of flour for bakeries, or boxes of garden vegetables. Even though customers are not coming inside with the same amount of traffic, restaurants are offering opportunities for their customers to skip six-foot-spaced waiting lines within crowded groceries stores.

Tenko Ramen, a ramen shop based in San Antonio, Texas, is one of several examples of restaurateurs capitalizing on this trend. “It’s a way to help us kind of stay afloat,” said Jennifer Dobbertin, the owner of Tenko Ramen, to NPR. Beyond her regular menu of dishes like spicy miso, kimchi and edamame, her restaurant is selling grocery items like cabbage heads.

In Atlanta, 8ARM restaurant has introduced community supported agriculture (CSA). Instead of curbside pickups of their own meals, they are also selling bags with vegetables and eggs from local farmers. Customers can also buy bottles of wine, meat, bread, coffee, soap and more, according to the Atlanta restaurant’s official site. Customers can choose between single, one-time purchases and recurring subscriptions. 

While these tactics may not be the saving grace for restaurants that have already lost approximately eight million employees and $80 billion in sales as of the end of April, creative ideas like these may be what consumers need to hear about in order to gather the courage to return to their favorite restaurants.

Photo by Victor He on Unsplash

Last year, a National Restaurant Association survey claimed that 87 million Americans planned to dine out on Mother’s Day. Due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infecting more than 1.17 million people in the U.S. and causing approximately 68,000 deaths, families will have to act creatively this coming Sunday. Whether they order to-go for family members in different households or just for their own mothers, dining-in will be the new normal this Mother’s Day.

Restaurant owners are certainly facing a drastically different environment versus prior years. More dependent on third-party delivery services than ever before, apps like GrubHub, DoorDash, Postmates and UberEats may be hurting more than helping. The problem is the fee structure.

Using GrubHub’s example of a taco restaurant order, the subtotal for a two-person order could be $41 with sales tax at $3.28 for a total of $44.28. However, GrubHub prepaid orders charge a 20% marketing commission (higher exposure on the website), plus a 10% delivery commission, a processing fee of 3.05% and an additional $0.30. Restaurants who use the “Pay Me Now Fee” for same-day earnings are charged a $1 transaction fee, even if it takes three to four additional business days to receive funds. Various other fees such as adjustments, equipment rental and chargebacks can add up to more than 50% of revenue in fees for some merchants.

While third-party companies may have been able to advertise some of these companies pre-closure to a larger consumer base, depending on the restaurant, some simply cannot afford any extra expenses right now. According to the National Restaurant Association, 3% of restaurants have permanently closed due to COVID-19, 44% have temporarily closed and 11% are deliberating their decision about whether they will close for good.

Restaurants are slowly reopening during the month of May. Many restaurant owners are encouraging customers to order directly from them as opposed to these third-party apps.

Restaurants on Shaky Ground, Mobile Apps or Not

The coronavirus outbreak has taken unemployment to 4.4%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and as high as 16%, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Every penny counts for today’s restaurant owners, and likewise for consumers. The higher the initial ticket price, the less likely consumers are to press the buy button.

Employment in leisure and hospitality locations has already fallen by 459,000, primarily in food services and drinking locations. Total job losses in the restaurant industry nationwide total 8 million, according to the National Restaurant Association. With fewer consumers willing to pay for food deliveries, restaurants are left scrambling to pay their remaining employees.

However, for customers who are trying to get back into their normal (or special) routines, popular sit-down restaurants are trying their best. Cheesecake Factory has an order option for curbside to-go. Following strict COVID-19 safety requirements, the outermost package is sealed so there is no contact with the food from the kitchen to the door. Wrapped utensils can be declined altogether.

Other chain restaurants offering to-go orders and strict sanitary practices include Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Applebee’s and TGI Friday’s. Even after social isolation requirements have loosened this month, other dine-in restaurants such as Dave & Busters are still largely not opening in major metropolitan areas such as San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles or New York City. Consumers should check ahead of time for upcoming orders to make sure their restaurants will be open at all, or serve meals during holidays like Mother’s Day.

Even with 54% of restaurant operators providing off-premises service in March, as mandatory social isolation has become more common, major business changes were enforced, including 70% of restaurant operators who had to lay off employees and reduce work hours. Additional layoffs and hourly reductions continued in April while restaurant owners limited their menus and preparation hours. They also reduced delivery hours, with or without a third-party courier.

Is the Bigger Issue App Fees, or Evolving Customer Attitudes?

Curbside delivery and in-house delivery is on an uptick versus sit-down options. Yet lower-earning restaurants are still depending on a consumer base that has also lost disposable income. Mother’s Day and other special occasions may create a temporary earnings boost, but then what?

Overall, Americans are still rationing their spending in noticeable ways. In a survey from management consulting firm L.E.K. Consulting, takeout and delivery orders fell 15% while non-perishable and perishable groceries rose 15%. For an industry that depends on Americans opting out of cooking at home and ordering food delivery, third-party couriers versus curbside pick-up may not make much of a difference until consumers become confident in their own finances.

Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash

For some coffee drinkers, walking into Starbucks is as normal for their everyday routine as regulars strolled into the 1980s sitcom “Cheers.” Baristas know their customers’ go-to drinks and names at first sight. But with both baristas and customers unable to go inside to get their orders, largely due to COVID-19, the restaurant chain knew it needed to get creative to keep its regulars.

Since March 15, Starbucks store-owned chains closed their dining rooms, allowing drive-thru or to-go only. That also left temporary closures for company-owned stores in malls and university campuses. While some hospital locations remained open under reduced operating hours, store managers have noted large decreases in their regular customers. First-responder vehicles and ambulances rarely fit through the drive-thru lanes, and put themselves at risk of getting caught in traffic lines between an emergency. In turn, they have had no choice but to opt out.

That left store managers like Nicole Westin in Greenville, North Carolina, getting creative to reach the large community of hospital workers who were responsible for a revolving circle of repeat customers.

According to Starbucks, Westin overheard a conversation from a COVID-19 first responder in the drive-thru window. She asked how to get coffee to the first-responder’s hospital departments in need, and the first-responder offered to pick it up for her team. Since then, that location has continued to prepare coffee, water, snacks, and handwritten encouragement notes.

But she’s not alone. In Airdrie, Alberta, a store manager named Maria Gaw organized “coffee travelers” to take drinks to two long-term care facilities for the nurses. One of the nurses who found out what the “coffee travelers” were doing “broke down crying” when she was called.

In Skokie, Illinois, store manager Thomas Winklebeck gave his personal cell phone number to the Skokie Fire Department so they were able to call him directly. With his help, first responders could receive their orders in the restaurant parking lot or the front of the store.

And the list continues. Since March 25, Starbucks has reportedly been giving out more than 1 million free tall-brewed (hot or iced) coffees to front-line health care workers and first-responders. Although lobbies were scheduled to stay closed until May 3, free coffee deliveries will continue on for first-responders until the end of May.

“Thanks to @Starbucks for helping to keep us fueled up during the pandemic,” tweeted the official Sheriff’s Office from Charles County in Southern Carolina. “The company has offered first responders free tall coffees for their work on the front lines. We appreciate you all for working through this as well! #ItKeepsUsRunning #ThankYou.”

But Starbucks isn’t the only coffee franchise that has gotten involved in humanitarianism for health care workers. Dunkin Donuts locations are assisting in other avenues to help those affected by COVID-19. In Dickson City, Pennsylvania, franchisees and store employees joined together to set up a makeshift sewing workshop. They’ve sewn more than 60 masks in a few days to give to a local assisted living facility.

“We are beyond thankful and honored with this gift,” said Caroline Bailon, Medical Technician at The Garden of Greenridge, via a Dunkin’ press release. “Words cannot express the joy we have for these masks.”

Dunkin’ has also donated more than 40,000 gift cards to medical workers at 157 hospitals across the country. Participants who want to get involved in the donations can specify their favorite healthcare worker on a Dunkin’ gift card. Additionally, they can choose to donate funds to the Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood Foundation, which focuses on food banks, first-responders and hospitals.

Donations to these foundations also help fund Dunkin’ sampling trucks, who go to healthcare facilities and emergency sites in the Northeast to pass out free cups of coffee and MUNCHKINS donut hole treats to health care workers.

In the coming months, restaurant chains will choose to open on a store-by-store basis and may vary their reopening process by state. Click here to find out the status of all 50 states in the coming weeks.

Photo by Dimitri Bong on Unsplash