Restaurants around Washington make changes with reopenings

WASHINGTON - Restaurants around the square in Washington had to make a big decision on May 15 - whether or not to open for dine-in in the midst of a global pandemic.

In mid-March, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a State of Public Health Disaster Emergency requiring all restaurants and bars to close to the public except for carryout, drive-through and delivery. After time went on and daily case numbers dropped, Reynolds announced restaurants could reopen for dine-in with restrictions.

Restaurants around the square had to make the decision whether or not they were going to reopen for dine-in. Cafe Dodici and JP's 207 decided to reopen.

Cafe Dodici opened up their doors for dine-in on May 16.

Cafe Dodici's proprietor Lorraine Williams said the staff worked together the week before opening cleaning the restaurant and taking the opportunity to do maintenance that they do not have time to do or have to take extra time to do when they are open such as painting chairs and fixing seat covers.

'We've been closed for a long time and the restaurant industry is very fragile when everything goes fine,” Williams said. 'We want to still be here for our customers and our community, so we were happy to open up.”

Cafe Dodici make sure to implement and follow all of the governor's recommendations such as have 6 feet between the tables, no parties of more than six, 50 percent capacity, no self-service food or drink and increased cleaning and hygiene procedures.

On top of that, Cafe Dodici provides hand sanitizer at the entrance, nothing is place on the tables, all the menus are sanitized and all of the servers wear masks. For the employees, their temperatures are taken and if they do not feel well, they do not go to work.

'We always did all of those things, so this isn't that new to us,” Williams said about cleaning the restaurant.

Williams said the staff is trying to be very respectful not to get too close to people. Williams has been doing this for 16 years and her customers are very dear to her heart.

'I'm the kind of person that hugs my customers, I'm very affectionate, Williams said. 'Even though it's difficult, I don't do it because you never know what the other person's situation is.”

One large change Cafe Dodici make was providing additional outdoor seating. The Washington City Council gave Williams permission this year to add seating outside the restaurant to spread people out.

'Our hope is more outdoor seating will be more comfortable for the guests, will be more fun,” Williams said.

Jp's 207 officially reopened their doors May 28, but had a 'soft opening” the week before.

Owner Jaron Rosien said during their soft opening, they did not advertise they were open to ease into reopening. After that week, they advertised and have been open for dine-in since.

'At JP's we've also added individual napkin dispensers at each table, and have prepackaged plastic silverware for anyone that prefers it,” Rosien said. 'We've also made adjustments to how we sanitize our menus and other frequently touched surfaces as well as with how we use our tablet for credit card charges.”

When reopening, each restaurant had few concerns outside of following the guidelines.

Williams said her staff was one of her main concerns with reopening because they are like a close family.

'We've been working together for 16 years and I didn't want to put anybody here at risk,” Williams said. 'But everyone was in agreement that they were ready.”

Rosien said he was concerned about the people and who would be dining in, how many people would be and how they would behave.

'Happily, these concerns have not been problematic; things have gone very, very well,” Rosien said.

Rosien said he's seen that high-risk or ill individuals are not out and the people who are out have been calm, cautious, patient and kind.

'It has been wonderful and it's great to see and serve people,” Rosien said.

Cafe Dodici has a current capacity of around 58 people and JP's has a current capacity of about 65 people.

'We have put several tables in storage to spread people out more comfortably and we have a spacious waiting area for anyone getting carryout or waiting to be seated,” Rosien said.

Starting June 12, Reynolds lifted capacity restrictions on restaurants as well as other restrictions outside the 6 feet of distance and hygiene practices.

Both restaurants said the changed they have implemented will remain to keep staff and guests safe.

Williams said Cafe Dodici may continue to keep the 6 feet space between tables beyond the pandemic.

'It does cut down how many people we can serve but it keeps the noise level down,” Williams said.

Both restaurants said the response from customers has been very positive.

'They were just out of their mind, they're really happy,” Williams said. 'People were calling saying ‘are you open to eat, are you open to eat.'”

Williams said a gentleman from Cedar Rapids called her the other day. The man said the last restaurant he ate at before the lockdown was Cafe Dodici and he wanted it to be the first restaurant he ate at after.

'We want to make sure that we're following all the safety regulations so that when they come they can relax, Williams said. 'The whole idea of dining out is to nourish your body and to get away and to reconnect with people.”

Cafe Dodici is currently open Wednesday through Sunday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Wednesday through Saturday 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Dodici's Shop is open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

JP'S 207 is currently open Tuesdays through Friday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesday through Friday 4:30 p.m. to bar close, but the kitchen closes at 10 p.m. and Saturday 6 p.m. to bar close.