Calling party of 6: Inslee increases table size at restaurants, eases alcohol curfew

Restaurants in Washington state can now seat up to six guests per table in Phase 2 counties and eight guests in Phase 3, regardless of household status, and can serve alcohol until 11 p.m., Gov. Inslee announced Oct. 7 in an update to Safe Start regulations.

“We’re hopeful this is going to allow restaurants to boost business in a safe way,” the governor said in a press conference. “We’re doing this because we want to recognize the progress we’ve made, we want to celebrate it, and we hope that this will show an incentive for our increasing desire to do the things that work, which includes wearing masks.”

It was a compromise, it seems, between an industry begging for relief and a state urging continued vigilance against a virus that has killed more than 210,000 Americans and reached the inner offices of the White House.

“Both changes allow restaurants more opportunity for business while keeping safety measures in place,” said Inslee.

The refreshed rules, effective immediately, align Washington with much of the rest of the country, where similar alcohol curfews have not been unheard of but have largely been short-lived.

They also eliminate the indoor dining rule that required parties to consist solely of members of the same household.

Businesses either dismissed or struggled to enforce that rule, unveiled in late July as COVID-19 cases spiked across the state. Even the governor’s office told The News Tribune at the time it did not expect restaurant staff to verify guests’ lodging situation.

Those that attempted to politely ask were left to navigate awkward, personal interactions between employee and customer, said Washington Hospitality Association president Anthony Anton.

“It was a difficult rule to enforce,” he told The News Tribune. “People who wanted to lie did, and then, ‘What do I do with my customer?’”

Though household mixing was permitted at outdoor tables, many potential patrons simply stayed home.

The previous 10 p.m. alcohol cutoff might have encouraged customers who spent an evening at the bar to head to a friend’s house or other venue without safety measures. Staff overheard guests scheming about where they would head next so frequently that dozens of Seattle-area businesses signed a petition to extend the curfew.

WA BARS & RESTAURANTS GAIN AN HOUR

Bars especially felt the sting from both the indoor household rule and premature last call. Per the July rollback, breweries, wineries, distilleries and taverns — those that serve beer and wine only — had to cut indoor seating entirely unless they served food, which many don’t.

In South Tacoma, The Mule Tavern owner Sam Halhuli appreciates the nod from the governor that bars and restaurants are generally following the rules. The summer tightening triggered a tacit recommendation to stay home, he sensed, but this easement “subtly insinuates” that it’s OK to return and support local businesses.

Pointedly, it also means an extra seven hours of sales, which nears a day’s work.

In downtown Tacoma, Jason Alexander, who owns tiki bar Devil’s Reef and recently opened a gin-focused spot called Gilman House, agreed the later hours allow peak business hours to sort-of return. Ken Thoburn of Wingman Brewers and Little Radio, which opened in May, described it as a compromise without veering into the potentially unsafe territory of 2 a.m. liquor cutoffs.

These changes might seem minor, said Anton, but they translate to more customers headed to the state’s thousands of bars and restaurants, most of them small businesses — and not just between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. but in general.

Restaurant workers have told The News Tribune that guests are not as steeped in the rules as the people left to enforce them. Under the same-household rule, two couples couldn’t dine together at an indoor table. Families of six — of which there are many, Anton’s member businesses learned — were turned away.

Now they might feel more inclined to go out.

“Is it a positive step that helps? It absolutely is,” he said, adding that many restaurants would typically close at 11 p.m. anyway. “It’s not picking up a chair — it’s picking up six chairs, and repeatedly over an evening, over a month.”

As the Northwest descends further into fall, and Washington’s infamous rains roll in, the timing is also paramount.

“We needed some change in the right direction and the hope in the right direction,” said Anton.

Now, he said, the industry will continue to work closely with the Liquor & Cannabis Board, the state health department and the governor’s office to hunker down on the issues that can be controlled: mingling and mask-wearing.

This story was originally published October 7, 2020 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Calling party of 6: Inslee increases table size at restaurants, eases alcohol curfew."