Whatcom County restaurants adapt to restrictions, pushing to-go and delivery to survive
Closing dining rooms and transitioning to take-out and delivery operations has been a challenge, but local restaurants seem to be quickly adapting.
While St. Patrick’s Day, Tuesday, March 17, had a very strange, quiet feel to it as the community deals with the COVID-19 outbreak, General Manager Chevy Roberts added a little bit of festiveness to Skylark’s Hidden Cafe by decorating the outside pick-up area with balloons.
The Fairhaven restaurant kept its St. Patrick’s Day tradition alive with its annual corned beef meals in to-go packages this year.
Converting Skylark’s into a to-go operation in 24 hours was challenging. Most challenging was the fact they had to let go of 90% of the staff, Roberts said. It’s a core group of employees that she hopes to have back when things return to normal.
“We have all of their positions saved for them,” Roberts said.
The new restrictions to close dining areas, which started on Tuesday have impacted hundreds of restaurants across Whatcom County. In 2018 this area had 425 restaurants and bars, employing 7,632 people, according to data from the Washington State Employment Security Department. That year those workers were paid more than $140 million in wages.
Trying to stay optimistic
Over at the Jekyl & Hyde BBQ and Ale House, Owner Rich van Dommelen is the only employee as he operates the business under the new state restrictions. He had to lay off six employees, but he is still planning to offer a full to-go menu, whipping up meals in his wood-stove oven and preparing his signature barbecue dishes at 709 W. Orchard Drive.
He said these restrictions will hurt many restaurants, but he remains optimistic. He’s already received help from his landlord and his vendors and, for now, will do what he can to survive until the dining room can reopen.
Before the new restrictions, Jekyl & Hyde already had a good to-go business. Being near the hospital and other medical offices, he built up a strong base of customers who wanted to pick-up meals. Along with delivery through Viking Food, customers can now call the restaurant and pick up the food in the parking lot.
Online working well for first day
The Bagelry in downtown Bellingham was doing a steady business of to-go orders by Wednesday morning, March 18. Co-owner Aaron Seaton said online ordering, which they established on Monday, was ramping up.
Seaton said they were working with a skeleton crew and doing a limited menu. In the first few days they were seeing a lot of familiar regulars and community members. Many of the orders included a dozen bagels as customers stock up.
“Right now I’m cautiously optimistic as more people use our online ordering service,” Seaton said.
The most difficult part for Seaton has been trying to figure out staffing levels. Before the outbreak, the cafe had around 16 employees on the morning shift; on Wednesday it was four. They are trying to figure out ways to provide shifts that would also ensure the workers get the support they need through other government resources.
“The staff has been enormously supportive as we try to figure this out,” Seaton said. “I can’t express how much appreciation I have for them right now.”
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
