Illustration by Ali Bachmann
Restaurants are getting creative to increase their capacity during the cold winter months. Under City of Milwaukee Health Department orders, all restaurants and bars that want to continue in-person dining must obtain approval for a safety plan. The Moving Milwaukee Forward Safety Order includes a strenuous 80-point checklist ranging from workplace policies, food safety, staff information, physical distancing and more to implement hygiene, cleaning and protective measures, policies and procedures. The local order also requires businesses to ensure that people remain six feet from others whenever possible.
Illustration by Ali Bachmann
The restaurant industry, already operating on small margins, is in danger during the pandemic. Some local restaurants have closed, but many more are fighting to keep their doors open and navigate through the new mandates and guidelines. As a community, we need to support our local restaurants now more than ever, continue to order take out (not through GrubHub or other third parties!), buy gift cards and merchandise, tip the servers well, buy a friend dinner and order that dessert.
Antigua
Antigua earned additional revenue for catering but, according to Citlali Mendiea-Ramos, who owns the West Allis restaurant with her husband Nick, most catered events have been postponed to 2021, and those that remained on the schedule were drastically scaled down. “During the past few months, we have faced a significant decline in sales for both the restaurant and the catering,” she says. “At the beginning of the pandemic, our customers were being very supportive, but as the months passed by and the stay-at-home order got prolonged, people realized that they might be out of a job for good, the sales declined again.”
“Aside from the sales, it was very difficult to furlough our staff. We only kept two of our cooks part-time, and everyone else was furloughed. It was heartbreaking. As soon as we got our PPP loan, we brought back most of them; however, we lost three along the way.”
The new public safety guidelines posed few problems. “It was rather simple to adjust to the new guidelines on our end,” she says. “Making sure that the staff went through the questionnaire at the beginning of their shift and a temperature check to make sure they are healthy was probably what took more time to get used to. As far as cleaning and sanitizing the place, we had to increase the frequency and make sure we had plenty of hand sanitizer around for our staff and customers. For our staff, the biggest challenge was getting used to wearing a mask for a 4- to 6-hour shift, but everyone got used to it rather quickly. Another challenge was the increase of cost that we faced for PPE Supplies for our staff and customers.”
The economic impact of inside-only dining during the cold months? “This is the million-dollar question! Things have been so different this year that it is hard to predict. During the spring and summer months, we were lucky to have a patio for people to seat outside, and we will be losing those customers with the cold weather. However, I'm confident that people will continue to order carryout and delivery.”
Black Shoe Hospitality
Dan Sidner and Joe Muench, co-owners of Black Shoe Hospitability—which includes Maxie’s, Blue’s Egg and Story Hill BKC—were certified in October. The plexiglass partitions they installed came with a hefty price tag of about $20,000. Muench is at the helm of the kitchen and has implemented new safety and sanitation guidelines. Wearing gloves is only the first step. Amidst the noise of the ticket machine going off and pots and pans rattling, a buzzer sounds at intervals to alert staff to stop and wash their hands. Although they are still faced with challenges of limited seating, he is confident that the changes they have made will make their restaurants a safe environment for customers and staff.
As for next steps, “We are going to be living with this for the next year, and we are already starting to plan ahead and racing to work on additional patio seating for next season,” Sidner said, adding, “Restaurants are the fabric of every community, and this has been a catastrophic hit to the restaurant industry… Full capacity is impossible with the new guidelines, and at best we can achieve 65-70 %.” Muench said staffing is one of the biggest challenges they face. They have lost many valuable employees with most of their turnover in the front of the house. He attributes this to the necessity of childcare, caring for elderly parents or employees with their own health concerns.
Black Shoe Hospitality is creatively remodeling its business plan, including an online butcher and bakery that will be available this fall, as well as ordering online a week ahead for pick up at a designated location. At Maxie’s, you can pre-order a build-your-own party box with sides and entrées such as fried chicken, brisket or ribs and jambalaya. Black Shoe has also been supplying Egg and Flour with bakery products, including rolls for their meatball bomber sandwich, and they are in talks with other retailers. Furthermore, they are looking into tent rentals to expand their seating capacity.
Santino’s Little Italy
Co-owners Greg Huber and Santo Galati of Santino’s Little Italy in Bay View said how “humbled and blessed” they feel towards the support they received from the community. According to Galati, “During this crisis, we are not trying to make a profit, just survive.” The additional cost of changing and adapting to the new guidelines—from adding more paper products, PPE supplies, paper menus and structural changes—have been a significant investment.
“In preparing for more indoor dining, we installed a needlepoint ionization HVAC that eliminates elements such as mold and viruses and cycles through iron grade filters that are to be changed once a month, but for the safety of staff and customers gets changed out every two weeks,” Huber said. The constant changes, both partners agreed, has been their biggest struggle. Huber spoke of staying positive in a time when “nothing is linear and things can change on a dime.” Galati added, “We will do our best, do everything possible, think positive and support other restaurants.” Santino’s Little Italy’s focus is on ramping up their contactless carry-out service in place since summer. They have also done an outstanding job turning their outdoor bocce court into a spacious seating area with the addition of heaters for cooler nights.
Sorella
According to Paul Damora of Sorella in Bay View, “We’re in a crisis right now and need to immediately change our behavior to save lives.” Damora and co-owner Kyle Toner opened in the midst of COVID, which only added to the challenges of coordinating a new restaurant. “It is so confusing, all the back and forth,” Damora continued, adding that “basic sanitation and cleanliness is all part of the process in operating a restaurant…We are doing everything possible to ensure the safety and well-being of staff and customers.”
Sorella is looking into tent rental for their patio to compensate for the indoor capacity limitations. “Our landlord, Charles Bailey, has been so supportive and understanding,” Damora said. They will continue curbside service through the cold months with delicious specials available only as to-go orders. However, Damora hoped his customers will also dine inside, given Sorella’s spaced-out tables, ventilation system, high ceilings and mask mandate. “It’s all about perception” he said of public attitudes toward safely dining out.
Milwaukee writer Alisa Malavenda is a professional chef, culinary instructor, caterer and cookbook author.
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