Here are some specials you might want to avoid:
Recently, some wise HO suggested creating topics for restaurants doing it right/wrong during Covid. I want to share some disturbing things I’ve seen this past week, but I hesitate to call out restaurant names during these times of struggle.
One new breakfast restaurant offered us a table inside during a storm. I questioned whether it was allowed and the owner told me that it’s fine if it’s only one table. It’s not. We refused.
We went for lunch at an outdoor deck on a golf course on Friday. The server was not wearing a mask and when we asked about it, she said that it wasn’t required for outdoor dining. It is.
What do you think? Call them out or not? I’m torn.
On a positive note, we had lunch at Boondocks in Red Bank last Sunday and they are doing it right: tables spaced adequately, staff wore masks, no printed menus, taped markers on floor to keep distance during ordering, single-use cutlery and napkins on table, hand-sanitizer stations. Oh and good food!
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Paywall.
I have found myself in a similar situation. I’m “guilty” off calling out some place like the Butcher’s Block, but I do feel certain actions are so egregious they need to be called out. I don’t care how “right” the owner thought/thinks he is, you can NEVER tell a customer to “Stay the F#ck” home. I’m sorry, you just can’t do that. So when it’s captured by social media and they own it, I have NO problem calling them out.
If you were truly the only person the owner offered an indoor table to, I have a hard time calling him out if he was trying to accommodate you. If he said one table but opened the doors and there were a dozen tables seated, maybe I would, but just offering the gesture I don’t think deserves a call out.
The second instance with the server, I would have probably asked for a manager and if he insisted they didn’t need masks, I would call him/them out. However the server himself, possibly a kid just doing his job or repeated what he was told? I probably wouldn’t call him out.
I passed by Boondocks on Friday night and they had a looooooooooong line! Good for them!
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I’m also torn about putting any restaurant on blast except for ones that obviously don’t care about how they are perceived (cough. Butcher’s Block. cough). But, did want to post about our pizza experience last night which was very, very easy at Esposito’s in Matawan. You call your order in, you could pay via CC over the phone, drive up and talk to them through passenger side window and pop your trunk. Easy peasy.
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Second instance: Asked for manager. The server, not a kid, was the only employee working other than the cook. I will follow up. Appreciate the feedback!
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Yeah, that was me. And then I didn’t have the guts to start the thread–for exactly the reasons you’ve outlined. I truly feel bad for chefs/owners/staff right now, but I also feel like from an ethical standpoint, it’s important we tell one another if a place isn’t safe so we can choose whether or not to patronize them in these weird times.
I’m with @NotJrvedivici - when info is very public (such as on a restaurant’s own social media page), it’s very fair game. I’ve also seen a number of threads on our local NextDoor board go off the rails because someone “heard from my friend that…” - not something that happens as much here, where we tend to call each other out or question someone who’s new to HO. All that said, I’m still conflicted about doing public harm unless there is a very valid story to share (like yours).
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Weird…I don’t subscribe and I can see it. How about this link?
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Maybe I used up my free views or something. The second link worked fine.
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I saw a woman lick her finger before putting on her gloves at a deli. I called the manager from home. They were very nice about it. I went in to pick up some food from a local place. No one inside was wearing masks. One of the people quickly grabbed one and put it on as I came through the door. Didn’t say anything but won’t go back for now. I haven’t been dining out as 1- too many people just don’t follow rules and I won’t police them 2- I don’t want to eat in an alleyway in 90 degree weather.
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I’m reminded of a statement about responsibility I heard years ago. That still resonates with me.
"There’s no such thing as a grass roots problem. ‘Problems’ always start at the top."
All of us in one way or another are the “top”.
Therefore the outrageous behavior we’re witnessing and experiencing nationwide is owned by all of us in large measure, and small.
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If you saw a woman lick her finger, that tells me she didn’t have a mask on…
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She was getting ready for her shift (I assume). She did it inadvertently but still, I don’t think I would get food from there. Lots of people wearing their masks under their noses everywhere you look.
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I’m just curious as to why this bothers people? This is no meant to call you out specifically because I’ve heard a few say something similiar here.
If there is no public in the store, why do we care if they mask up when the public arrives? If I were to believe that the virus lived on surfaces for as long as we were initially told (or is infective at all from a surface short of licking a door handle) I wouldn’t have prepared food at all.
There were two people inside running around preparing for something. I guess I felt like I was walking inside and breathing in a bunch of their exhaled air. My mask won’t do anything about that. Just made me think about even getting takeout because if they aren’t wearing masks on the public side, how careful are they being in the kitchen, where the public doesn’t go? I know prepared food should be safe but I don’t like to think that someone might be Covid positive and not at least using basic precautions. It’s a sign of their concern for others, imo.
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Thank you for the reply. I’m of the belief that the droplets will not stay suspended in air for long and the risk in that situation is very low.
However, your way the risk is even lower 
Tom superficially I tend to agree with you, if nobody is in the store what’s the harm? Here is where I personally seem to differ in our views, it’s actually something I learned a long time ago.
“You can’t fairly judge a man/woman(s) character by witnessing their actions, because the best judge of their character are the actions they take when nobody is looking. That’s what makes a persons character.”
So if I walk in and I see you suddenly scramble to find your mask and put it on kudos for being aware of your situation, but then I’m left to wonder what else you do/don’t do when the public isn’t looking. Are you really washing your hands in the wash room? Are you practicing safe food handling practices? Do you only reach for gloves when the public is watching etc. etc.
A personal friend of mine and ex-one time partner, I went to his place for take out earlier in the pandemic. He came strutting out the front door of his restaurant to my car waiting for the curb side delivery, no mask, no glove no nothing. Came right up to my passenger side window (oepn) put his hands on the door and knelt down to talk directly into my car. My wife sat in the passenger side frozen from fear and disgust over having him chatting away 2 feet from her face completely unmasked as if there wasn’t a care in the world.
I sat there and thought to myself; if this is the way you are conducting yourself on the side walk in broad daylight for the whole world to see, how f’d up must your kitchen be? As much as I’ve truly loved the restaurant and brand he (we) built, I will never support him again.
So unfortunately call me overly skeptic but when I see something described above, I too make a note of it. Depends on the situation but if the owner is acting with reckless disregard - you’ve probably lost me as a customer.
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I mean, I know it’s a losing battle in regards to masks. They’re hard to wear in the heat, I get it. Lots of below-the-nose mask wearers, and I feel bad, many times they are older or younger. I see some restaurant owners posting videos on instagram interacting with customers with no masks (not the recently famous one) crazy crowds all over, on top of each other, no masks, a restaurant that is very well-regarded here doing inside dining this past week (reliable source), you get the picture. I just have to stay the f home. And mostly, I do.
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I had a horrific experience last night at one of the most respected restaurants in our area. It was a make-up birthday dinner for me. I made reservation for 5:30 because that’s all I could get. It was drizzling so I called to ensure that we would be protected from rain. Hostess said that yes we’d be under the awning. When we arrived, the hostess brought us to a table behind the awning. A large umbrella was over three 2-tops. The three tables themselves were 3 feet apart at best. We asked to move our table away from an already seated couple. The third 2-top was empty so we moved the table closer to that. The already seated couple agreed and asked the hostess, who seemed dumbstruck into inaction, to yes please space us further apart. As my husband and I dragged furniture across gravel, our server came out and said, with his mask over his mouth only, due to Covid regulations we couldn’t move the tables. We pointed out that there was no way these tables were 6 feet apart and I asked I asked him to wear his mask correctly, at which point he became loud and confrontational. “Wow! We’re all trying to get through this together!” I agreed and said that getting through it meant doing it right. He said “God bless” and walked away. I wanted to leave. My husband convinced me to stay. We had a lovely dinner and lovely conversation with the other couple. The service was impeccable after that, as it usually is. My one complaint is that our dinner entrees arrived as we were still sipping our pre-dinner adult beverages. I will follow up with the restaurant owners, who do read this board.
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Just an opinion - describing an experience and not saying where it occurred is, to me, less than helpful. Assuming you are reporting fact, what’s the barrier to naming names? If it’s a public place, take pictures. I am a bit tired of people getting away bad behavior without accountability or consequence.
Just my $2/100
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