I think that similar places in the UK will also struggle. Profit margins are tight. I hear talk that some small local independents are looking to turn their tables during an evening, which will be relatively unusual here. To do that, they are going to have to require reservations at fixed times - say 6.30 and 8.30, or thereabouts. In itself, that’s going to be tricky - the first is very early and the second getting a bit late. As yet, I don’t see a winning solution for very many places.
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Way less server interaction will probably be a good thing, for the foreseeable future.
Even before the current Covid crisis, China had already adopted online menu/ordering/payments for most person to person businesses, especially foodservice. Most restaurants uses the QR code system. No need for waiters breathing on your table while taking your order, or presenting a possibly soiled cheque and handling your credit card or currency (yuck!)
Scan the code, the menu opens up on your phone. Order your food via the app, the masked and gloved runner delivers your food. No need to ask for the bill, you pay directly on your phone with Whatsapp or Alipay. Minimal interaction with the staff except for the food delivery and dish clearance.
This system is so ubiquitous that most venders are actually confused when we have to pay with cash or credit card. One credit card transaction at a fairly high end seafood restaurant in Guangzhou took half an hour, none of the cashiers knew how to process a credit card and they had to round up a manager to figure it out!
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It seems pretty clear that any kind of self-serve will be gone for quite some time. Buffet-style restaurants would have to issue individual serving implements to each user, probably one for each item selected. Not very practical. Look for their pricing going up to reflect additional staffing.
I’m starting to wonder just how many restaurants are going to survive this, whether because of the current closure or, later, reduced business due to having to have distancing in the restaurant.
Last night, I sent an email to the owner of my favourite asian restaurant (they specialise in Mumbai street food). Just offering best wishes. And to thank him again for the very expensive handtooled diary he gave me - I told him I’m using it to write a brief daily account of these times, to keep for posterity. He replied saying that they will probably open soon just for takeaway and delivery, as it’s becoming an issue of payment for the fixed overheads. Now, this is an excellent place. It’s new - less than a couple of years old - but already in the UK’s Good Food Guide putting it amongst the country’s top 1000 restaurants. So, if places like that were to fold, then there’s going to be a whole swathe of lesser places going as well.
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Philadelphia has many excellent restaurants that are BYOB, but only seat 20-40 diners at a time. If that number is reduced by 50% I don’t know how they’ll survive.
The places that regularly deliver pizza, cheesesteaks, hoagies, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, etc. will survive.
Good times for cheap delivery; bad times for fine dining. We’ll see how the mid-range restaurants that serve communally fare.
I got some bone-in chicken breasts, NY strip steaks and a huge London broil yesterday. So we’re OK for a week or two.
That would be a good read.
Thanks. But it is not a given.
It’s full of mentions of me regularly weeding the garden, Mrs H baking and the occasional rant over the latest government spin (currently over the fact we have now got the highest number of deaths in Europe). Oh, and what was for dinner (tonight - Thai home delivery from a place that has just reopened to do takeaway/delivery).
Referring to your earlier post, I think fine dining places, if they reopen, should be OK with reduced custom. They can increase prices without too much hassle. I worry for the mid range places that are our regular spots.
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I won’t be running out either, but when I think of Paris, for instance, I don’t know what they are going to do. Their dining tables are historically and notably close to almost touching. Adjacent tables can easily hear whispered conversations.
Like I said, a good read.
Me too. I like the high-end places once a month or two. Low-end spots are good for delivery or a quick stop. But the mid-range spots are our go-to places a few times a week.
God I miss a good burger and craft beer out while running errands.
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Unfortunately, quality alone isn’t enough. Lesser places with deeper pockets or clever marketing may survive.
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Time limits on tables to maximize turns. You get 60 minutes and there’s no dessert, who can afford a pastry chef anyway. Charge extra for a 75 or 90 minute reservation.
I surprise myself with this thought - but I’m missing going to the supermarket and, on occasions, visiting the cafe and ordering the “Full English” cooked breakfast. It’s not that great a breakfast - but it always feels sort of illicit, like I’ve gone to the supermarket to shop and sneaked in the breakfast.
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Here it’s a diner breakfast. It seems like years since I’ve had a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on a bagel with very strong (and not very good) coffee. Only indulged in when I’m out early on my way to visit an arboretum, historic site, museum, etc.
Maybe some day both the attractions and the diners will reopen.
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I love a diner breakfast when we visit the states. It probably goes without saying that I research food places for our travels, but I’m always on the lookout for diners in the old original railway carriages.
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Civilization contracting instead of expanding. 
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Robert DeNiro was talking about the Tribeca Drive In last night on Colbert.
I hear drive-in movies are coming back as well, but without the snack bar. I think the last time I went to a drive-in was 40+ years ago with my neighbors and their grandson (my age). Neighbor left the car to get us popcorn and soda while we watched “Swiss Family Robinson” and whatever the second feature was.
I would absolutely visit the drive-in in my pjs with my own popcorn and soda!
