On June 9, Gov. Kate Brown approved Lane County to enter Phase 2 of reopening Oregon.
This means restaurants within the county have been approved for allowing people to dine in, as long as they comply with new guidelines written up by the Oregon Health Authority to prevent further spread of COVID-19.
The requirements include spacing tables at least six feet apart with groups limited to 10 or fewer. Employees are required to wear gloves during all cleaning and disinfecting activities, according to the reopening guide. These guidelines have impacted smaller restaurants like Taste of India, who still cannot open up due to the small size of the establishment.
Since restaurants have been open for some time now, I sent out a form to gather input on student experiences dining in at restaurants and bars.
“All the staff were wearing masks and the tables were far enough apart that I felt safe,” Megan Hungate, a junior, said. She had gone out to eat five times at restaurants including Rye, Sushi Ya and Sushi Pure, and stated that her experiences have been very positive overall.
“The cleanest was probably Rye since they had disposable menus where you scanned a code to see the menu, and I was overall the farthest from people there,” Hungate said. “The second cleanest was Sushi Pure. They actually had the soy sauce in little to-go cups so that customers weren’t sharing the same soy sauce bottles. Lastly, Sushi Ya was clean, but didn’t do much besides keeping tables six feet apart.”
When COVID-19 was announced to be a pandemic and establishments were forced to shut down, the restaurant scene felt a heavy blow. Bars in particular have played a big part in the student experience, like Rennie’s or Taylor’s, which was forced to shut-down earlier this year. Students were unable to celebrate birthdays, milestones and other bonding outings that typically would take place in bars, like bar-hopping for 21st birthdays or seniors storming the bars the night before graduation. On March 16, Gov. Kate Brown ordered all bars and restaurants to stop on-site dining until Phase 1 reopening began.
Jessica Jaszewski, a junior, didn’t think the bar experience was the same with social distancing protocol. “The bar experience is very specific and specialized — in my opinion it was not what I wanted when I went out that night,” she said.
“I felt uncomfortable because I wanted to wear a mask but I really couldn’t because it just isn’t conducive with eating and drinking,” Jaszewski explained. “The service and the restaurant itself was not the issue, they did their best; although, admittedly people were still a little too close together for my comfort.”
Another student, who asked to remain anonymous, stated their experience at Mo’s in Florence was also positive. “Servers had masks, guests were seated with two large tables between them — with over six feet between them — spaced sparsely throughout the restaurant,” they said.
So far within Eugene and Springfield, students have been enjoying the return to a fraction of the normalcy present before COVID-19. However, due to the health precautions and a rise in cases throughout the rest of the country, they have conflicting thoughts about going out. Ultimately, this is our new normal as we, government officials and students alike, continue to navigate how to have gatherings without contributing to the spread of COVID-19.
