On Friday, statewide COVID-19 capacity limits lifted in Maryland for many businesses and venues, including restaurants. News of the decision appeared to bring more people out to eat, but it didn鈥檛 provide big bottom line boosts for a lot of restaurants because social distancing rules for tables that are still in effect didn’t result in many more spots for diners to sit.
鈥淯nfortunately, we couldn鈥檛 seat as many people as we could have, because of that 6-foot rule,鈥� said Brandon Welch, the general manager at in La Plata.
That said, Welch added, the announcement and milder weather did help keep available seats inside and outside filled.
Kevin Schendel, the general manager of the in Annapolis, said he saw a lot more people coming out, but he gave more credit to the weather, because the lifting of capacity limits didn鈥檛 increase his capacity much.
鈥淏ut hey 鈥� is it a positive step for a return to normal? Absolutely,鈥� Schendel said.
Montgomery and Prince George’s counties chose not to completely lift capacity limits for restaurants.
At the , in Ellicott City, restaurant manager Christian Smith said sales jumped 30% to 40% this weekend, and that both the easing of restrictions and the mild temperatures played a role in that spike.
鈥淯nfortunately, our restaurant being as small as it is, there is not a lot of space for as many tables as we鈥檇 like,鈥� Smith said.
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The announcement of the lifting of capacity limits by Gov. Larry Hogan last week led to some confusion. The managers said some people thought the news meant things were back to normal inside restaurants. That is not the case, because tables must remain spaced apart, diners must be seated and masks must always be worn except when customers are eating.
鈥淚 think the general public heard the headline and didn鈥檛 read the fine details,鈥� said Schendel.
So the restaurant managers said there was a lot of explaining the situation to customers, and there were some longer wait times for tables.
鈥淪aturday and Sunday especially, I think there were several times of the day where we had people waiting for a table for over an hour and a half, and that’s kind of people鈥檚 breaking point,鈥� Schendel said.
Welch said while some people did end up leaving because of long wait times, most diners were patient and understanding.
鈥淓verybody gets it; we鈥檝e been through it for a year now,鈥� Welch said.
Some of the managers also said that most diners kept up with the rule of only taking masks off while eating, but some appeared to let down their guards a little more with the lifting of capacity limits.
鈥淧eople seemed a lot more comfortable,鈥� Smith said.
With that, some staff found themselves reminding customers to mask up more than usual last weekend.
