Temperamental weather, reinforced safety guidelines and lingering coronavirus concerns weren’t enough to kill Franklin diners’ appetites after restaurants got the go-ahead to open.
After several weeks of allowing only takeout and delivery, Gov. Roy Cooper gave restaurants approval to reopen their dining rooms and serve customers on site beginning Friday, May 22.
It was a long-awaited return for diners and business owners alike. Shane Winters, manager of Huddle House, said that social distancing standards are reducing the number of customers he can have at once, but it’s more than worth it to be back in business. In fact, the restrictions aren’t slowing down traffic at all.
“We’ve already beaten our totals from this time last year with half a restaurant,” Winters said. “We love it and the people love it. They’re getting sick of the drive-thru.”
Root and Barrel saw similar success during its weekend back from the hiatus. Owner Gary Murphy said 85 people visited the restaurant on Friday when they reopened, despite only being open for a few hours when the closure was lifted at 5 p.m.
Murphy spent the weekend stationed outside the front door with a scanning thermometer making sure that no one came in with a fever, but he was relieved to see that most customers were understanding and cooperative.
“I think we had one unhappy customer, but overall everyone has been very pleasant,” Murphy said. “It may take awhile for things to get back to normal, but what we’ve seen so far is encouraging.”
Some restaurant owners still feel the need to take things slowly, however. At Jaxon’s Downtown, diners were still only getting takeout over the weekend. Owner Daryl Oberley said that they would be ready to open in earnest by May 26, but they were still working with recommendations from the health department to make sure that conditions were as safe as possible. With the rush that open dining rooms saw, he’s glad they didn’t overwhelm themselves.
“We didn’t want to get bombarded on a Friday night before we get all our Ps and Qs in order,” Oberley said.
Diners were very excited by the opportunity to go out to their favorite restaurants again, especially the ones that weren’t able to make the shift to curbside only. Drew Braswell said he’s looking forward to all restaurants fully opening again, not just for the food, but also for the sake of the economy.
“I think this has all been blown way out of proportion,” Braswell said. “It’s killing a lot of businesses.”
The return of restaurants coincided with Memorial Day weekend. Murphy mentioned a high number of visitors at Root and Barrel had come up from Georgia and South Carolina. Brandon Caroon and several of his friends made the trip from Florida to Franklin for a wedding over the weekend, and he appreciated having easy access to food while on the road.
“It’s really nice being able to go to a restaurant again,” Caroon said. “It’s something we’ve all missed.”