Restaurants in Memphis, Shelby County and local municipalities can reopen on Monday. Some will; some will not.

“The good news is that we have a date. Yes, it’s short notice, but those chomping at the bit to open will make it happen,” said Ernie Mellor, president of the Memphis Restaurant Association.

“There are those that won’t open, either because of the pandemic, maybe they’re not comfortable, or maybe because their business is Downtown and there’s no one to sit in their restaurants right now.”

John Vergos said the Rendezvous will not open.

“Well, we’re closed on Sunday and Monday,” he joked. “But seriously, no, we’re not planning on opening yet. A lot of what we’ll do will be guided by the hotels in the area, so we’ll see when they ramp up.”

But it’s more than that to him, too. His family’s business has for more than 60 years had the reputation as a fun restaurant.

“You want customers to come and enjoy the place, and I don’t know that they will just yet,” he said. “I want to know that I would feel comfortable going out, our customers will be comfortable, and definitely that my employees will be comfortable. It’s a very personal decision for each restaurateur, and I wish everyone who opens the very best.”

Walker Taylor, owner of Germantown Commissary and Collierville Commissary, answered a reporter’s phone call singing “Monday, Monday.”

He’s ready to open the doors.

“We’ll have a full menu and we’re going ahead like normal, except that we’ll be limited on seating. In Germantown, we’ll only be able to have about 25 people in the restaurant. We can seat about 70, but to maintain distance we’ll have to cut back a little bit more.”

Restaurants open in adjoining counties, but lunch crowds are small

The rules for Phase 1 reopening include: Maximum seating of 50%; maintain social distancing between tables; no communal products (condiments on tables, pens, etc.); disposable paper menus; and employees preparing food or interacting with the public must wear masks.

Taylor already uses disposable cutlery and removed condiments from the tables before closing the dining rooms March 20. His menus are beneath glass on the tables. His worry now is getting sufficient supplies.

“I hope we will. Our order day is today and delivery is tomorrow,” he said. “I talked to my managers and told them to order like it’s a regular weekend, so we’re placing a big order. We’ll see if we get it.”

PPP loans are complicated, especially for restaurateurs

Ben Brock, co-owner of Char and Amerigo, is not opening Monday. He also has restaurants in Nashville and Jackson, Mississippi.

“We’ve been keeping a close eye on everything and we feel like we need to wait at least a week, so our plan now is to open May 11,” he said.

But that’s a day after Mother’s Day, traditionally one of the busiest of the year for restaurateurs.

“That’s one of the reasons we’re waiting,” he said. “We don’t want to have our staff in that position, having a potentially very busy restaurant just after opening.”

Russ Graham said that all the restaurants he owns with Tom Powers – Flight, Southern Social, Porch & Parlor and Coastal Fish Company – will open with full menus. Coastal, in fact, will start lunch service on May 4.

“You can say it’s from 10:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., but that time could change, as I’m pretty much coming up with it right now,” he said. “There are a lot of people in Shelby Farms during the day and I think we should be open to feed them.”

Danny Sumrall at the Half Shell was banking on Monday.

“We’re going to be ready,” he said. “I told the managers on Monday to go ahead and start building up product in case we got an early go-ahead. The only thing we might run low on is chicken.”

Shawn Danko will open both Kooky Canuck locations, one in Cordova and one Downtown.

“I’m not doing the full menu. That doesn’t make sense. We’ll spend the first week with the current menu and gauge the demand. I don’t think we need to have a full menu and we’ll have shorter hours and a smaller staff.

“At this point, when we’re closed, people don’t think it makes sense to open,” Danko said. “But I think when we’re open, people will come.”

The dining rooms will remain closed at Sweet Grass, Sunrise, and 117 Prime, all Ryan Trimm’s places. Kelly English won’t open Restaurant Iris, The Second Line or Fino’s. Patrick and Deni Reilly are not opening The Majestic Grille.

Karen Carrier, owner of the Beauty Shop, Bar DKDC, Back Do and Mollie Fontaine, is not opening.

“I’m not going to expose my staff to this. The city is not ready. It’s not about me. It’s about my employees and my customers,” she said.

Like everyone presently doing takeout, even those who are reopening dining rooms, she’ll continue takeout.

“I can wait and be patient and hope that this city behaves more logically and scientifically. I don’t think my staff is ready to come back. I have to do what my gut and my heart say. And are the patrons really going to come? Are they really ready?”

Mellor hopes so.

“It might not all be on Monday, might not be all next week, but I hope the public will have confidence in what we do and come out.”

COVID-19 in Memphis and Shelby County: April

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