LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i restaurants got the green light to operate at 100% capacity beginning Dec. 1, but for some managers the return to full dining spaces isn’t top of mind.
Restaurants had been required to maintain 50% capacity limits under gubernatorial emergency measures. But Gov. David Ige effectively terminated the restriction Monday.
Diners must continue to wear masks at all times indoors, except when eating or drinking.
Devin Portillo, general manager of Mariachi’s Mexican Restaurant in Harbor Mall in Nawiliwili, doesn’t expect the development to result in a sea change.
“I feel like that’s good news. But right now, the issue hasn’t been customers; it’s been workers,” Portillo told The Garden Island. “If we don’t have enough workers, people are still going to be waiting just as long anyway. (But) the demand is there and people are willing to wait. I think people understand things just take longer nowadays.”
A Nov. 30 announcement from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and
Tourism noted the leisure and hospitality sector — which includes food services — had the lowest over-the-year job-recovery rate (74.4%) among Hawai‘i industries in October.
The construction industry led job recovery, tallying over 100% of its October 2019 job count in October 2021, according to the DBEDT announcement.
Patrons of Keoki’s Paradise in Po‘ipu can expect the restaurant to continue at 50% capacity for the time being, according to General Manager Darin Tann.
“We just want to make sure that we are operating well for the holiday season. We haven’t made any direct changes or anything like that,” Tann said. “Guest experience is very important to us. We still want to make sure that the community feels safe.”
In Kapa‘a, Olympic Cafe owner Troy Trujillo believes the removal of restaurants’ capacity restrictions is too little too late.
“Yeah, I’m happier,” Trujillo said of the Dec. 1 change. “But the whole thing, it’s just been ridiculous. It’s just nonsensical. Two weeks to flatten the curve turned into two years. Nothing they’ve done works. We just need to go back to normal, because too many people are suffering financially because of it.”
Trujillo, who denies the efficacy of face masks, social distancing and coronavirus vaccines, said government officials have shut down Olympic Cafe twice due to non-observance of coronavirus-related protocols.
“They’re stupid rules. I totally make sense of them, but they’re just not good, common-sense rules,” Trujillo said. “How is it that you have to wear (a mask) when you’re standing up, but when you’re sitting down and eating you don’t? What’s the science behind that?”
County, state and federal health officials continue to advocate vaccination as the most-important defense against the spread of COVID-19.
Routinely updated data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show unvaccinated individuals are at greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19 and of dying of COVID-19 versus vaccinated individuals.
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Scott Yunker, reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or syunker@thegardenisland.com.
