Wine Country restaurants seek more outdoor seating as coronavirus spikes reverse reopening

When Gov. Gavin Newsom on July 1 signaled alarm over resurging COVID-19 cases — ordering shut-downs of winery tasting rooms, bars, movie theaters, entertainment centers, zoos, museums, card rooms and indoor restaurants in 19 counties— he did not include Marin and Napa counties on his “watch list.”

But restaurants in those areas — which are working on indoor as well as outdoor dining plans — took notice.

It’s a good thing they did. On Sunday, July 5, Newsom added Marin County to the list. Napa County soon followed; its closures are set for Thursday, July 9.

“It’s such a roller coaster,” Chuck Meyer, owner of two downtown Napa restaurants, Napa Palisades Saloon and Beer Company and First and Franklin Marketplace, said on Tuesday, July 7.

Meyer told the Business Journal last month that he planned to delay reopening indoor dining at the saloon — which can seat about 50 people — until the end of June. At the same time, he was awaiting approval from the planning commission to utilize outdoor space in the public park behind his business. That would add 40 seats, allowing him to close indoor-seating at the restaurant indefinitely.

He got the approval on June 26 — a decision that also required approval from the city’s department of parks and recreation — and opened outdoors on July 2.

The outdoor permit is good through Dec. 31, with the possibility of being extended, Meyer said. His other eatery, First and Franklin Marketplace, is a takeout deli, which he opened on June 16.

While Napa County’s latest orders don’t currently affect indoor-dining at restaurants, it does require bars to close. Meyer also had set up an outdoor bar in the park.

“We converted the service bar into a service station,” he said. “Now we have all of our towels, sanitizer, silverware … on wheels and we just roll it out there.”

Pre-Covid-19, Napa Palisades Saloon was known as a gathering place where people would sit shoulder-to-shoulder for an extended period of time.

“There's no way to recreate that experience right now,” Meyer said. “It's not safe and it’s technically not legal. So we’ve had to create something a little bit different.”

Meyer said he will be putting the majority of his resources into making Napa Palisades Saloon’s outdoor restaurant a success. He will share the park area with two neighboring businesses, a tasting room and another restaurant that has an entertainment venue. The latter remains closed.

“The city said they're going to be evaluating, and I’m sure we’re going to be evaluating with the COVID situation and my dining room,” Meyer said. “We’ll be evaluating our performance (outside), whether or not it created any kind of nuisance, or if we made a mess or destroyed any property. I'm sure all those factors will go into renewing the permit.”

Newsom on June 29 began to “dim the switch,” as he put it, on 15 counties that data proved most at risk. A day later, he added four more counties to his “watch list,” including Solano County. As of today, 23 of the state’s 58 counties are on the list.

Restaurants in the North Bay area positioned for sharing outdoor space have been teaming up while indoor-dining remains dubious.

More than 35 restaurants along Fourth Street in downtown San Rafael are participating in the city’s first-ever “Dining Under The Lights” program, which kicked off June 25 and will take place every Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. throughout the summer, said Eda Lochte, executive director of the San Rafael Business Improvement District. The program replaces the Thursday night Farmers’ Market, which has been cancelled this summer because of the pandemic.

Plans to support downtown San Rafael’s restaurants were underway before Marin County allowed them to reopen, Lochte said.

“We were brainstorming how we could help,” said Lochte, noting the project is a partnership between the BID and the city of San Rafael. “(The city) was very cooperative to provide fast, free, instant permits that restaurants could apply for to have sidewalk, parking space and on-street dining. They could do all three.”

A number of San Rafael’s downtown restaurants also will be serving meals outside on a daily basis, with safety guidelines in place, and many continue to offer takeout and delivery, she noted.

“Marin residents are encouraged to enjoy our amazing and resilient restaurants often, but especially on Thursday nights,” stated a press release from the BID.

Piazza D’Angelo, an Italian family-owned restaurant that’s been a staple for 40 years in Mill Valley, reopened its dining room on June 29, only to be shuttered again a week later, said Felicia Ferguson, co-owner.

“We actually were starting to get reservations and people interested in coming in, so we’d had a pretty decent week,” Ferguson said on July 7. The restaurant served its last indoor meals on Sunday, July 5. “It’s been hard because we had called more people back and now we’re back to square one.” The restaurant had brought back about a dozen employees, all who are now waiting again for when they can return.

Piazza D’Angelo can accommodate more customers in its dining room than outside the restaurant, making this second closure more difficult on business. Before COVID-19, the restaurant could accommodate 40 people outdoors. But with tables now set up for social distancing, that number has been cut in half.

“We’re pretty torn about it,” Ferguson said about the new closure. “I saw it coming and I understand. It’s just hard because we have our staff to take care of, too. That’s been the most emotionally challenging part of it.”

Piazza D’Angelo is back to focusing on takeout and outdoor dining, with minimized hours. Dinner will be served Monday through Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m.; lunch and dinner will be available Friday through Sunday, from noon until 8 p.m.

Ferguson already had been working closely with the city of Mill Valley on opportunities for all of its restaurants to expand into the streets on weekends throughout the summer, she said. That effort continues.

Staff Writer Cheryl Sarfaty covers tourism, hospitality, health care and education. Reach her at cheryl.sarfaty@busjrnl.com or 707-521-4259.

The Piazza D’Angelo portion of this story has been updated.