Indoor dining slowly reopens around the U.S.

Six months after the pandemic shuttered dining rooms, counties across the United States have started reopening indoor dining, most at limited capacity. On Wednesday, Governor Cuomo announced that New York City’s restaurants can open their indoor dining rooms at 25% capacity at the end of September.

Mentions of “indoor dining” and related terms in company documents and news articles increased significantly in June.

During Q2 earnings, many restaurant groups acknowledged that suburban and rural areas carried their restaurants while COVID restrictions impacted major metropolitan areas. Executives noted that, as indoor dining options improve in the United States, so too will their bottom line. To dig deeper into executive commentary on indoor dining, login to AlphaSense or start a free trial.

 

Takeaways:

• Sysco Corp noted that major metropolitan settings are underperforming versus more suburban or rural areas where restrictions have been eased. Manhattan, LA, San Francisco, Seattle, and Miami are the “toughest cities on restrictions, which directly impacts quarterly results.”
• Since March, 85% of restaurant transactions is for food consumed off-premise, taken back home
• Almost 50% of states currently allow indoor dining with capacity restrictions

 

How are states handling indoor dining?

U.S. States, Indoor dining mandates. Combined data sources: AlphaSense & AARP

Sysco Corp (Conference Transcript – 9/10)

“Our business in Manhattan right now is very soft in comparison to the other book of business we have essentially everywhere else. Major metropolitan, dense urban settings are underperforming versus more rural areas or places where restrictions have been more sufficiently eased. So Manhattan, L.A., San Francisco, Seattle, Miami, those are actually the toughest cities from a restriction perspective, and we can directly see that in our results.

On the flip of the coin, Europe, without a doubt, was a headwind… Europe entered the crisis earlier than…the United States. And they came out of the crisis from a restrictions perspective after we did in the United States. And that had a very significant impact on our business.”

McCormick & Co Inc (Conference Transcript – 9/8)

“Consumers are increasing at-home consumption with restaurant carryout and delivery. So on top of not dining outlets, recent data says that 85% of restaurant transactions is actually for food consumed off-premise, taken back home.”

State	Restaurants Status	Notes
Alabama	Dine-in allowed with social restrictions	“Safer at Home” order until Oct 2nd. Restaurants, bars, and breweries can offer limited dine-in services
Alaska	Dine-in allowed	All businesses can reopen at 100% capacity
Arizona	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	Restaurants, gyms, movie theaters, theme parks can open at 50% capacity
Arkansas	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	Phase 2 of reopening, restaurants can open at 66% capacity
California	Dependent on county	Each county falls into four color-coded tiers, depending on the % of positive cases. Once a county is out of the purple (most severe) tier, indoor dining can resume at 25% capacity
Colorado	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	50% capacity or 50 people (whichever is fewer); bars must stop serving alcohol at 11pm
Connecticut	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	50% capacity
Delaware	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	Restaurants and most other businesses can reopen at 60% capacity.
Florida	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	Indoor service allowed at 50% capacity.
Georgia	Dine-in allowed	Restaurants must adhere to sanitation and social distancing guidelines
Hawaii	Outdoor dining allowed	In the “Act with Care” phase of reopening – businesses can resume operations with restrictions. Restaurants should focus on outdoor dining.
Idaho	Dependent on county	In Stage 4 of Idaho’s reopening plan – migrating to a regional plan moving forward
Illinois	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	25% capacity, tables must be 6 feet apart, heavy sanitation required between parties
Indiana	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	75% capacity, required safety plan for social distancing and sanitation
Iowa	Dine-in allowed with social restrictions	Required customer limit, all parties must be 6 feet apart
Kansas	Dependent on county	Statewide plan offers guidance, but counties aren’t required to follow it
Kentucky	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	Bars and restaurants can reopen at 50% capacity, all parties must be 6 feet apart
Louisiana	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	50% capacity; bars must remain closed for on-premises food and drink but can remain open for pickup & delivery
Maine	Outdoor dining allowed	Bars, restaurants, and tasting rooms can offer outdoor dining, but indoor dining has been postponed
Maryland	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	50% capacity, no buffet style allowed
Massachusetts	Dine-in allowed with social restrictions	Tables must be 6 feet apart
Michigan	Outdoor dining allowed	Businesses must refuse service to those not wearing a mask
Minnesota	Dine-in allowed with social restrictions	Reservations required to dine-in at any restaurant
Mississippi	Dine-in allowed with social restrictions	Bars can serve alcohol only to seated patrons and only until 11pm.
Missouri	Dine-in allowed	Full reopening on June 16th – all statewide restrictions lifted
Montana	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	75% capacity
Nebraska	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	75% capacity
Nevada	Dine-in allowed with social restrictions	Must comply with social distancing and sanitation guidelines
New Hampshire	Dine-in allowed with social restrictions	Restaurants can resume indoor and outdoor services, but tables should be spaced  feet apart, among other guidelines
New Jersey	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	25% capacity mandate, tables must be 6 feet apart, sanitation requirements must be adhered to
New Mexico	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	25% capacity. Outdoor service can continue at full capacity if safety precautions are followed
New York	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	Phase 4: restaurants can resume dine-in service at 50% capacity, except in New York City, where outdoor dining, pickup, and delivery are preferred. Restaurants can open for dine-in  at 25% capacity at the end of September
North Carolina	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	75% capacity; no alcohol after 11pm
North Dakota	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	75% capacity
Ohio	Dine-in allowed with social restrictions	Bars and restaurants cannot service  alcohol after 10pm; strict sanitation requirements
Oklahoma	Dine-in allowed with social restrictions	Sanitation and social distancing encouraged
Oregon	Dine-in allowed with social restrictions	Tables must be 6 feet apart, strict sanitation requirements
Pennsylvania	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	25% capacity
Rhode Island	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	66% capacity
South Carolina	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	50% capacity, tables must be spaced at least 6 feet apart, guests cannot congregate in a bar area
South Dakota	Dine-in allowed	“Back to Normal” plan in effect; sanitation and social distancing encouraged
Tennessee	Dine-in allowed with social restrictions	Tables recommended to be 6 feet apart, limit parties to 10 people, sanitation and social distancing encouraged
Texas	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	Restaurants, which were previously allowed to offer dine-in at 75% capacity must scale back to 50%
Utah	Dine-in allowed with social restrictions	Tables must be 6 feet apart; buffets may open, but staff must hand plates to patrons directly
Vermont	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	50% capacity
Virgina	Dine-in allowed with capacity restrictions	50% capacity; Restaurants, breweries cannot sell alcohol after 10pm
Washington	Dependent on county	Phase 1: 25% capacity (indoor); 50% capacity (outdoor) Phase 2: 50% capacity (indoor); full capacity (outdoor) Phase 3: 50% capacity (indoor) Masks required, social distancing required
West Virginia	Dine-in allowed with social restrictions	Indoor service allowed with sanitation restrictions
Wisconsin	Dine-in allowed	Patrons must wear a mask
Wyoming	Dine-in allowed with social restrictions	Indoor service allowed with sanitation restrictions