Tips for Reopening a Post Quarantine Restaurant

The Spanish government has established the application of the Plan for the Transition to a New Normal, in order to begin the de-escalation process in a gradual and coordinated manner. In this way, shops, bars and restaurants are prepared for re-opening after quarantine.

In case you still don’t know how this process will be carried out, we give you some advice to prepare your premises with the maximum guarantees of hygiene for staff and customers.

Tips for reopening your restaurant in post-quarantine or new normal

To reopen a restaurant after quarantine, you must follow each of the rules set out in the Plan for the Transition to a New Normal and prepare to welcome more customers at the end of these phases.

You should keep an eye on the official notifications, this way you will be aware of the progress of each of the phases and avoid believing in false news that could harm your business.

Here we share some recommendations related to the actions you should take to make your restaurant work as well or better than it did before the confinement began.

Pre-opening of the establishment

When reopening a restaurant after quarantine, the owners together with the maintenance staff must carry out the appropriate cleaning and disinfection tasks for each of the areas of the premises in order to ensure that their spaces are free of viruses and bacteria.

Together with the administration staff, they must choose the dishes that are most likely to be served in the restaurant according to the season and the costs of the producers so as not to generate loss.

It is also recommended to place posters in the establishment, highlighting preventive measures against Covid-19 such as proper hand washing and the use of masks.

Maintain delivery service

Some people will come to your restaurant to eat, however continue to offer the Delivery service. This will still be an ideal option for those people who do not leave home.

Regardless of the location of your restaurant, it is likely that in this period of de-climbing people prefer not to go to the premises to enjoy a delicious menu, so maintaining this service is the best option until everything is back to normal.

Another option to promote your restaurant’s dishes is to use the delivery service platforms. In this way, you can cover a larger area within the province as well as have your own delivery people to offer this service.

It is important that the deliverymen respect the appropriate protection measures during the service to avoid the spread of the virus.

Rules to be followed by the staff

Staff members are required to leave with their uniforms and work shoes, so workers are not allowed to go out for last minute shopping or to take their food off the premises.

Workers must disinfect themselves before entering the premises, maintain a distance of one and a half meters between them, not use mobile devices during working hours and wash their hands more frequently than usual. In addition, each worker must wear gloves and change them when carrying out work inside the stations.

Kitchen staff work areas must be separated with a security tape to prevent them from going beyond the metre and a half distance they must comply with.

Finally, the cleaning staff has the task of disinfecting the doorknobs, bathrooms and people’s areas every hour.

Distribution of the room

Tables should be kept at a safe distance, between one and a half to two metres, so that people do not come into contact between tables.

In addition, the seats at the tables will be divided by methacrylate screens so that people can share the moment without having physical contact.

Hand sanitizer dispensers should be installed at the entrance to the establishment and loading areas so that customers can clean their hands upon arrival and before leaving the restaurant.

The bathroom should also have soap so that people can wash their hands to more effectively kill viruses and bacteria before eating food.

When diners leave the establishment, maintenance staff should disinfect bins, napkin rings, tables, screens, chairs, and even salt and pepper shakers.

Bar service

At the beginning of the opening of the restaurant, the order must be left at the bar and the customer must be told to remove it to avoid contact with them.

Despite the evolution of the de-climbing plan, the workers working at the bar of your bar or restaurant must maintain a distance of one and a half meters.

Seats at the bar must also be kept at a safe distance and people may only stay at the bar for the time determined by the restaurant.

Utensils used inside the bar area should be washed by hand and then put in the dishwasher, to make sure they are disinfected and free of any virus or bacteria.