LAKEWOOD, OH — With Ohio's restaurants are able to reopen for outside dining later this week, some customers say they'll take a wait-and-see approach before filling the tables again.
"I'm just going to wait until that angst settles, you know?" said Christine Faulds from Brunswick. She said her uncle died of COVID-19. " So, you know, it hits home a little more."
But the feeling of uneasiness as restaurants prepare to reopen isn't limited to those hit by the virus.
"It’s going to be nice to like go into maybe a bar and [say], 'Can I have a drink?'" said Catherine Tripp of Lakewood. "But at the same time, I’m not going to be like running to go there I’d say."
Tripp said there's still too many unknowns for her to rush back, especially when it comes to inside dining, which is scheduled to reopen May 21.
"I think once I see how they’re able to keep things clean then I'll be able to be more comfortable doing it," said Tripp, "but right, I’m like, I don’t know, everywhere I go, I feel weird."
It's the kind of uncertainty that convinced the founder of Spice Restaurant to walk away from fine dining.
"We can no longer lie to ourselves about the changing needs of the consumer," said Chef Ben Bebenroth. "We cannot convince ourselves anymore that fine dining and experience-based dining is going to be enough to pay the bills. It’s not."
Bebenroth said Spice was surviving on slim margins before COVID-19. Now, faced with reducing capacity to ensure social distancing, he decided to close Spice for good.
"Now that you can no longer be packed and you’re also battling against psychological barriers of the consumers, how long until they feel comfortable sitting close to a stranger and eating meals, the future of fine dining in Cleveland is unknown," said Bebenroth.
Instead of fine dining, Bebenroth is planning to open a pizza shop, as restaurants across Northeast Ohio wait to see if reopening their doors will mean a return of customers as usual.
"Hell no, I'm not going to be there," said Amy Roskilly of Cleveland. "It's going to be awhile. I don't know, I think the risk is too high right now."
