Welcoming Customers Back: How to Resell the Dine-in Experience as Restaurants Reopen

Now that states are beginning to loosen their lockdown restrictions and reopen small businesses like restaurants, it’s fair to wonder how drastically the dine-in experience will have to change to accommodate the new safety requirements. And even with stricter guidelines in place, will customers actually risk dining out in public spaces?Tom Coliccio, head judge on Top Chef and successful restaurateur, addressed this issue on Fresh Air last week. “The question isn’t when restaurants can open,” he told Terry Gross, “But when the public will feel comfortable walking into a restaurant when the bartender will have mask on, and the server will have a mask on. There’s just so many touch points in a restaurant.”

In order to bring back the customer base, neighborhood restaurants will have to reconcile with real concerns over safety and sanitation, while still providing a great dine-in experience. For the most part, people don’t make the choice to dine-out because of money or…