An Early Glimpse At Restaurant Reopening Strategies

Ahead of the state of Georgia's reopening of restaurants Monday, the National Restaurant Association released a guide on how restaurants can better offer a safe, healthy and clean environment while respecting social distancing.

4 Tips From The National Restaurant Association

The association's four-point guide for restaurants includes:

1. Steps to ensure food safety, including how to stock coolers and how often to change and wash utensils.

2. How to maximize cleaning and sanitization efforts. Examples include a focus on high-contact areas and discarding paper menus after each use.

3. What to look for when monitoring workers for personal hygiene and how to educate them.

4. How to convey to guests and workers the importance of maintaining social distancing, including an updated floor plan to ensure 6 feet of separation between tables.

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What's Next For Restaurants 

Even when permitted to do so, restaurants will have no legal obligation to reopen their doors. Each restaurant will also be responsible for following existing guidelines and taking necessary steps internally to ensure the health and safety of everyone.

Coffee chain Starbucks Corporation SBUX was among the first national chains to detail its re-opening plan. The decision to open individual restaurants will depend on local conditions and will need to "monitor and adapt" to changing information.

"As was the case in China, [monitor and adapt] means we will gradually expand and shift the customer experiences we enable in our stores," Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said in an open letter to workers. "So some stores will continue as drive-thru only, others will let customers order on the mobile app for contactless pickup and delivery, and still others may reopen for "to-go" orders.

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