Dining Out is such an important part of tourism and it would be remiss of me to not cover it. After all, restaurant recommendations are a concierge’s number 1 request.
Although many details are still being sorted out, ultimately, when it comes to dining, restaurants and guests are going to have to use their noodle—but maybe not figuratively as they did in this café in Germany.
Here are five ways that the restaurant experience will change… even if just in the short term.
Less Tables and More Patios
In compliance with social distancing, restaurants will have to reduce their capacity by 50% or so, much of this by removing and rearranging their dining tables. In cases where they can, restaurants will also rely on their patio spaces or even look to building out patio space to expand both capacity and offerings.
Take-Out Windows
As many diners have gotten used to eating at home, takeout and delivery will become a larger part of the dining-out experience. Eateries will need to consistently deliver high quality takeout orders by updating their menus with dishes that travel well. This will be a shift for higher end restaurants, but as we have already seen with restaurants that remained open during lockdown, there is a proven demand for this.
More Combo and Pre-Fixed Options
We have seen this even in the world of food delivery, restaurants were starting to offer more combos and in the case of higher end restaurants, pre-fixe dining options on their menus. As restaurants open back up, there will be more of these offerings to target the budget conscious crowd.
Capping Large Parties
In the short term, restaurants will not be able to accommodate dinner restaurants for large parties. It seems likely that they will need to pause on accepting reservations of parties of more than 6 people—not only due to space, but just in an effort to manage social distancing.
Reservations Only
Long gone are the days of packed waiting areas for in-demand restaurants. Local hot spots will shift to being “reservations only” as a means to manage an even flow of diners throughout the evening. Restaurant goers will be encouraged to reach out to their favorite restaurants before just showing up once things reopen.
Well, those are five ways dining out will change moving forward.
So how do you see dining out changing? What will you miss most about eating in restaurants?
Share your thoughts in the comment section below and don’t forget to share this video.
Until next time, see you then!
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