An Uncertain Future

Half of the seats in Putnam County restaurants were empty Wednesday after Gov. Ron DeSantis a day earlier ordered all eating establishments in the state to operate at 50% capacity.

Several local restaurants, including Magnolia Café in Palatka, have signs on tables and around the building telling customers seating will be limited.

“We are only seating every other table,” Magnolia owner Lacie Motley said. “We also have outside seating and are continuing to increase our already strict sanitary practices.”

According to Motley, the café usually seats 40 people but is only seating 20 for the foreseeable future. She said she doesn’t know if DeSantis’ order will have any long-term economic effects but said the restaurant has had fewer customers than usual this week.

“Of course, we are a little worried,” Motley said. “We are doing our best to keep everyone employed and stay open.”

Similarly, This & That Café in Palatka is only using half of its seating. Chairs were placed on tables to show customers where they couldn’t sit.

This & That Café also began curb service, where people can receive their orders from their car instead of entering the restaurant.

“We’re trying to get it out there that we’re still open,” owner Lou Singleton said.

Angel’s Diner in Palatka has always offered curb service, and employees said this has helped the business continue to operate during the coronavirus pandemic.

Angel’s Diner Manager Tiffani Johnson said she has instructed employees to wash their hands even more than usual.

“As you can see, there’s hand sanitizer and Lysol everywhere,” Johnson said.

While restaurants in the area remain open, all bars and nightclubs in the state are closed until April 15 due to an order from DeSantis.

Uncork & Unwind Craft Beer and Wine Lounge in Palatka is one of the several establishments forced to cease operations.

“For me, it’s 30 days of lost revenue,” owner David Griffin said. “We can’t ever make that up. It’s gone revenue.”

Griffin said he hasn’t made any adjustments to his business plan yet but is concerned about how this closure could affect his bar.

According to Putnam County Chamber of Commerce President Dana Jones, coronavirus will hurt a lot of businesses. However, she said she didn’t have any concrete statistics despite coronavirus being declared a pandemic March 11 by the World Health Organization.

“Obviously, it will have an impact,” Jones said. “Until things are back to normal, it’s hard to assess how this will affect the hospitality industry.”