DAVENPORT, Iowa — Several Quad City restaurants on the Iowa side opened Monday for dine-in lunch and dinner service for the first time in weeks following the go-ahead from Governor Kim Reynolds on Friday, May 15.
The guidelines allow restaurants and other businesses such as fitness centers and retail stores to open at 50% capacity. The lunch rush at Cafe Express Deli in Davenport was steady, but very few patrons stopped inside to eat.
"Feels like forever," said owner-operator Lena Georgi, who worked at Cafe Express for years before buying it in July of 2019. "And then the whole pandemic happened, in the first year of owning it, and I'm like, 'What do I do now? How do I navigate this?'"
Diners used to sit shoulder-to-shoulder, but Georgi cleared out several tables in line with the governor's orders. Picnic tables outside may have been a nice option on a sunnier day.
"We're OK with that, just for the first day," Georgi said. "The online ordering has actually kind of picked up today. We started off with six orders before we even opened."
With online orders stacking up, the kitchen has been as busy as ever. Georgi has even had to hire a few extra hands to keep up with delivery and curbside pickup.
Even as indoor dining opens back up, the business may be forever changed.