Restaurants adjust to the new Imperial County health order
EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - The Imperial County Public Health Department announced a new health order Tuesday, allowing some businesses to reopen with indoor and outdoor operations.
The order only allows outdoor dining for restaurants.
Curbside pick up is the only option restaurants in the Imperial County have had since they were forced to close indoor dining services back in April.
It wasn’t until Tuesday that the county said outdoor dining would be permitted as the state health department gave local health officials the green light to move into stage two.
Denny’s diner has been one of the only restaurants to make the switch.
Moving furniture outside under tent shades.
“I feel okay. We just decided to come out here for a little breakfast. Trying it out with the heat, but it’s good," said Lupe Cisneros, Calexico resident.
Following a historic heatwave in California, the valley’s hot temperatures is a challenge restaurant owners aren’t willing to take on at this time.
“Hey here’s your food, please eat at the safety of your own home," said Andrew Zhou, Fortune Garden
Fortune Garden in El Centro says it’s not just the hot temps they’re avoiding, but the pressure of having their customer's health in their hands.
“Primarily because we don’t want people getting sick. Until this pandemic blows over we rather much go with the safer option, which is take out," said Zhou.
In fact Fortune Garden says curbside pick up is going well for them. They get so busy that they added shades in their parking lot so customers can wait for their order.
That hasn’t been the case for other restaurants. Burgers and Beer is just the latest restaurant to announce that their Imperial Valley Mall location is closing down.
“For me it’s pretty sad. I look around and see how things are still closed. I wonder how they’re going to make it," said Cisneros.
Restaurants will be able to fully reopen when the county says it’s safe to do so. For now, restaurants are forced to adjust to the new health order.
