Don't Sit So Close To Me: Returning Restaurant Diners Want More Table Spacing

When dine-in restaurants begin reopening as coronavirus restrictions ease, it appears table spacing is the top concern for customers and restauranteurs alike.
The recent Restaurant Customer Sentiment Survey conducted by Peoria's economic development department showed 77 percent of 730 respondents want more distance between tables. It was the most-requested change. But the same survey shows that's also the largest source of discomfort for restaurant owners gearing up to reopen.
 
"If you put more distance between the tables, you're effectively telling them they have to be smaller, they're  going to serve fewer people," said Kevin Evans, Peoria's senior economic engagement specialist. "It caused some dissonance for them. I think contextualizing it in the voice of the customer, saying this is the number one thing that is the most important for us, has really begun to move the needle around the thinking of restaurant owners that we've communicated with."
 
Evans said customers expressed more comfort with outdoor seating than indoor. That's led to an internal conversation among Peoria officials about permitting more outdoor seating arrangements.
 
"As we kind of begin to think about what recovery looks like, I think the role that code has played in the past, where you see few restaurants as a percentage with outdoor seating options, I think we can expect to see more of that," he said.
 
Almost as many respondents to the survey said they want to see more cleaning.
 
"What we really discovered in really digging down into the comment section, is that people felt like it was really important to actually see the effort of cleaning," Evans said.
 
He said while customers weren't assuming dining spaces were unclean pre-coronavirus, they place a higher value on actuallly observing a restaurant's cleaning and sanitation procedures firsthand when deciding where they'll dine.
 
Dan Kouri, the owner of the Lariat Steakhouse and president of the Heart of Illinois Hospitality Association, echoed that sentiment. He said restaurants were already following the extensive cleaning mandates required by the Peoria City/County Health Department before the pandemic.
 
Kouri said there will be additional changes such as added sanitation stations, but he said getting customers past the "fear factor" will be the biggest hurdle going forward.
 
"We just have to listen to the health department, see what they want us to do, and we gotta break the fear," he said.
 
A smaller slice of respondents to the restaurant survey expressed a preference for disposable paper menus over reusable laminated menus.
 
Evans said the old truism of "Will it play in Peoria?" may prove the survey reflects broader customer sentiments as reopening begins.
 
"I think there's an urge to get back to some sense of normalcy. To sit down at a restaurant, enjoy it with your family and have that meal," said J.D. Dalfonso, CEO of the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. "But what does that environment look like? And the more we tailor to what I know our locals are looking for, I think it encourages that local recovery a little bit quicker."
 
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