Florida Keys slowly getting back to business as restaurant dining rooms reopen

Restaurants in the Florida Keys unlocked their dining room doors Monday and waited for customers to come. For the first time in about six weeks, they would be serving diners at tables and chairs, instead of only boxing food for pickup and delivery.

For servers and cooks, it was a chance to get back to work. For customers, it was a chance to get out of the house.

Monday’s reopening was limited, with businesses capped at 25 percent capacity and following state social distancing rules. Monroe County mirrored the rest of Florida, with the exception of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, which are exempted from this first round of reopenings.

One thing missing from Keys restaurants: tourists.

The two highway checkpoints are still up, meaning that no visitors are allowed in. So, this gradual reopening is for residents or workers only.

But there was no big rush to grab a table in Key West dining rooms. And some places didn’t even open the first day they were allowed.

Others were eager to put out the welcome mat. The lights were on during the day at some restaurants usually open only for dinner.

Heather and Mike Barnes opened their Mangia Mangia on Southard Street in Key West for lunch for the first time. It’s always been a dinner place for pasta. But these days, they’re improvising to keep the place open and their staff employed.

“We’re excited but you know we’ve been open doing takeout and delivery,” Mike Barnes said. ”It keeps money in the staff’s pocket.”

They’ve had to adjust expectations for business during the COVID-19 partial restaurant shutdown. A good night means selling about 30 dinners. During high season, Mangia Mangia can do 300 dinners a night in a place with 80 seats.

“We’re pretty busy for a little place,” Mike Barnes said. “My concern is not really this, it’s hurricane season. If we have a bad one, with this and hurricane season, whew, it’s going to be really rough on the Keys. Especially when the government’s tapped out.”

Down on Duval Street, Key West’s main drag, Jack Flat’s, Caroline’s and Margaritaville opened to diners, too. The Flaming Buoy Filet Company on Eaton opened for lunch, as did Two Friends Patio on Front Street.

Some restaurateurs were waiting for later in the week, including the high-end Prime Steakhouse on Caroline Street. Pepe’s owner Shelley McInnis said she was shooting for Wednesday.

Dale Darmante, who owns Prime, said the restaurant will open on Friday.

“We’re lucky in that we have a huge outdoor capacity,” Darmante said. “We’ll be limited indoors to about 16. Everybody in town is dying to get out.”

Prime’s staff on Monday was oil-soaping and scrubbing the place, Darmante said.

“They’re so excited to have something to do,” Darmante said. “Everyone’s attempted to keep busy, riding a bicycle, doing their exercise routine. But the lack of social contact has been the most difficult thing.”

On Monday afternoon, the Key West Chamber of Commerce was still working on coming up with the number of businesses that reopened.

“The short answer is very few today, but more Friday,” said Scott Atwell, the chamber’s CEO and executive vice president. “They seem to need the week to ramp up, order food, etc.”

The reopening of dining rooms pleased some Keys residents.

Friends Lou Keith, Don Reese, Steve Johnson and Tom Pizzuti were the first customers Monday morning at Keys Bite, a popular Key Largo eatery at mile marker 98. They sat together at a four-top table under the restaurant’s thatched roof patio.

“It feels fantastic,” Pizzuti said.

His friends agreed.

“It’s about time,” Reese said.

Keith, 69, joked that even though his age makes him more susceptible to COVID-19, he’s glad to be able to meet up with the group again to share a meal and conversation.

“It feels great. Even for us old guys who are more vulnerable,” he said.

Despite permission to open restaurants at 25 percent capacity Monday, it seemed few Upper Florida Keys owners did.

One of the few opened was Jimmy Johnson’s Big Chill Restaurant and Grill at mile marker 104 on the bay side in Key Largo.

The restaurant, named after former UM, Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson, got a decent lunch crowd sitting at the spaced-out tables underneath the tiki roof on the patio.

Amanda Congemi, assistant general manager, helped wait tables and clear checks as she darted in and out from behind the bar to take care of customers.

“We’re just practicing good social distancing and keeping the tables apart,” Congemi said. “But everyone is so happy to be out.”

The crowd was nowhere near as hectic as a normal lunch rush at the restaurant, popular for its food, drinks and sunset viewing opportunities. But server Shauna Shepard was happy to be earning some money.

“It’s a good start,” she said. “We’ll take what we can get.”

Ivonne and George Demarchena drove about an hour on U.S. 1 north from the Middle Keys of Marathon to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary at the Big Chill.

“We’re ecstatic,” Ivonne said. “It was a very nice surprise today to see the Big Chill open.”

George said he was not only glad to be able to sit down and eat a restaurant-served meal again, but was also happy to see businesses begin to emerge from the lockdown.

“It’s a beautiful day. We’re happy to see businesses open again and people have jobs and are doing well.”

Mike Forster, owner of Mangrove Mike’s Cafe in Islamorada, has a strong local following, but he chose not to reopen this week because he said it would mean serving only a quarter of his occupancy — yet incurring 100 percent of his operating costs

“It just didn’t make good business sense for me,” he said.

Judy Hull, director of the Islamorada Chamber of Commerce, said businesses with only indoor seating will be at a disadvantage during the opening phase because some of their competitors have large outdoor spaces on docks and beaches and can seat more people out there.

“They will have enough space to move tables around,” Hull said. “It will be much different for a restaurant with only indoor seating.”

Forster said he hopes to open Mangrove Mike’s soon, but until tourists are allowed back into the Keys, there’s no point in rushing it.

“Who am I trying to attract? All the locals don’t have any money,” he said. “They’ve had no income for six weeks.”

This story was originally published May 4, 2020 at 10:45 AM.