Restaurants adjust under state Phase 2 guidelines

    Andrews – On Thursday morning, Frank Colontonio was looking forward to opening the dining room and patio space at Granieri’s Italian Restaurant on Friday night, and providing live entertainment again Saturday.
    “You can only last doing take out and delivery for so long,” he said, noting he needs dine-in customers as well to survive. “It’s been difficult, but we managed to get through it.”
    Gov. Roy Cooper’s order announced May 20 that restaurants could open dining areas at 50 percent capacity starting at 5 p.m. Friday. Colontonio said Thursday that he would not rearrange the seating at the restaurant, but would seat customers farther apart.
    He said he would probably alter his menu a little, focusing on more popular items like pizzas, subs and Italian dishes.
    While Granieri’s was able to remain open for take-out and delivery and had minor adjustments to make under the new order, other businesses weren’t as fortunate.
    Just a block away, Cups & Cones Cafe needed more time to get orders in to have products to serve to customers. Owners Duron and Pam Smith expected to reopen the ice cream and coffee shop Thursday, June 4, with limited hours Thursday through Saturday.
    “We are excited to get back to supporting our community and for our community to support us,” Pam Smith said. “We make all our muffins, soups and breads homemade, so having minimal waste and being able to purchase the products we need are both very much concerns of ours.”
    As others prepared to welcome back dine-in customers, Eric Carlson continued to wait. He expected Calaboose Cellars would be able to reopen in the same capacity as restaurants in Phase 2, but the order limited bars, breweries and wineries to off-site consumption only.
    Later Friday, Cooper clarified that breweries, wineries and distilleries would be allowed to reopen.
    “We are still evaluating how ‘open’ we want to be,” Carlson said.
    He has been open for customers to pick up to-go orders, but his revenues
are down 95 percent compared to the same weeks last year.
    “We are most grateful for the local support that we’ve seen,” Carlson said. “Please consider making your purchase at one of the four very small breweries and two very small wineries in the county.”