A popular Starbucks in The Villages has reopened while employees at restaurants throughout Florida’s Friendliest Hometown were scrambling to clean and sanitize their facilities before reopening their dining rooms on Monday.
Starbucks in Lake Sumter Landing was open from 7 a.m. to noon but the popular specialty coffee shop’s dining area remained closed. Customers were only able to make purchases through the eatery’s Mobile Order & Pay pickup app. A sign on the door apologized for any inconveniences but said the staff was looking forward to serving customers.
At City Fire in Lake Sumter Landing, owner Gina Buell and her staff were busy sanitizing all surfaces and spacing tables and chairs out in the dining room. With Gov. Ron DeSantis’ latest executive order that allows restaurants to operate at only 25-percent capacity, Buell said they were making sure the dining room was in compliance. She said the restaurant also would offer outdoor seating with the proper social distancing rules being honored.
Buell said the eatery’s Lake Sumter Landing location will open the dining room Monday at noon and remain open until 10 p.m. She said the staff of the Brownwood location would be undergoing training and would then prepare that eatery to open sometime later in the week.
Buell said her employees will be following a strict set of guidelines when they reopen – takeout service remains available this weekend – including having their temperatures taken, wearing masks, frequently washing and sanitizing their hands and maintaining proper social distancing. She said some of the changes customers will see include disposable menus, single-use cups, plastic utensils sealed in bags, and all food put in to-go containers with clear lids and delivered to tables in bags. To-go orders and curbside pickup still will be available to customers who prefer to eat their meals at home.
Meanwhile, Michael Dillenburg and the staff at Bluefin Grill & Bar in Brownwood were busy following similar protocols. The eatery is one of seven in The Villages owned by FMK Restaurant Group. The others are The Chop House at Lake Sumter Landing, Belle Glade Country Club, Bonifay Country Club, Evans Prairie Country Club, Orange Blossom Hills Country Club and Scooples Ice Cream Parlor.
Dillenburg said employees were at every FMK restaurant on Friday doing deep cleaning and sanitizing.
“We’re wiping down every possible surface,” he said. “We want our customers to know they’ll be safe when they come into our restaurants.”
Dillenburg said FMK employees and vendors will have their temperatures checked before they are allowed to come into the restaurants. He said they will wear masks and gloves, which will be changed often. Disposable menus and tablecloths will be in use, as will single-serve utensils and salt and pepper dispensers, among other things. And tables will be spaced more than 6 feet apart, with no bar seating available.
FMK owner Fred Karimipour said his employees also will continue to receive extensive training with guidelines from EcoSure, a private food safety auditor that conducts random food safety and public health checks throughout the year. He said his customers can be rest assured that his management team and staff are taking reopening steps quite seriously and will do everything possible to keep them safe while they are dining in his restaurants.
On Friday, Allen Musikantow, owner/operator of the three Cody’s Original Roadhouse restaurants in The Villages, said he wasn’t ready to reopen his eateries just yet. He said operating at 25 percent capacity isn’t feasible, especially since his restaurants provide entertainment and a different kind of experience for customers. He also reiterated a statement he made earlier this week that the safety of his customers and employees is his top priority. He added that he simply isn’t comfortable reopening until he sees appropriate guidelines to follow to guarantee that level of safety and service his customers have come to expect.
