Hawaii restaurants, bars face up to new restrictions
They knew it was probably coming, but restaurant and bar owners still were struggling to respond Tuesday after Gov. David Ige mandated the closure of bars and strongly suggested that restaurants close their dining rooms.
“We’ve talked for several weeks now about worst-case scenarios,” said D.K. Kodama, owner of the Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar restaurant group.
They already were planning a greater emphasis on takeout, and possibly curbside service, Kodama said. Still, “it’s not easy, it’s all hard.”
Restaurateur Peter Merriman said all of his restaurants would cut off dining room service after Tuesday night, shifting to takeout only starting today. “It was a tremendously difficult decision to make because of the implications this will have for all of our employees,” Merriman said in a statement, but he made the decision in response to a personal request from Lt. Gov. Josh Green.
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/03/18/hawaii-news/hawaii-restaurants-bars-face-up-to-new-restrictions/
