In response to Gov. Doug Ducey’s announcement Monday afternoon that in-restaurant dining can resume May 11, the Arizona Restaurant Association has unveiled “Welcome Back to the Table” reopening guidance intended to help restaurants restart kitchen equipment and rehire staff among other items.

Additionally, it includes guidelines restaurants are expected to follow from the State of Arizona.

“We are thrilled as an industry to reopen restaurants and return to business in accordance with the new guidelines set forth by Governor Ducey today,” Arizona Restaurant Association president and CEO Steve Chucri, who also serves on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, stated in a release. “Most importantly, there will be many procedures in place by restaurateurs to ensure the utmost safety and health of diners and staff.”

The ARA’s recommendations include maintaining social distancing by following restrictions adopted by the State in compliance with CDC guidelines including proper distancing between groups of patrons (while waiting for a table as well as in relation to other tables) and limiting the number of people in any dining party to no more than 10. Technology should also be employed to decrease the number of patrons waiting in or near the establishment.

In addition, further sanitation methods should be considered including finding new ways to handle menus and the order process that moves away from traditional reusable menus, and employing options to decrease menu touch points through technology and other solutions, the release states. These include recommending diners view menus on their phones, placing menu boards throughout the restaurant, offering single-use menus that are to be discarded after every use, or sanitizing easily cleanable (such as fully laminated) menus after each use.

Restaurants will also need to sanitize customer areas — including tables/tablecloths, chairs/booth seating, all door handles, any other surfaces a customer has likely touched — after each sitting with EPA-registered disinfectant, the release states.

Mr. Chucri encourages restaurant owners and industry workers to be flexible during this time, noting that these guidelines and recommendations are not a be-all, end-all solution but rather one small step in the right direction.

Meanwhile, the ARA is very optimistic, based on the results of its recent Arizona Restaurant Industry survey, that Arizonans will feel comfortable and safe dining in restaurants again.

More than 1,500 people participated in the survey, which included questions about in-dining protocols and when people will feel comfortable dining in again. In response to the question, “Once dining rooms are able to be reopened, with new health precautions in place, how soon would you return to dining in a restaurant?,” more than 50 percent responded “immediately,” while another 13 percent responded within two weeks, according to the release.

Upon re-opening, the ARA will continue to be a resource to restaurants concerning health procedures for in-restaurant dining with keeping the community’s safety and health as paramount. For more, visit www.azrestaurant.org.