San Francisco Restaurant Week looks a little different this year
SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco's Restaurant Week is back, with more than 100 restaurants serving up special deals and dishes, giving diners hungry for a night out at a restaurant, a taste of the new normal under pandemic restrictions.
"I think a lot of restaurants are taking this week to really show the public that we are trying to do this in a safe manner," said Brandon Heist, General Manager of Credo restaurant in the Financial District.
Credo is one of many restaurants this year that are providing customers with no-contact options by using QR codes for digital menus and payments. There are also extra sanitizing stations, face masks, and temperature checks at the door for diners starting to venture out during the pandemic.
Also, new this year, many restaurants are offering take-out options, meal kits, and a wider range of prix fixe price points. Lunch with two courses range from $10, $15 and $25. Dinner with three courses range from $25, $40, and $65.
Brandon Stroy drove up from Los Altos to have dinner at one of Credo's sidewalk tables. He says he wants to support local businesses and is slowly returning to restaurant dining.
"Definitely more in the last month than the nine months prior, but you know, I'd say it's still less than normal," said Stroy.
Michelle Balince of San Francisco said she too wants to support local businesses.
"I work with small businesses myself for my profession, so I've seen a lot of my clients, unfortunately, have had to close their businesses down, so I don't want to see that happen anymore," said Balince, who says she dines out for Restaurant Week every year.
San Francisco Restaurant Week runs through Sunday.
It is sponsored by the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, which decided to re-imagine the annual Eat Drink SF event to help an industry that has seen many businesses forced to shut down temporarily.
"One-third of the restaurants that participated in January aren't even open right now, right. We think about maybe 40-45% of the restaurants are still closed based on some credit card data," said Laurie Thomas, Executive Director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association and the owner of several restaurants.
The Golden Gate Restaurant Association said they were glad to have so many restaurants sign up
"One hundred and five restaurants, all across the city, multiple neighborhoods signed up," said Thomas, adding that there were 46 businesses that joined for the first time from places such as the Tenderloin and Bayview neighborhoods.
One of the areas that's seen the sharpest dip in customers is the Financial District.
"Back before COVID we were used to the corporate card for lunch. We were packed doing 150 people a day for lunch and we were busy when conferences were in town," said Heist.
Now, he says, Credo is lucky to have 20 customers for lunch, 50 for dinner, and like many other downtown businesses, they are supplementing their table service with grab-and-go take-out options.
Nearby at Union Square, the empty streets and sidewalks are a painful contrast to pre-pandemic crowds of tourists and visitors.
"Hotels in our area are just starting to open back up so foot traffic is better than it was a month ago, but it's still relatively light," said Sharon Nahm, the Chef and Director of Operations at E&O Kitchen and Bar.
Restaurant week gives chefs and customers a chance to reconnect with the joy of the city's food culture.
"Frankly, it's nice to be able to get back in the kitchen and just cook," said Nahm.
E&O Kitchen and Bar is building a new parklet as part of the city's outdoor seating program, allowing businesses to expand into former parking spots with outdoor tables for COVID-cautious customers.
The city announced its Shared Spaces outdoor seating has been extended six months.
"We are just finishing up the construction of ours, so to have that six-month extension is a blessing," said Nahm, "I know we need the rain, but it'd be nice if the rain didn't come at least for a while."
Jana Katsuyama is a reporter for KTVU. Email Jana at jana.katsuyama@foxtv.com and follow her on Twitter @JanaKTVU or Facebook @NewsJana
GOLDEN GATE RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION
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