Are FLL restaurants Open?

[phabric]

I called my hotel Best Western Oceanside.  They normally have a great breakfast and bar food.  They said presently they are only offering grab and go breakfast and bar food on weekends.
 

Are restaurants open for business in FLL?

 

 

[Pyrate13]

They were when I was there in early September.

[CruiserBruce]

Technically, per the Florida Governor, everything is open, and there are no restrictions. However, some businesses are not opening up wide, on their own.

[Cienfuegos]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

Technically, per the Florida Governor, everything is open, and there are no restrictions. However, some businesses are not opening up wide, on their own.

 

That is definitely the case in Palm Beach County and Martin County.  Several towns allowed outdoor, tented dining when the limits on indoor dining were in place. I've been told that if you open up 100% for indoors, you lose the tent option.  And, many customers are reluctant to go full blast.  So, the restaurant may choose to stay at 50% indoor, keep the tent, and have customers.

[capriccio]

The official Fort Lauderdale tourist website has a Covid-19 Updates page (https://www.sunny.org/healthadvisory/) that includes this section on Restaurants & Bars:

 

On-premise dining and bar service is available at restaurants and in bars throughout Greater Fort Lauderdale with rules for 50% seating capacity indoors for bars and up to 100% capacity indoors at restaurants as long as tables can be placed six feet apart. Seating at bars and restaurants is allowed up to 100% capacity in open-air outdoor areas, which is available at many area restaurants and bars. You must wear a mask when entering restaurants or when waiting in line or walking to registers, pickup counters or restrooms. Broward County government issued Emergency Order 20-26 on Friday, September 25 allowing all businesses to reopen, subject to local rules and orders. 

 

Pickup and delivery options remain available at many locations. Find details about restaurants offering take out and delivery on our dining page or on @VisitLauderdale Facebook and @VisitLauderdale Instagram stories. With high-demand grocery items in short supply, some area restaurants have turned into community markets selling fresh meats, seafood, produce and even paper goods and cleaning products. Read more about it here. 

 

There is lots more information:

• Visitor Guidelines
• Hotels
• Vacation Rentals
• Beaches
• Attractions
• Shopping & Services
• Transportation
• Public Events
• Safety
• How to Help
• Covid-19 Information Links

Edited October 16, 2020 by capriccio

[Roz]

On 10/15/2020 at 3:49 PM, phabric said:

I called my hotel Best Western Oceanside.  They normally have a great breakfast and bar food.  They said presently they are only offering grab and go breakfast and bar food on weekends.
 

Are restaurants open for business in FLL?

 

 

 

I canceled a weekend trip to Chattanooga because the hotels that normally include breakfast have either done away with it or are "serving" a bagged breakfast consisting of a bottle of water and packaged carbohydrates.  No coffee and no hot breakfast items.  What do most people want in the morning, water or coffee? 

 

I suspect the same is true in FL.  Hotel breakfasts are either non-existent or scaled backed significantly, even though restaurants are open.  Go figure.  I don't understand why a hotel employee can't dispense a cup of coffee while wearing a mask and gloves. 

 

Travel has become very unpleasant.  If you go to a hotel, no one will come in to empty the trash, make the bed, or clean the bathroom until you leave.  

[Capt_BJ]

I spent last night in the Doubletree in West Palm Beach .... room had a big paper 'seal' on the door saying it had been sanitized and you broke that when you went in. Room had a coffee service etc just like b4.  

 

signs said the breakfast was open / available but I'd read that options were limited primarily cuz the typical hotel 'free' breakfast had been a buffet / self service style and that's kinda not a good idea at this time ....

 

I had breakfast at a diner 5 minutes away and other than a general 'masks required' policy set by the county the place was business as usual (have eaten there many times in the past)

 

In general what I see in Florida at this time is pretty much 'business as usual' with many places having eliminated some tables to facilitate distancing and 50% of staff wearing masks all the time. Customers too hit the 50% # except where local rules have a requirement still in place (West Palm Beach does) ... once you begin to eat/drink you can remove your mask.

Edited October 18, 2020 by Capt_BJ

[rkacruiser]

4 hours ago, Roz said:

No coffee and no hot breakfast items.  What do most people want in the morning, water or coffee? 

 

At this time, I can understand that the breakfast buffets of the past are not available.  I have this feeling that this is an amenity that will not re-appear even if the pandemic ends.  Will room prices reflect such a reduction of service?  🤣 

 

No coffee service in the room?  When I was in college, I bought a hot pot, a cup and spoon, and a bottle of instant coffee.  It worked then; it will work in the 21st Century.  What is "old" is now "new"? 

[Roz]

@rkacruiser, not sure whether there are coffee makers in the room or not.  I did the same thing in college, but now I would probably just get in my car and drive to the nearest McDonald's. 

 

I can see how hotel breakfast buffets could survive if they were set up like HAL has its Lido, where the guests aren't touching the serving utensils.  

 

Just give me my coffee! ☕😄

 

[Cienfuegos]

Vacation / holiday travel in Florida still seems to be very weak. At least in Martin County / Palm Beach County.   Even Disney has revived the 4 day pass for $49 to Florida residents.  That tends to be a Hail Mary plan for revenue when nothing else works

[BNBR]

Restaurants are open and quite normal.  Obviously hotel breakfast bars are going to be a different case.

[BNBR]

On 10/19/2020 at 12:16 PM, Cienfuegos said:

Vacation / holiday travel in Florida still seems to be very weak. At least in Martin County / Palm Beach County.   Even Disney has revived the 4 day pass for $49 to Florida residents.  That tends to be a Hail Mary plan for revenue when nothing else works

 

$49 PER DAY.

[Cienfuegos]

3 hours ago, BNBR said:

 

$49 PER DAY.

 

Yes. $49 for each of four days.  Still a very good deal.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Cienfuegos
Clarity

[rkacruiser]

21 hours ago, Cienfuegos said:

 

Yes. $49 for each of four days.  Still a very good deal.

 

A good deal for certain, but having to wear a mask while one is walking around the Park and while on the rides/attractions?  Not for me whatever the price may be.  

[BlueHerons]

On 10/15/2020 at 8:58 PM, Cienfuegos said:

 

That is definitely the case in Palm Beach County and Martin County.  Several towns allowed outdoor, tented dining when the limits on indoor dining were in place. I've been told that if you open up 100% for indoors, you lose the tent option.  And, many customers are reluctant to go full blast.  So, the restaurant may choose to stay at 50% indoor, keep the tent, and have customers.

 

That isn't true.  My company has multiple restaurants in Palm Beach and they have indoor and outdoor dining.  I'm guessing it is at the establishment's discretion.  

 

All covid regulations are mandates not laws and are unable to be enforced.  I deal with Code Compliance on an almost daily basis.

 

On 10/19/2020 at 12:16 PM, Cienfuegos said:

Vacation / holiday travel in Florida still seems to be very weak. At least in Martin County / Palm Beach County.   Even Disney has revived the 4 day pass for $49 to Florida residents.  That tends to be a Hail Mary plan for revenue when nothing else works

We are very busy in Broward.

[Cienfuegos]

Are you writing of the tents and parking spaces added to a restaurant's current space?  Here in Stuart and Martin County, several restaurants were given space on public land and parking spaces for temporary tents. They were also given temporary take away mixed drinks etc permits. Many restaurants jumped for this opportunity.

 

Once our Governor "opened" the state, some restaurants chose to return to their pre-Covid  indoor and  usual outdoor arrangements. Others chose to remain at 50% indoors, and keep their tents or usurped parking spaces. I had dinner in one such establishment's tent this past weekend. 

 

I'm sure that the demand for parking spaces, and return of public space,  will force a reversion to the usual. I'm sorry that my lack of precision about the situation a few weeks ago, caused an issue.

[rkacruiser]

3 hours ago, BlueHerons said:

All covid regulations are mandates not laws and are unable to be enforced.

 

I am a curious soul and searched for the definition of "mandate".  I found disagreements in whether a "mandate" is enforceable or not.  If one looks at the definition of the word from Merriam-Webster, while "mandates" are not laws, they are enforceable.  

[BlueHerons]

36 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I am a curious soul and searched for the definition of "mandate".  I found disagreements in whether a "mandate" is enforceable or not.  If one looks at the definition of the word from Merriam-Webster, while "mandates" are not laws, they are enforceable.  

Yes, our legal team has fed me my information.  We cannot be closed down by compliance because the Covid ordinances are not laws.  People drive by the restaurant and think we are not in compliance when we are completely in compliance.  They call the police and then compliance shows up and we deal with them.  We still cannot be 100% inside.  I'm about at 38% of capacity but thankfully the majority of my seating is outside.

Edited November 4, 2020 by BlueHerons

[rkacruiser]

9 minutes ago, BlueHerons said:

Yes, our legal team has fed me my information.  We cannot be closed down by compliance because the Covid ordinances are not laws.

 

So, if by definition, a "mandate" is enforceable as one would expect a "law" would be, then, when would a "mandate" actually be enforced since the Covid ordinances are not laws?  

[BNBR]

On 11/4/2020 at 5:09 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

So, if by definition, a "mandate" is enforceable as one would expect a "law" would be, then, when would a "mandate" actually be enforced since the Covid ordinances are not laws?  

 

I think there is some confusion.  The mandates are one thing, but most of the issues are actually county and city ordinance.  They can and will shut you down if you violate the county COVID ordinance, and if you defy the shut down order for violating the ordinance, they will arrest you, as they have already done to business owners.  The county  ordinances have generally covered things like dining and other businesses.

 

Mandates generally can be enforced, just like a law.  FYI.

Edited November 10, 2020 by BNBR

[rkacruiser]

18 hours ago, BNBR said:

Mandates generally can be enforced, just like a law.  FYI.

 

That is my understanding as well.  A city, township, or county ordinance is also a "law" applicable to that political entity as well.

[BlueHerons]

On 11/9/2020 at 10:02 PM, BNBR said:

 

I think there is some confusion.  The mandates are one thing, but most of the issues are actually county and city ordinance.  They can and will shut you down if you violate the county COVID ordinance, and if you defy the shut down order for violating the ordinance, they will arrest you, as they have already done to business owners.  The county  ordinances have generally covered things like dining and other businesses.

 

Mandates generally can be enforced, just like a law.  FYI.

Not true BNBR.  We've been cited recently for being one person over our 76 person inside limit and compliance was unable to shut us down.

 

We rectified the situation immediately but they were unable to shut us down.

 

Like I stated, the company I work for has a team of attorneys on this 24/7.

 

They are mandates but unenforceable.  We comply because it is the right thing to do.

[BNBR]

3 hours ago, BlueHerons said:

Not true BNBR.  We've been cited recently for being one person over our 76 person inside limit and compliance was unable to shut us down.

 

We rectified the situation immediately but they were unable to shut us down.

 

Like I stated, the company I work for has a team of attorneys on this 24/7.

 

They are mandates but unenforceable.  We comply because it is the right thing to do.

 

They could simply be unenforceable mandates.  They are missing an enforcement mechanism, possibly.  But most mandates to have enforcement.