June 19, 2020

Although Sioux Falls restaurants are mostly reopened for business, the majority of residents have avoided sitting down for a meal and aren’t ready to go back yet, according to a survey from SiouxFalls.Business and the Augustana Research Institute.

More than 700 readers shared insights into how they’re approaching reopening and recovery during COVID-19 in an open survey conducted June 1-8. It is not a scientific survey, but it does include representation from all age groups. Respondents were about 70 percent female and 30 percent male.

Our respondents also reflect a few populations. They are most likely English speakers. They are more likely to own a home. And they likely are engaged with news, or they would not have found the survey. So keep those things in mind to avoid thinking this survey should stand as representative for the entire community.

Fifty-six percent of respondents said they aren’t comfortable dining in at a restaurant, while 44 percent said they are. 

Those who feel comfortable mentioned their youth or lack of underlying health conditions as reasons for heading back into restaurants.

“I’m healthy with no underlying conditions and feel it’s time to get back to normal living,” one respondent said.

“I believe people with pre-existing conditions and/or advanced ages need to take extra precautions, but everyone else should be business as usual,” another said.

Others on the more cautious side said they were worried about their or their family’s safety and potential surges in cases.

“I am considered part of the high-risk group, so I am continuing to social distance,” one said.

“For our own safety, we are waiting a bit longer. Instead, we order carryout to support local restaurants at least once per week,” said another.

“We want to see if COVID cases start to spike again with reopenings happening,” said a third. “We are still avoiding going into indoor places outside our home – especially with our kids – except for shopping we need to do.”

Broken down by gender, over 60 percent of female respondents aren’t comfortable dining in at a restaurant, while just under 40 percent are. Those numbers are almost inverted for male respondents, with 55 percent comfortable and 45 percent uncomfortable.

The amount of people who said they have dined inside a restaurant in the past three weeks lines up with comfort levels, as 57 percent have not and 43 percent have.

One respondent said that while comfortable with dining in a restaurant, other factors have prevented it.

“While I feel comfortable doing so, my loss of money due to COVID isn’t helping me be able to do so,” the person said.

A few respondents who have dined in at a restaurant mentioned T.C.’s Referee Sports Bar & Grill as an establishment they feel safe at because of the guidelines in place – among them physical distancing, wearing masks and taking employees’ temperatures before they work. 

Assistant manager Andrea Crumb said the restaurant was taking customers’ temperatures before they came in, but the staff had to stop recently because everybody was testing above normal because of the summer heat. She said the restaurant also has started using disposable menus and single-use or easily sanitized condiment containers.

Crumb said staff members have heard great feedback and experienced cooperation from customers about these guidelines. She emphasized how T.C.’s has tried to provide multiple dining options for its customers, from allowing them to access the menu via a QR code to using Yelp Waitlist to eliminate physical waiting lines.

“If somebody isn’t comfortable coming in, we’re still doing curbside pickup,” Crumb said.

“We had a family eat in the back of their pickup in our parking lot just to have that sort of restaurant experience. We’re doing the best we can to accommodate everybody’s feelings about this.”

Note: This story has been changed since publication to correct that T.C.’s does not offer delivery.

From reopening to wearing masks, Sioux Falls weighs in on COVID-19 recovery