SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The pandemic has been hard on the whole planet, but it has been especially hard on the hospitality industry.
Bars and restaurants have been forced to close and then forced to re-open at reduced capacity. Many haven’t been able to survive, and those that have survived, have only been able to by evolving.
In some cases, new takeout deals helped keep staff employed, even if it didn’t fill the void left by full dining rooms. In others, parking lot space became new outdoor dining space.
As the world passes a year since the first known case of COVID-19, the bars and restaurants that have been able to make it this far have adapted, and many are looking to the future and seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.
Mavrix in Scottsdale opened for business on March 7, 2020 and the pandemic forced it to shut down on March 15, 2020. The business had just eight days as a fully functioning bar, restaurant, and arcade.
On Sunday, however, Mavrix had decent business on its 5,000-square-foot patio, with noticeable efforts to keep customers safe in ways restaurants never had to consider before the pandemic.
Each table was sanitized twice using different chemicals between seating. Staff were required to mask up, and so were customers, unless they were sitting at their table. The patio, which can fit hundreds, has a maximum capacity of 75 people.
But Mavrix expected a “full” patio for Super Bowl Sunday, believing that it had struck the right balance between social distance and social interaction.
“A safe environment for people to come out with their families and enjoy an amazing football game,” General Manager Casey Lee said.
Lee was optimistic about Super Bowl Sunday, but he admitted to looking toward Spring Training and March Madness as major opportunities to finally show what the entire restaurant, at full capacity, could be.
On the other side of that optimism, public health leaders, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Cara Christ, discouraged Super Bowl parties.
“We know that when people are in comfortable, familiar settings, they let their guard down, especially when they’re around people they love and trust,” Dr. Christ said at a media briefing on Wednesday.
The state of Arizona had administered more than 800,000 vaccine doses as of Saturday afternoon.
For full coverage of COVID-19, subscribe to the 12 News YouTube channel.