Local restaurant reacts to Governor Newsom’s guidelines for restaurants reopening dine-in

California restaurants have had their doors closed to dine-in customers for almost two months.

On Tuesday, Governor Newsom released a list of dine-in guidelines along with a checklist for restaurants to follow when they fully reopen.

News Channel 3’s Caitlin Thropay sat down with the manager of a Palm Desert restaurant to watch the Governor’s press conference.

Governor Newsom's state guidelines for dining in at restaurants. See the guidelines here.

“It’s a long checklist! Gordon Poster, manager at Sherman's Deli and Bakery in Palm Desert told News Channel 3. "Although it’s issued by the state of California, as a part of the California Restaurant Association they’ve already sent this to us,” he added.

For the last couple of weeks, Poster and his team at Sherman's have been handling a lot more than take-out calls. They’ve been busy getting the restaurant ready to reopen dine-in services. Even though no official date has been set, when they do reopen fully, things will look very different including fewer people and fewer tables in the restaurant.

“So by removing these tables, I’ve created a six-plus feet distance,” Poster said. “I can’t remove a booth so we’ll have the signage on it saying you can’t sit at this table and we are also looking at other ways to create a barrier,” he said.

Larger parties will have to split up and sit at separate tables and it may take longer to get a table.

“We can’t allow you to wait inside even though it’s going to be hot,” he said.

Instead, you’ll get a pager and can wait in your car until your table is ready. When you do sit down, don’t expect anything on the table.

“Tables can not be preset with any silverware or anything on the table,” he said.

Everything will be brought to you upon request even sugar packets.

The guidelines also encourage doubling up on sanitation efforts.

“Now we’re going to have a dedicated staff member solely whose purpose will be to maintain the sanitation at all times during operations,” Poster said.

He also said what will be the hardest thing to enforce at his restaurant in particular.

"My biggest challenge is people feel so comfortable here," he said. "It’s like your home away from home and it has been for many many years and when people come in they want to visit with my staff so our hardest part is telling them, 'I’m sorry, but I can’t let you in right now.' and they go, 'Ahhhh!' But they do understand once you remind them because we’re not a society that’s used to being a part, especially at a Jewish deli," he added.

After going through all of the guidelines and checklist, we asked Poster if he’s ready to fully reopen.

“I would say if I were given the ok, within 24 hours I would feel very comfortable,” he said. “I think the restaurants in the valley are going to be ready for you with open arms and I think we’re all going to have a good time. We’re going to look back on this as a very unique experience,” he said.

We reached out to the Riverside County Health Department to see when they would release an official reopen date for the restaurant's dine-in service. Here is their response:

"The county submitted a plan for reopening to the Governor today, [Tuesday, May 12] after it was approved by the Board of Supervisors at their regular board meeting. This was a plan to accelerate through the Governor’s Stage 2 of reopening. We are waiting to hear from the state for a pre-submission consultation," Brooke Federico with Riverside County Public Health said.