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‘We have our dream back:’ Orange County reopens businesses as it reenters the red tier

Customers have lunch at Baja Sharkeez in Huntington Beach on Monday, March 15.
Customers have lunch at Baja Sharkeez in Huntington Beach on Monday, March 15.
(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)
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For restaurateur Darren Coyle, dining is about providing an experience — through the service of his staff and through the design and architecture of his Newport Beach restaurant, Fable & Spirit.

It’s an experience he’s glad to be able to provide again now that Orange County has advanced — along with Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Contra Costa, Sonoma, Placer, Mendocino, San Benito, Tuolumne, Siskiyou, Amador, Colusa, Mono, Riverside, Sacramento, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties — in the state’s pandemic reopening guidelines to the red, “substantial” tier.

That means restaurants like Coyle’s are allowed to reopen indoor dining at 25% capacity or up to 100 people, whichever number is smaller. It also means indoor gyms and dance studios are allowed to reopen at 10% capacity and museums, zoos and aquariums at 25%. The shift in tiers also expands capacities for retail and libraries.

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“[Fable & Spirit] is full of stories and the fairy tales of old Ireland,” said Coyle. “It’s the storytelling we do here. It’s an experience. And to be inside again, it feels like we are a restaurant. We are the restaurant that we dreamed of and we have our dream back.”

Orange County last entered the red tier on Sept. 8 before it was pushed back into the purple, “widespread” tier as a surge of coronavirus cases in California prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to pull a statewide emergency brake in November.

Michael Johson, left, and Adrian Garzon have a drink at Baja Sharkeez in Huntington Beach on Monday, March 15.
Michael Johson, left, and Adrian Garzon have a drink at Baja Sharkeez in Huntington Beach on Monday, March 15.
(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

At Taco Rosa in Newport Beach and Irvine, chef and owner Ivan Calderon said he could see the change almost immediately in customers Sunday once the transition was official.

“You could see people willing to come out,” said Calderon on Monday. “You could feel they were excited to come out. That gives people encouragement to be able to go out and feel safer.”

He said, at least for himself, that he feels a little more at ease about opening with the knowledge that he and his employees are now eligible to receive the vaccine and that customers are more aware of the safety precautions necessary, such as wearing masks, as compared to when Orange County was last in the red tier.

Calderon said sales revenue for Taco Rosa is down between 45% to 50%, and he feels at least part of the reason is because customers couldn’t come inside or were afraid to dine out. At the more casual Taco Mesa, which Calderon also operates, sales are down about 20%.

Calderon said he feels that if revenue is able to stay steady or increase that his businesses will stay afloat, but he knows there are plenty of other restaurants that haven’t made it.

Daniel Borroel, center, leads a workout class to Elise Tarango, left, Melissa Buchholz, back.
Daniel Borroel, center, leads a workout class to Elise Tarango, left, Melissa Buchholz, back, and Turok Tarango at Functional 45 Training in Huntington Beach on Monday, March 15.
(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

For Costa Mesa resident Ryan Jensen, Orange County’s shift to the less restrictive red tier means he can finally enjoy a full workout at 24-Hour Fitness, where he’s been a member for the past 20 years.

Jensen, 41, usually works out about four or five times each week but has found it harder to maintain his exercise regimen during the pandemic. When outdoor workouts became sanctioned by the state, he looked to locations in Santa Ana and Irvine, which had limited offerings. It hasn’t been the same.

“It was better than nothing,” he said. “But you were outside and there was limited equipment.”

Jensen came to the 24-Hour Fitness at Costa Mesa’s Triangle Square Tuesday morning for the second time since its reopening Monday. Exercising indoors with a mask on leaves a little something to be desired, but he’s happy to be back to his full routine. And, it seems, some things at the gym have improved since the pandemic began.

“I feel like people are taking more responsibility now,” Jensen said, describing gym members avidly cleaning down equipment and sanitizing hands and surfaces. “I personally believe it’s never been cleaner.”

Pedestrians walk down Main Street in Huntington Beach on Monday, March 15.
Pedestrians walk down Main Street in Huntington Beach on Monday, March 15.
(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

So for now, he’ll stick with masked workouts.

“I don’t want to work out with a mask on, but if it keeps the gym open, I’ll do it,” he said.

And unlike many retailers, Road Runner Sports, off of Newport Boulevard in Costa Mesa, found sales improved during the pandemic as gyms shuttered and people tired of being stuck in their homes began to take up running, according to manager John Feeney.

“We opened back up in mid-June with a limited capacity, but it was crazy,” Feeney said Tuesday in between customers. “A lot of people were hiking and running. Everyone was stuck inside and were taking walks after work — everyone was going through their shoes quicker.”

Now, the store allows up to 25 customers in at one given time. With high school athletes returning to tracks and fields and in need of gear, and as more people receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Road Runner Sports is seeing a welcome bump in sales.

“Two weeks prior we started seeing a lot more older customers,” Feeney said. “They’re getting vaccinated so they’re more comfortable coming in. In the past month, we’ve seen an increase in business — every day we’re going up 10%, at least.”

Pedestrians walk down Main Street in Huntington Beach on Monday, March 15.
Pedestrians walk down Main Street in Huntington Beach on Monday, March 15.
(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

Still, this is only a step in the right direction, said JC Clow, a founding partner of the Winery Restaurant & Wine Bar in Newport Beach on West Coast Highway.

Clow said the 25% capacity helps, but that the 50% capacity for the next lower tier would be a bigger boon for the hospitality industry.

“We have over 200 employees between the three locations and some of our employees are still on furlough,” said Clow, who is hopeful the transition to the orange tier will be swift with the county’s current data. “My heart just goes out to these people. We need to get people back to work and get our economy going again.”

Susie Smith, who owns Makin’ Waves hair salon in Huntington Beach, said she’s glad the numbers are moving in the right direction, but that doesn’t change anything for personal care services like hers upon the move from purple to the red tier or even the orange or yellow tiers.

Smith said she’s only able to use three of the eight chairs in her salon and she’s seeking direction from either the state or the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology.

A family walks down Main Street in Huntington Beach on Monday, March 15.
A family walks down Main Street in Huntington Beach on Monday, March 15.
(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

“Of course, I’m happy that the rest of the world is progressing forward. I have so many clients coming in and saying they got their vaccine, so that’s really exciting,” she said, “but it’s a little frustrating that we aren’t getting any guidance as we go into new tiers. We don’t know when we’ll ever be able to be at full capacity again.”

Meanwhile, bars are still waiting to reopen.

Industry guidance issued Saturday by the state calls for bars that do not provide meals to remain closed until the orange, “moderate” tier, and even then, bars like the Sandpiper in Laguna Beach would only be able to open outdoors with modifications.

Data indicates that the county currently meets at least two of the three metrics to move on in the state’s reopening guidelines. The last metric — the adjusted daily case rate — will need to drop just below the 4 cases for every 100,000 residents reported Tuesday.

Jeannie Harrell, whose husband, Chuck, owns the Sandpiper in Laguna Beach, said that the bar would be limited to serving a handful of tables outside next to Coast Highway in the orange tier. In the yellow tier, indoor operations can resume, but they will be capped to a capacity of 25% or 100 people, whichever is less.

Moving into that tier will require less than one new daily case for every 100,000 residents, a test positivity rate below 2% and a health equity quartile positivity rate of less than 2.2%.

Currently, data indicates that the testing positivity rate nears qualification for the yellow tier at 2.2%.

“That’s what we’re hoping,” Harrell said of the orange tier possibly being on the horizon. “But my personal concerns are the whole spring break and free-for-all kind of attitude. There might be another surge, which would maybe not take us back a tier but not allow us to get out of this tier.

“It’s an unknown. We just have to wait and see. I may be over-scrutinizing it, but it’s hard not to. We’re trying to figure out what the heck’s going to happen next, and there’s just no way. It’s just not possible, and we’re just sitting here waiting with our doors closed to find some kind of relief.”

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