Gov. Gary Herbert issued a new executive order Monday allowing 24-hour restaurants and buffets to resume operations, with strict new guidelines to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
It’s good news to people in those businesses who’ve been closed, or had to cut back on service options.
One of those businesses is Pizza Pie Cafe in West Jordan.
Now that the buffet can open, employees are scrambling to get ready for customers.
General Manager Jaiden Payne said it’s been a rush to get the restaurant in order after the governor released the new guidelines.
The executive order states that gloved and masked employees of 24-hour restaurants or buffets must give utensils and plates to customers. Among other rules, customers must use hand sanitizer each time they enter the buffet line, and utensils must be replaced every thirty minutes.
“We’ve got hand sanitizer at every buffet, we’ve got gloves at every buffet, we’re making sure that before any of the food is touched someone has either sanitized or is wearing gloves,” Payne said. “We’re changing out all the spatulas and serving utensils more than every 30 minutes.”
Payne thinks the new guidelines will help to bring in more customers.
“Overall it’s gonna give people that sense of freedom back,” Payne said. “I know a lot of people, we even have Google reviews that people were like, ‘man I really wish that I could serve myself, I miss that.’ I mean sometimes it’s uncomfortable to ask for extra food but now people have that back.”
However, if you’re still not comfortable going through the buffet line, Payne said there is plenty of staff ready to serve customers.
“We still had guests last night that were saying, ‘hey I’m not comfortable, can you serve me,’ and we’re more than happy to do that,” Payne said.
Employees are also taking precautions, making sure to wash their hands often and keep the restaurant sanitized with the goal of providing the best customer service for their customers.