Posted on 04/14/2020 4:50:58 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Patrons refuse to take the city’s shelter in place seriously, Cassava’s co-owner says Cassava, a popular restaurant located in San Francisco’s Outer Richmond District, had been open for brunch, dinner, and alcohol takeout since San Francisco’s shelter-in-place order went into effect nearly a month ago. According to Cassava co-owner Yuka Ioroi, while they haven’t been seeing a wild profit with this new model, it was enough to sustain the business — but as patrons aren’t practicing proper social distancing or wearing masks, she has to temporarily shut her business down to keep herself and her employees safe.
Ioroi says that over the weekend she saw far too many people on the street and in nearby Golden Gate Park failing to observe the now-ubiquitous six-foot rule and not wearing protective face coverings. Speaking with Eater SF, she says that “people are feeling that they can relax,” given the national attention to the Bay Area’s relatively low infection rates, and are starting to take chances with their health and the health of others.
“A couple times it was really alarming,” Ioroi tells Eater SF, describing large groups of people (“sometimes, ten people or more”) who stopped by her restaurant to pick up takeout orders that they planned to eat at the park. “One group asked for takeout utensils, and I said, ‘Aren’t you guys going back home? That’s the law,’” she says. “But they said, ‘Oh no, we’re having a picnic.’”
Some regions in California have required the use of masks by citizens who leave their homes — for example, last week, Beverly Hills mandated masks for all trips outside the home, and Sonoma County now requires masks for visits to indoor venues, as well as outdoor activities during which social distancing isn’t practiced.
Ioroi would like to see similar regulations in San Francisco, as she says that until city officials “come on strong,” people “won’t take things seriously.” “By not requiring masks,” Ioroi says, “the city is putting people in danger.”
She says that the true impact of that danger hit home when she saw how uncomfortable her employees were when faced with customers without masks and who “are standing close to you.” Her voice cracking with emotion, she says that she’s been “calling out Whole Foods and Amazon” regarding an alleged lack of worker protections against COVID-19, but that “I am just as bad if I just say to my workers, ‘Come in to work if you want.’ I had to make my own mandate if the city won’t.” (Eater SF has reached out to San Francisco’s Department of Public Health regarding any potential mask requirements, but has not received a response as of publication time.)
That employee discomfort is why she’s now closed Cassava to the public for the duration of the shelter in place, Ioroi says, and why she’s instead working with former Cassava chef Brenda Landa on an initiative called “Feeding The Industry,” which is intended to provide free homemade pasta kits to laid-off restaurant Industry workers. She’s also participating in Outer Richmond Meal Help, which distributes meals purchased by donors to needy area residents.
Ioroi tells Eater SF that she hasn’t had to lay any staffers off even though business started dropping in mid-February, when worries about the spread of coronavirus started to hit the U.S. She’s hopeful that between these two donor-driven programs, she can keep her business going until the city’s shelter in place is lifted. But that’s unlikely to happen on the May 3 deadline if outbreaks like last week’s — in which a homeless shelter went from five coronavirus cases to 70 in just a few days — continue.
“We’re seeing headlines about the governor lifting the order,” Ioroi says, “and that’s all people see. Meanwhile, we’re having a cluster of infections. No, this is not the time to relax...I can’t ask my workers to keep putting themselves in danger, though, when the city won’t even tell my customers they still need to do things to keep people safe.”
But they’re perfectly fine with the poop on the sidewalk in front of their restaurant. Okay. Got it.
WHO would want to eat in a SF restaurant????
How do you eat if you have to wear a mask?
I don’t go to SF that often, but trust me, I never saw waste products on the street. It’s probably in the Castro. Many Freepers seem to think there are piles of defecation everywhere. Sorry to disappoint you.
Well, Okay then.
Eat at Monk’s Place.
Service to the clean only.
” who stopped by her restaurant to pick up takeout orders that they planned to eat at the park. “
That’s what I do everyday in my own town. But I’m by myself.
I didn't actually read the article (I have a reputation to protect) but I'm guessing they were only open for takeout orders.
Oh. And I forgot about the dirty hypodermic needles on the sidewalk. They're apparently okay with that, too.
SF poop map here:
https://wmmr.com/2019/04/17/someone-made-an-interactive-san-francisco-poop-map/
Watch where you step! ;-)
That is a joke.
Are they handing out masks at the restaurant? Because masks are still hard to come by. And people do need to eat............
That's okay...there's more than enough other "$hit" there to have to deal with.
There appears to be a bunch of people posting above you that are absolutely positive there is no problem doing that.
Perhaps they can demonstrate and post video of how that works on FailBlog.
How do you eat if you have to wear a mask? Through you ears of course ,LOL
It’s a great place for turd sandwiches
Being something of a Control Freak seems to come with the territory when dealing with professional cooks or restaurant owners. She kind of cut her own throat by shutting down when it wasn’t necessary, just to punish those who wouldn’t mask up. Many good restaurants have had to close down completely, because Take Out doesn’t bring in enough money to pay the rent. She was not in that category.
What does she mean asking a customer :”Are you going to take this food home and continue to Shelter In Place?”
That’s none of her business.
She should have supplied her staff with gloves and masks, then allowed a set number of customers in at a time, so that there would be less need to form crowds of people.
I went to the store today where they had a barrier set up. I had a mask and gloves on and was about 10 feet from this woman who had no protection on. I turned to her and was going to ask her a question and she got this look on her face and took a huge step back like I was Typhoid Mary. I thanked her and told her this was the first time I had been out in 3 weeks from quarantening and I appreciated her looking after my health being that so many people were sick out and about.
But yeah, many people didn’t have on masks or gloves but were ‘social distancing’ for what it’s worth.
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