Restaurant rolls out creative approach to social distancing
Fish Tales Bar and Grill in Ocean City, Maryland is going viral for keeping folks 6 feet apart by putting customers into inner tube tables.
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The proprietor of a restaurant in New Orleans says his customers are often salivating by the time they arrive to pick up dinner — but he’s devised a system to keep their bodily fluids at bay.
Rahman Mogilles, who operates McHardy’s Chicken & Fixin’ alongside his family, has rigged up a pulley system for delivering his fried chicken (and fixin’s) to hungry patrons who enter his takeout establishment, both as a way to limit interaction and entertain his clientele, the Times-Picayune reports.
6.5-FOOT SANDWICH CREATED TO HELP CUSTOMERS MAINTAIN SOCIAL DISTANCE
It works like this: Workers at McHardy’s attach the customer’s order to a hook from behind the counter, and then send the chicken out toward the pick-up area. The apparatus extends about 12 feet beyond the register, Mogilles said.
“What that does, is it decreases the chance of any human body fluids coming across the counter,” he joked in a profile of McHardy’s for Munchies. “Because believe it or not, people get really excited about this chicken.”
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A lot of the customers even stop to take pictures or shoot video of the pulley in action, he said. But safety, and entertainment, are only a few of the reasons he created the contraption.
“It’s to get people to think out of the box,” he told the Times-Picayune. “If people see us doing this, maybe it makes them stop and think about getting a plan for themselves and what they can do.”
In addition to the pulley, McHardy’s is also taking a socially-distant approach to payment, as well. Instead of having customers walk up to the register, employees extend a small basket attached to a steel slim jim (usually used for unlocking car doors) to retrieve cash or credit cards.
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Alvi Anderson Mogilles, Rahman Mogilles’ mom and business partner, said business during the pandemic has not been easy, but they’re aiming to make the best of things.
“Our main goal at this point is to pay employees,” Alvi said in the Munchies piece, adding that McHardy’s has been able to retain every worker on its roster, despite only being able to pay off “some” of its bills.
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“Our best outlet is with our customers,” she added. “We still are able to ask our customers about families, and how they’re doing as a whole. We enjoy this… We enjoy providing a service to our community. And that’s what it’s about.”