‘IT’S A SMALL START’
Queens restaurants celebrate reopening of indoor dining at 25 percent capacity
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | FEB. 19-FEB. 25, 2021 21
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
Indoor dining returned at
25 percent capacity for restaurants
in Queens and around
New York City on Friday, Feb.
12, after dining establishments
had to limit their business
to takeout and deliveries
in December 2020 due to an
increase in COVID-19 cases.
Governor Andrew Cuomo
on Friday also loosened the
closing time restrictions for
bars and restaurants and extended
operating hours to 11
p.m. statewide as of Feb. 14.
Hercules Kontogianais, coowner
of Nonnas 1977 in Bayside
on Bell Boulevard, was
excited about the reopening.
“It’s a start. It’s a small
start, but we’ll take it,” he
said.
The eatery, which serves
upscale pizza square pies labeled
after female named song
titles in a rock ‘n’ roll themed
setting, has been able to survive
with delivery and takeout.
Like many in the restaurant
business, Kontogianais
felt that Governor Cuomo’s
announcement to bring back
indoor dining in New York
City was too short notice.
“I think it was a late start
on that, even though they
pulled a little bit. We didn’t
have enough time to set everything
up,” Kontogianais
said. “To get the right thing
going in order to get the right
amount of people in the store
and set up the right way, you
need at least about a week.”
Indoor dining at the Bell
Boulevard location — Nonnas
1977 also has a place in Astoria
— is limited to four tables,
three four-tops, and one twotop,
separated by a display
case with Nonnas memorabilia
and a table adorned with
plants.
For Peter Jozwik, owner of
La Casita Mexicana, a small
and cheerfully decorated
Mexican restaurant in Ridgewood,
it has been a challenging
ride. Jozwik signed the
restaurant lease on March 6
in 2020, two weeks before the
city went into lockdown because
of COVID-19.
La Casita Mexicana offers
takeout, but the revenue
does not cover all the costs,
and Jozwik explained that to
make ends meet, his restaurant
with three tables and
a bar needs to be open at 50
percent occupancy minimum.
To make matters worse, the
restaurant did not qualify
for PPP because his business
wasn’t in operation before
Feb. 15, 2020.
“It’s unprecedented. We
are barely surviving at this
point. Even with 25 percent
inside, it’s ridiculous,” he
said.
Even though they were
approved for a liquor license
four months ago, they are still
waiting for a document from
one city agency before they
can begin selling alcohol.
“Alcohol is at least 40 percent
of our revenue. Everybody
wants to go out and have
a drink,” Jozwik explained.
“We have been getting more
and more deliveries and takeout,
but without alcohol? You
got stay positive, but sometimes
it’s just …”
David Cazares, one of his
guests, felt comfortable eating
indoors again. Following
Department of Health’s
COVID-19 guidelines, he had
his temperature taken upon
entering the eatery and had
to provide his name, address
and phone number for contract
tracing efforts.
“It feels great. It feels normal,”
the former bartender
and sommelier at Capital
Grille on Wall Street and
frequent diner said.
New York City restaurants like La Casita Mexicana in Ridgewood are now open for indoor dining at 25
percent capacity. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
The exterior of Nonnas 1977 in Bayside, which is now open for
indoor dining.
A thermometer for the required
temperature check sits on the
counter of La Casita Mexicana.
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