Since Gov. Charlie Baker removed all capacity caps on Massachusetts restaurants March 1, the North Shore restaurant scene has slowly — very slowly — begun to regain its pre-COVID-19 momentum.
“It’s definitely showing signs of life,” said Rolly Hayes, owner of Rolly’s Tavern on the Square in Lynn. “I’m optimistic because I think we’re finally on the upswing.”
Although social distancing measures mean his business is still operating at only 60 percent capacity, Hayes said business has noticeably picked up.
“It is a big change,” he said. “We’re not completely open yet, but it’s much better and people are getting more comfortable with going out. Certain nights of the week have been really busy and others have at least been steady.”
Mike O’Callaghan, owner of Tides Restaurant & Pub, said that, all things considered, business has been relatively good for his Nahant-based spot since the pandemic hit in March 2020.
Despite the fact that his restaurant saw a roughly 40 percent reduction in business — which forced it to cut down its days of operation from seven to five this past winter — O’Callaghan said he’s still managed to retain all of his full-time staff.
“We’ve been able to hold our own,” he said. “The guys in the kitchen, they switch off to make sure everybody who was here last March is still here.”
Since spring, O’Callaghan said he’s seen a promising uptick in in-person diners, which he attributes to Nahant’s high percentage of older residents, many of whom have already received the COVID-19 vaccine.
“The people who are getting the vaccine are coming back out,” he said. “We have several older customers who qualified to get it. We hadn’t seen them, and now they’re back.”
However, when envisioning the near future, O’Callaghan said a full reopening — without extant social distancing measures — is hard to imagine.
“You can’t go back to normal,” he said. “The virus is still out there. But I think if you take the precautions and you do the right thing, you can (get by).”
Steven Castraberti, owner of the popular Prince Pizzeria on Route 1 in Saugus, said business during the COVID-era has been “not great, but not terrible.”
While his 700-seat establishment was largely unaffected over the past year by Baker’s seating requirements, Castraberti argued that the state’s frequently changing COVID-19 safety restrictions — including a 10 p.m. curfew also lifted March 1 — ultimately caused more harm than good by creating unnecessary confusion among customers.
“(Those restriction changes) did not help me any,” Castraberti said. “People were under the impression they were going to get pulled over if they were out on the road after 8 p.m., which isn’t really what it was. I just don’t think the message was clear.”
Despite the confusion, Castraberti credited his restaurant’s reputation as a Route 1 mainstay as one of the biggest reasons customers keep coming back, even as the pandemic rages on.
“Us and the guys at Kowloon, we’re the two places on Route 1 that haven’t changed,” Castraberti said. “That’s not lost on me. Customers still want to support their local places.”
Elyse Carmosino can be reached at [email protected].
