Kitchen and Dining Room Safety in the COVID-19 Era

14 Jul Kitchen and Dining Room Safety in the COVID-19 Era

It’s no secret that operating a restaurant has become a unique challenge due to the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic.  Restaurants all over the United States have closed their doors temporarily or switched to take-out and delivery options.  Either way, the goal is to continue to serve their customers while staying safe during these unprecedented times.

For those establishments that have been able to remain open for dine-in customers, taking special care to create and maintain proper sanitization measures is critical to running a safe operation during the pandemic.  To that end, Arizona Restaurant Supply would like to offer some tips and tricks for restaurant managers and owners.  After all, our goal is the same as yours: to keep customers and employees alike safe and healthy.

Try These Things

1. Make hand sanitizer available for employees and customers in high-traffic areas.  This includes entrances, exits, and restrooms.  Make sure that employees are washing their hands thoroughly throughout the day.  Also encourage using sanitizer regularly so that customers can observe their habits.
2. Use appropriately rated sanitizers and disinfectants on all surfaces between dining parties.  ARS carries a number of these products to help bring you and your guests peace of mind, and we can work with you to set up a regular delivery schedule that fits the needs of your business.
3. Provide masks to all staff, including back-of-house employees that aren’t visible to your customers.  Wearing a mask prevents the transmission of respiratory droplets and significantly reduces the spread of the virus.  Make masks mandatory for your establishment so that customers know you are making every effort to stay safe.  More on why masks are important can be found here.
4. Pay special attention to food safety.  Although there is currently no evidence that the virus is transmissible via ingestion, be cautious, anyway!  Cook meats to the required temperature, use produce washers or sanitizers, and avoid cross-contamination of surfaces to help ensure the safety of the food you prepare for your guests.
5. Be transparent – set up social distancing guidelines by placing stickers on the floor to indicate proper distance between patrons, install sneeze guards at customer-facing registers, and post lists of what you are doing to protect your employees and your guests.  

Bottom line – COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere any time soon, and our best chance of returning to a somewhat normal routine is protecting ourselves and others as best we can.  As a restaurant owner, part of reopening to the public is paying special attention to sanitizing and disinfecting procedures in your establishment. 

We can help!

Some of our most in-demand products include:

QUAT Sanitizer II, which is used in hotels, schools, restaurants, and bars where disinfection, sanitizing, and deodorization is important for day-to-day operations.  This is a great option for kitchen surfaces and high-traffic 

Value One-Step Cleaner/Disinfectant, used most frequently for cleaning, deodorizing, and disinfection in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and food processing plants.  This chemical is a great choice for facilities where housekeeping is important to controlling cross-contamination risk

Sani-Blue Disinfectant, used on hard, non-porous surfaces in restaurant kitchens, dining rooms, bars, and institutional kitchens to kill bacteria and sanitize surfaces.

More options can be found in our catalog, or by contacting us by phone or email.

Reach out to our specially-trained Chemical Team for help finding the right options for your business to meet the challenges of this pandemic, and keep your restaurant open and thriving despite it.

Call Us: 877-622-4844

Email Us: info@azrestaurantsupply.com