Restaurant Re-Opening Resources

Effective Friday, September 4, updated Alameda County Health Orders allow:

• Hair salons and barbershops to operate indoors Indoor Hair Salon and Barbershop reopening guidance
• Outdoor dance classes as part of outdoor non-contact fitness classes
• Mini-golf, batting cages, driving ranges, and kart racing, as allowed by the State’s Family Entertainment Center Guidance
• Retail stores remain at a 25% capacity limit
• Grocery stores with a 50% capacity limit
• Alameda County Openings at a Glance

Effective Monday, August 31, the State’s Blueprint once again permits retail in shopping malls. However, it places additional restrictions on retail. Starting August 31, all indoor retail must limit capacity to a maximum of 25%, except for grocery stores, which must limit capacity to a maximum of 50%. Please visit https://covid19.ca.gov/industry-guidance/ and find “Retail” for reference.

Effective 8:00 a.m. on Friday, August 28, Alameda County Health Orders allow for the reopening of outdoor swimming pools and outdoor hair salons, nail salons, barbershops, waxing services, skin care and non-medical massages. These Orders exclude services that may require a client to remove their face covering, as well as eyebrow threading and waxing and eyelash treatments. Tattoos, piercings and electrolysis are not allowed to operate indoors or outdoors in alignment with the State of California’s Health Officer Orders issued on July 13.

• Updated Site-Specific Protection Plans
  
• California COVID-19 Employer Playbook: when and how an employer must report a COVID-19 positive employee; what is defined as an outbreak; and guidance for employers who may be considering whether to suspend operations due to COVID-19 spread in the workplace.
• Industry-Specific Reopening Guidance

Restaurant Operating Procedures
English | Chinese | Spanish

Retail and Shopping Center Guidance
English | Chinese (Simplified) | Chinese (Traditional) | Farsi | Korean | Spanish | Tagalog | Vietnamese

Outdoor Hair, Barber, Nail, Skin Care, Waxing, and Non-Medical Massage Guidance
English

Outdoor Pool Guidance
English

The order will continue to be in effect until it is rescinded, superseded, or amended in writing by the Health Officer.

July 15 Update: Outdoor Dining Now Allowed to Resume, Indoor Worship Services and Indoor Malls are Required to Close

July 12, 2020: Alameda County placed on the State’s County Monitoring List Release and FAQs

On June 18, Alameda County released an Order Update which takes effect 8:00 a.m. on Friday, June 19, 2020.

• Media Release
• Alameda County Health Officer Order Summary
• Restaurant Operating Procedures
  
  • 餐館經營程序
  • Procedimientos para Instalaciones de Alimentos
• Protection Plan Guidance and Template
  
• Additional Businesses Permitted to Open
• Updated Shelter-In-Place Orders
• Alameda County Reopening Plan
  
• Retail and Shopping Guidance
  
• Places of Worship Guidance
• Essential, Outdoor, and Additional Businesses in Alameda County

State of California industry guidelines to help businesses reduce risk and establish a safe, clean environment for workers and customers. Read the guidelines, find industry-specific checklists and learn more at: https://covid19.ca.gov/industry-guidance/

COVID-19 Employer Playbook for a Safe Reopening - Source: California Department of Public Health

COVID-19 Industry Guidance: Dine-In Restaurants - Source: State of California

COVID-19 Industry Guidance: Restaurants, Bars, and Wineries - Source: California Department of Public Health

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's industry decision trees for Restaurants & Bars

Reopening Resources by Industry - Source: International Economic Development Council

Mask Required For Entry Poster: Arabic | Amharic | Burmese | Chinese (Simplified) | Chinese (Traditional) | English | Khmer | Korean | Spanish | Swahili | Tagalog | Tigrinya | Vietnamese

Face Covering Sign for Businesses by Alameda County (PDF): ENGLISH | SPANISH | CHINESE (Simplified) | CHINESE (Traditional) | KOREAN | ARABIC | TAGALOG | VIETNAMESE | CAMBODIAN

Mask On Sign for Businesses by Alameda County (PDF) in English, Chinese and Spanish

ReOpening Guide signs by the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce (PDF), in partnership with Oaklandish and the Economic Recovery Advisory Council, 11" x 17" signs for download. Pick up hard copies from any Oakland Chamber, Business Improvement District or CIty Council office. ENGLISH | CHINESE | SPANISH | VIETNAMESE

Businesses are required to notify the Alameda County Public Health Department of all positive COVID-19 cases. Contact the COVID Workplace team at COVIDWorkplace@acgov.org or call (510) 268-2101 to submit a case report and for guidance and next steps.

Negative COVID-19 test results NOT required for return to work - Source: Alameda County Public Health Department

Dine-in restaurants should consider adapting to a takeout and/or delivery model.

At its meeting on July 28, 2020, Oakland City Council unanimously approved an Ordinance that caps service charges at 15% on third-party food delivery.

An important consideration is engaging apps to support online ordering and/or delivery. Many of the food delivery services have waived sign-up fees for new, locally owned restaurants, reduced commissions charged to restaurants, and/or will work with businesses individually to up their web/mobile presence. Below is a sampling of various apps as a resource; these listings do not constitute endorsements.

1. DoorDash/Caviar (ordering and delivery): No fee to sign up and use DoorDash for first 30 days. 15% commission fees for locally owned restaurants during SIP. Same day payments to restaurants. DoorDash/Caviar will connect struggling restaurants without an existing bank relationship to its partner bank, BlueVine, to provide access to an SBA-approved lender for PPP loans. COVID-19 merchant assistance.
2. GrubHub (ordering and delivery): No sign-up costs now or ever. Provides translation services.
3. Ordrslip (ordering): One-on-one support to get POS system installed and operating, and to build restaurant’s own website. During SIP, waiving $1000 setup fee and $100 monthly subscription to restaurants.
4. Pick Up Fixe (ordering): One-on-one support to get POS system installed and operating, and to build restaurant’s own website. No fees or contracts to restaurants during SIP or ever. Pays restaurant next day.
5. Postmates (ordering and delivery): No signup costs. Waiving commission fees for small businesses. Oakland restaurants are eligible for same day payments.
6. Uber Eats (ordering and delivery): No commission fee for customer pickups; lower commission fee if restaurant handles deliveries. No signup fees during SIP. Payments are sent same day.

Another delivery option is to redeploy your own employees as delivery people. Revel Mopeds: Engage with Revel to use free mopeds for locally owned restaurant delivery. During the shelter-in-place order, there is no cost for restaurants’ use of shared mopeds. For more information, please contact danny.marquez@gorevel.com.

To specifically support businesses with curbside or storefront pickup, and/or delivery, the City is taking the following steps:

Expediting White Curb Requests
In order to facilitate customer pick-up and delivery from Oakland businesses during the COVID-19 period, business owners can request a temporary white curb in front of their business. To request a temporary white curb, please contact Oak311 by dialing 311 or online at https://www.oaklandca.gov/serv...

Streamlining Sidewalk and Roadway Permitting
In anticipation of further updates to Alameda County’s Shelter in Place Order, City departments are working to revise the permitting process for sidewalk and roadway encroachments to make it easier for retailers and restaurants to use larger portions of the sidewalk and roadway to support their businesses. The City is working to streamline permits for parklets, café seating and other uses to help businesses better meet physical distancing requirements, and anticipates issuing updated guidelines by the end of May. City departments want to hear from local businesses about how it can streamline permitting for creative ways to use larger portions of the sidewalk, adjacent parking spaces, and the broader street space to support businesses.

Learn about the Flex Streets Initiative.

For those restaurants with an existing alcohol license, the State’s Alcoholic Beverage Control eased alcohol delivery restrictions for restaurants, but only with food orders, all of which must be sold from the same establishment.

ABC also lifted its ban on alcohol sold at drive-through windows, and noted that no deliveries are allowed from 2 a.m. until 6 a.m.

Now, more than ever, having an online presence for your business is essential.

Need help building or bolstering your online and social media presence? The following local resources are available.

• Oakland Indie Alliance has a pool of skilled volunteers to assist
• LocalMotiv and IamLocal are other online resources for marketing Oakland’s independent businesses

Create and maintain your Yelp listing.

Get your business on lists of “open” businesses. Here are a few to consider:

• Oakland Chamber’s #StayInOrderOut list. Email asmallwood@oaklandchamber.com to get listed.
• Berkeleyside/Nosh
• San Francisco Chronicle
• Eater

List your business on gift card marketplaces

• Save Our Faves
• OpenTable’s gift card marketplace

“Spend. Stay. Love. Oakland.” marketing campaign
From August, Visit Oakland will be hosting a “Spend. Stay. Love. Oakland” digital marketing and social media campaign, encouraging locals to spend their time and money in The Town.

Visit Oakland is creating a new landing page that will link to all of their business directories – from restaurants and retail to outdoors and events – that are pivoting during COVID-19.

The campaign will also focus social media and public relations efforts in support of upcoming events like:

• Black Restaurant Week: August 21-30
• Oakland Restaurant Week: Late Summer Edition: September 1-13 Restaurant Week - Digital Banners for use on Social Media
• Oakland Pride-in-Place: September 6-13
• Oakland Cocktail Week: September 10-October 11
• Dia de los Muertos Festivities: late October

If you have an upcoming event or outdoor dining special that you would like promoted through the “Spend. Stay. Love. Oakland.” campaign, please log into the Visit Oakland Partner Portal to update your listing.

If you need further assistance, email partnerships@visitoakland.com and a Visit Oakland team member will be in touch.

The City is partnering with World Central Kitchen and others to provide meals to Oakland’s hungry. We are looking for restaurants that can provide up to 300 meals per day potentially starting as soon as next week.

World Central Kitchen’s goal is to engage 200+ restaurants to serve 2 million meals in Oakland through the end of July. Additionally, the state’s new Great Plates Delivered program will need restaurants to supply meals for seniors. Please note, you are not eligible for this new program if you are already participating in another state or federal meal service program.

Participating restaurants will need to be able to meet senior and/or general meal requirements:

1) Senior meals:

• Breakfast must be low in sodium, no sugary drinks (<24 grams/8 oz., 100% fruit juice).
• Lunch and dinner: a piece of fresh fruit or vegetable on each dish, and low in sodium, no sugary drinks (<24 grams/8 oz., 100% fruit juice).

2) General meals: Lunch/Dinner type meals must contain 14-16 oz. of food, composed of 4 oz. protein, 6 oz. starch/grain, 6 oz. vegetable, and be free of peanuts, tree nuts and shellfish.

Priority will be given to restaurants that are able to meet the stated volume and nutritional standards; source local produce/meats (if able); meet cultural needs; prioritize local jobs, worker retention, and worker health and safety; and meet standards of equity and fairness in employment practices, wages, hiring, and promotion.

The meal service program – not the restaurants – will arrange for delivery of meals. Restaurants are paid by the food operator for the meals in bulk purchases.

If your restaurant is interested in participating and can meet these criteria, please fill out this short survey form. Please also send a scan or photo of your menu to kwilliams@oaklandca.gov. Meal service program staff will be in touch with restaurants that are the best fit.

Essential Business Support Fund and Returning California to Work COVID-19 Safety Protocol Fund is offering grants of up to $10,000 to State Fund policyholders to help defray the cost of safety expenses related to COVID-19 such as the purchase of googles, masks, gloves, cleaning supplies and services, and worksite modifications. Costs must be primarily related to employee safety. See their FAQ’s for more information. Grants are available until September 30.

California COVID-19 Employer Playbook: when and how an employer must report a COVID-19 positive employee; what is defined as an outbreak; and guidance for employers who may be considering whether to suspend operations due to COVID-19 spread in the workplace.

Criteria for Release from Home Isolation and/or Quarantine and Return to Work

When do I Self-Release from Isolation for COVID-19?

Screening Guidance for Employers - Source: Alameda County Public Health
English | Arabic | Chinese (Simplified) | Chinese (Traditional) | Farsi | Khmer | Korean | Spanish | Tagalog | Vietnamese

Self-Assessment Guidance for Workers - Source: Alameda County Public Health
English | Arabic | Chinese (Simplified) | Chinese (Traditional) |Farsi | Khmer | Karen | Korean | Spanish | Tagalog | Vietnamese

Workplace Outbreak Guidance for Employers - Source: California Department of Public Health