On March 21st, Governor Murphy signed a "Stay at Home Order," forcing Americans to stay home and only leave if they had to work or get groceries. Various businesses had to shut their doors and no longer allow their customers inside their establishments. This was extremely devastating to business owners especially ones who weren't able to make sales online or curbside. Many people were furloughed or laid off because employers simply couldn't pay them. It's pretty crazy when you think about it. People were laid off and if they didn't collect unemployment, the only jobs available were ones that were possibly exposing people to COVID-19 such as delivery drivers and grocery store workers. Once restaurants were able to open up again but for curbside only, things got a little better, but some restaurants were not able to come back at all. Governor Murphy announced on June 1st that restaurants could open for outdoor dining on June 15th. Many restaurants, even if they didn't have a working patio area, figured out a way to have one just to get customers in the door and make some money. Restaurants are struggling in a big way and it's extremely sad to see. We try to just get takeout from our local establishments to support them at least once a week, but it's going to be big events and constant business that is going to keep these restaurants from closing their doors for good.

CentralJersey.com reports that on July 24th and 25th, Bordentown City will be holding a special version of a restaurant week. It will be shortened as they are calling it a restaurant weekend. Both days, from 2-10pm, restaurants will be opening their outdoor dining areas for diners to come and experience some great local food. A section of the downtown area by Crosswick Street will actually be closed off in order for people to explore the local restaurants and practice social distancing. This will hopefully bring more business to these restaurants and also get people to the downtown area.

For more info, check out this article from CentralJersey.com.

 

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