From the (Home) Business Desk: Restaurants dealing with COVID-19 challenges

Dennis "Doc" Cain has seen a lot in his 31 years at Port Cape Girardeau.

He's seen plenty of floods, dozens of winter storms -- including one that knocked out power for days -- and lots of other restaurants come and go.

But he's never seen anything close to what his restaurant -- and practically every other eatery in town -- is going through.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Missourians -- as well as residents of many other states -- have been asked (and in some instances "required") to avoid eating or dining at restaurants, bars or food courts as one way to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Although they've had to close their dining rooms, restaurants are being allowed to offer drive-through, pickup and delivery services as a way to serve their customers ... and stay in business.

So Doc, along with virtually every other restaurant owner in the area, has shifted gears and is offering meal deliveries and pickup services from Port Cape's front door at the corner of Themis and Water streets in downtown Cape Girardeau.

My wife, Kathy, and I have barely left our house during the coronavirus outbreak. In fact, we've set up "home offices" in what were once bedrooms (one of the few perks of being "empty nesters"). We've been battling "cabin fever," so Friday night I eagerly agreed when she suggested we pick up some food at Port Cape.

It was nearly 7 o'clock Friday evening when we turned right from Broadway onto Main Street. Normally, we would have seen people on the sidewalks and cars in almost every parking space. But on this particular night, there were only about a dozen cars parked between Broadway and Independence, and practically no one on the sidewalk.

Spanish Street was even more deserted with the exception of a customer leaving Bella Italia with his "to go" order. (Bella Italia's dining room "has been closed since the governor's first suggestion to do so," owner Mark Dirnberger told me in an email over the weekend.)

At Port Cape, I paused to chat with Doc Cain (while maintaining our 6 feet of "social distance" between us) about what business has been like since closing the restaurant's dining areas.

"Our customers have been terrific," he told me. The word, he said, is getting around that despite coronavirus, restaurants are still in business. Customers just have to pick meals up themselves or have them delivered.

Still, he said it's been a challenge shifting from a traditional "dine-in" business to a "delivery and pick up" format. Some of Doc's employees, including some of his bartenders and wait staff, have become delivery drivers. "We're all doing what needs to be done," he said.

The restaurant business, Doc told me, isn't easy, even in the best of times. Some establishments will likely close, at least temporarily, if the coronavirus outbreak lasts more than a month or so. (One local eatery, STA on North Sprigg Street, permanently closed its doors over the weekend due to coronavirus; for more on this, visit STA's Facebook page.)

Over the years, Doc says he's learned to adapt and be flexible in the face of a changing environment. His plans Friday were not what he envisioned a month or so ago; Port Cape had been scheduled to provide lunch and dinner service for the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynryd as well as the band's roadies and support crew -- more than a hundred meals in all. However, the band's appearance at the Show Me Center scheduled for Friday night was postponed until later this year due to coronavirus.

"You do what you have to do," Doc said as we ended our conversation. We parted by waving our elbows at each other, still maintaining at least 6 feet of "social distance."

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Renovations are underway to the building at 1700 Broadway in Cape Girardeau.JAY WOLZ

If you've driving along Broadway recently, you may have noticed the extensive renovation work underway at a building that once housed Ken's Cape Cleaners and a convenience store on the corner of Broadway and Perry Avenue. It's been empty since last fall when the cleaning business moved to a new location in the 2500 block of Independence.

The property on Broadway, along with several adjoining properties, is owned by Ann Ritter and has been in her family for several generations.

"She has decided she wants to make it very nice to complement Capaha Park and Southeast Hospital," Becky Harding of Area Properties told me last week.

The structure, which is being renovated by Boulder Construction, will be reconfigured to accommodate up to five occupants and Harding said she has already received more than two dozen inquires from potential tenants, including retail, medical and food and beverage businesses.

"Inquiries are coming from a variety of people, but we're not to the point yet where we're nailing down leases," she said. "That will possibly be by mid-to-late summer or early fall."

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Just up the street from the renovation project, at the intersection of Broadway and Henderson Avenue, there's an empty lot where Imo's Pizza once was. The building, which was also a doughnut shop in a previous life, was recently purchased by Southeast Missouri State University from an affiliated entity under the PAJCO umbrella of businesses and was torn down about a week ago.

"As part of the transaction, we agreed to demolish the building and remove the parking lot," PAJCO president Jeff Maurer told me last week. He said it's his understanding the university will convert the lot, which is across the street from the school's Henderson Avenue entrance, into "green space," at least for the time being.

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