How One North Charleston Steakhouse Decided to Reopen Its Doors

As South Carolina restaurants are now allowed to resume seating in dining rooms, many chefs and owners are taking the wait-and-see approach before letting customers back inside. However, the owner of Breck’s Steakhouse in North Charleston, Troy Dion, decided it was time to open. “My thoughts are damned if you do, and damned if you don’t,” he tells Eater Carolinas.

Breck’s has served the North Charleston community since 1961, and Dion was tired of waiting. “The statistics out of Georgia, on the surface, seem to be encouraging in that loosening the restrictions haven’t caused, at least so far, a spike,” he says, “Will that be the case here? Who knows, but at least it hasn’t seemed to be the case. I also haven’t seen that folks working point of sale in grocery stores and other retailers have a worse rate of infection, or at least, I haven’t seen any statistics to that effect.”

He says he feels good about reopening and even posted a Facebook photo of his staff in “Straight Outta Quarantine” t-shirts riffing on the 1988 N.W.A. album Straight Outta Compton.

“Prior to opening, we did a deep, deep clean and sanitized and rearranged tables to achieve the six to eight feet of separation,” Dion says, “We’ve also reiterated to our employees, if you don’t feel well, regardless of symptoms, stay home.” Employees are required to wear gloves and masks. They also sanitize every table, chair, and booth between customers, as well as the bathrooms and doors.

Dion says that the restaurant is running at about half of its normal capacity. “The customers coming in are my die-hard regulars and folks who are just stir crazy from being cooped up, but the response from the folks coming in has been overwhelmingly positive,” he says, “They are just glad we are here.”

• South Carolina Restaurants Allowed to Open Dining Rooms, Bars [ECAR]
• Breck’s Steakhouse [Official]