Photo by Deb Gau Trying to come back from the COVID-19 pandemic has meant lots of changes for local restaurants. The Marshall Perkins location re-opened in June after shutting down for almost two months. Now, restaurant employees wear masks, and the cash register is behind a clear barrier for health safety, said Jasmine LaVoie.

MARSHALL — The COVID-19 pandemic has affected some industries more than others. In Minnesota, restaurants have gone through months of first being limited to take-out orders, and then being limited to serving diners at half-capacity. However, the owner of Perkins in Marshall said in spite of the challenges, his restaurant is starting to welcome more customers back after being closed down for almost two months.

Kevin Wharton, who owns several Perkins locations in Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa, said that while business is reduced, the Marshall restaurant’s sales haven’t been down as much as at locations in bigger cities like Mankato, and are about the same as his restaurant location in South Dakota.

“Marshall is a little bit more unique, because there are not many restaurants in town,” Wharton said. He thought local support for restaurants might be stronger in communities like Marshall and Willmar.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this,” Wharton said of COVID-19. “It made us get creative.”

The Marshall Perkins re-opened to diners in mid-June after being closed down for two months. Wharton said the lack of delivery services present in Marshall made it hard for a dine-in restaurant like Perkins to stay open for takeout. “It was not necessarily worth it to stay open.”

However, Wharton said he thought the customer demand was still there. Plus, he said, “I’m in it for the long haul.”

While the Marshall Perkins staff of 25 to 30 people were laid off for those two months, Wharton said they were able to bring everyone back who wanted to come back. By the time Perkins reopened in Marshall, they had also taken steps to help improve safety like putting up plastic barriers between booths, requiring masks and taking some tables out of use. Wharton said staff also take down diners’ phone numbers now, in case an employee is exposed to COVID-19 and they need to do contact tracing.

“It’s created some challenges, obviously,” Wharton said of the pandemic. But while sales are down, Wharton said, “Every week it seems to get a little bit better.”

COVID-19 restrictions have affected a range of local businesses, including restaurants, over the past five months. At first, bars and restaurants were closed down except for takeout orders. Starting in June, restaurants were first allowed to open outdoor patios, and then indoor dining at 50% capacity.

But even after being allowed to reopen, Marshall restaurants face difficulties from the reduced business. At the end of June, Mike’s Cafe in Marshall announced it was closing down until further notice. Owner Ross Taveirne said the cafe wasn’t generating enough revenue to stay open.

Earlier this week, Taveirne said he didn’t yet have plans to re-open Mike’s Cafe, and was waiting for state dine-in restrictions to loosen.

“I’m hopeful Mike’s will open sooner than later,” Taveirne said.

Taveirne said he has also seen a drop in sales at his other local restaurant, Toni’s Depot, since the state mask mandate went into effect. However, he said it was hard to pinpoint whether COVID-19 restrictions were the reason for the decrease, as August tends to be a slower month for him.

Tom Handeland, owner of the Hitching Post in Marshall, said his business had also been impacted by state COVID rules.

“We’re doing the best we can,” he said, but business is reduced. The biggest issue, he said, is “Our elderly (customers) are not coming out.” If this summer hadn’t had good patio weather, things would be worse, Handeland said. Customers have tended to avoid sitting at indoor tables, he said.

Wharton said there will likely still be changes and challenges ahead for the Marshall Perkins location. Currently, he said, the restaurant is getting ready for some technological changes to allow customers to place online takeout orders. As that becomes more common for restaurants, Wharton said, “We’re going to prepare as best we can for it.”