These customers are dining at tables, restaurant says it’s legal
A very clever restaurant owner in Clark thought about how outdoor gatherings of up to 25 are now allowed, and how takeout orders have been allowed. Michael Savvis, owner of Bistro 1051, told NJ.com, "There’s no law that states they can’t sit in their pick-up truck bed and eat, so they’re allowed to do that.”
And that’s what they’re doing.
To get around the shutdown orders the restaurant is inviting people to pickup their food, no carhop service, and bring it back to eat at their cars in the parking lot which has taken the form of table and chairs set up in the beds of pickup trucks. One fun-loving group even brought a flatbed truck and filled it with tables and dined that way. Savvis has even provided a DJ in the parking lot. Some people are dining from the pickup trucks with table clothes and little flower vases set up for a touch of normalcy.
Is it working?
Yes, on a recent nice weather day 100 customers showed up.
Is it legal?
Savvis believes so.
I’m no lawyer but I’d guess by the time the bureaucrats figure out the complexity of their own rules outdoor patio dining will be allowed anyway. Savvis says it was great to see so many of his regulars supporting his local business just trying to hangout and keep their employees going.