What Woodinville Restaurants Want You To Know

Everywhere I’ve gone out to eat in Woodinville lately, I’ve been asking the restaurant owners and servers what they’d like our readers to know about the current restaurant situation in our city.

Our Washington State governor recently closed the indoor spaces of bars, wineries, breweries and distilleries; and made a new regulation that people from different households can not sit inside at the same table at a restaurant. Restaurants are limited to 5 people per table, and if you are from different households, you MUST sit outside to dine with your friends.

Our restaurants scrambled on one week’s notice to order tents, find patio furniture or move indoor furniture out, buy umbrellas and awnings, and get licensed to serve wine in their newly created outdoor spaces. They’re working hard to accomodate those of us who want to dine with friends who don’t live with us.

You’ll find lots of tents and shade umbrellas in restaurant parking lots here in Woodinville, and plentiful parking now that fewer people are dining out.

The restaurants want you to know:

They really want you to come back! They want you dining with them!
If you can’t dine in person, use curbside pickup for takeout
Keep in mind that DoorDash, UberEats and other companies take up to 30% fees from restaurants, making it hard for them to make a profit
Restaurants are working hard to keep staff and customers safe
They’re sanitizing surfaces constantly
The situation and regulations change frequently, so please be patient
Check a restaurant’s website and/or social media for current hours and reservations policy
Make advance reservations whenever possible, and please arrive on time
Don’t move tables or chairs at restaurants
You can’t wander over to other tables visiting friends seated nearby. No co-mingling.
Be thoughtful of how long you’re spending in a busy restaurant and courteous of those next in line for your table
Wear a mask (or face shield) and please don’t argue about it, it’s the law to wear one
Remove your mask to eat and drink at your table, but put it back on to walk to the restroom
Click Like and leave comments on local restaurants’ social media posts and photos
Tip your server generously for good service – they serve fewer people every night and have been unemployed and underemployed for months now.