Right now, operators in the restaurant industry are focused on staying afloat and making it through the next few weeks.

Jon Taffer, star of Bar Rescue and owner of full-service concept Taffer’s Tavern, understands the pressure. But he’s concerned that not enough restaurateurs are thinking about the post-pandemic future.

“What I’m worried about is that not enough of us is focused on what’s going to happen after these next few weeks,” Taffer says. “What does the reset look like, and how does our industry look coming out of this?”

Taffer foresees a significant shift in the industry. Using himself as an example, Taffer says that in the past, he’d go to restaurants because of their food quality. That won’t be the case going forward—not only for him, but most consumers, too, he explains.

Instead, he is going to eat at the brands he trusts the most, even if the quality isn’t as high.

JON TAFFER SETS OUT TO CHANGE CASUAL DINING WITH NEW CONCEPT

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“This industry is now going to be led by trust. Not products. Everything is going to be about trust and transparency,” Taffer says. “So that changes the game as far as restaurants are concerned.”

“… When you close your eyes and you think of the full-service, casual-dining sector, there’s not one restaurant brand that is known for cleanliness because you’ve never had to do it before,” he adds. “We’re known for burgers, we’re known for chicken, your Jack Daniels. All of them are known for things, but none of them are known for cleanliness. That’s probably going to be the single-most driving factor when we come out of this crisis.”

Although governments may lift stay at home mandates, Taffer says there will be a consumer expectation that restaurants spread their dining rooms and bars to create distance.

“If you cough today, it’s like you’re a criminal,” he says, describing the paranoia caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

He estimates that chains will have to reduce capacity by 40 to 60 percent. Servers will no longer be able to bring food to guests and bus tables at the same time. The new normal will require designated food runners to have the sole responsibility of transferring food from the kitchen to the table.

The hospitality mogul also envisions a reduction in menu items to reduce complexity and improve quality, uniforms for kitchen staff, and security cameras in the kitchen to enhance transparency.

Taffer recalls seeing an image on social media of a cook in a kitchen laying lasagna in a pan while wearing gloves, but in street clothes with no hat and no mask. He believes those standards won’t be accepted by guests after the pandemic.

“Those are the images that will destroy our industry if we don’t understand that our customers now expect the transparency to trust us,” Taffer says. “Everything about a restaurant today is trust. And there is nothing that is more important than trust. I have to trust that you have people in the kitchen that are completely sanitized. … Kitchens can’t have street clothes anymore. People won’t accept it. We can’t wear baseball caps from home when we’re cooking on the line.”

Taffer notes that when restaurants have a lower capacity, they won’t be able to handle the usual lunch rush. He suggests operators do early bird lunch specials and late bird lunch specials to spread traffic over more hours because of fewer seats.