Although the Matador does offer takeout, Melang says it accounts for only about 5% of business, and it’s too early to tell whether that will change.

“It’s certainly not worth it to keep the restaurants open to just do to-go food, but we have to still provide jobs,” Melang says.

Before Gov. Jay Inslee closed all restaurants, bars and gathering spaces, each Matador restaurant had enough food stocked to generate $60,000 to $70,000 in sales per week.

“It would be a tragedy if people started throwing out food,” Melang says. “There’s so much available food in this city that could be used. Restaurateurs are either not thinking about it or don’t know how to do it — and that might be a good initiative.”

The owner says he is brainstorming with Matador kitchen staff in Redmond and Tacoma on how to offer food to the hospitals closest to those locations. And Melang isn’t the only restaurateur making meals for hospital workers, some of the most essential and overworked staff during this time.

Melang’s wife, Renessa Melang, received nearly 1,000 likes within two hours on a Facebook post calling on other restaurants to begin a meal train for hospital workers. She hopes they can get the whole restaurant community to help out with donations by organizing which days contributing restaurants would deliver their own food.

“Trying to prepackage each meal is an issue for most,” Renessa said by text, “so a meal train Matador will run can reach a bigger hospital audience.”

Restaurants around the city are quickly adjusting to food service in the time of coronavirus. The high-end Canlis has transformed into a drive-thru burger and bagel joint. On Beacon Hill, Filipino restaurant Musang switched from table service to community kitchen. In Ballard and Kent, the Mexican steakhouse Asadero is selling its stock of grade A meats (raw or cooked), from Japanese wagyu to tenderloin and New York steaks, at a discount of up to 60% for certain cuts.

But, like Matador, several other spots are making medical workers their VIP guests.

The London Plane usually serves artisanal meals to customers in the light-filled Pioneer Square cafe. But on Wednesday it delivered lunch to hospital workers at the University of Washington Medical Center, earning an outburst of appreciation on social media.

“Thank you SO MUCH for the lunches delivered to the UW Medical Center today!!” wrote one medical center nurse on Instagram. “It brightened the day for everyone and brought many smiles. We appreciate you.”

The restaurant hopes to send 1,600 meals per day to hospital staff for at least a week. With cost estimates of $10,000 per day for goods and labor, The London Plane started a GoFundMe campaign to request help from the wider community. So far the effort has raised $30,000.

Even the upscale Herbfarm in Woodinville is getting in on the donation action. The legendary pioneer in farm-to-table dining is delivering three-course meals to hospital workers. On Monday, the menu included a mushroom omelet, beef hash and a rhubarb tart.

“The rhubarb tart smelled so good and looked so good,” says co-owner Carrie Van Dyck. She had to fight the impulse to eat one.

If The Herbfarm can secure enough funding on its GoFundMe page (which has raised more than $34,000), Van Dyck says the restaurant plans to deliver more than 1,000 meals per week to hospital workers. So far, it has delivered hundreds of meals to Overlake Medical Center, Swedish Hospital and EvergreenHealth. In addition, the restaurant was able to bring two employees back to work this week: a sous chef and longtime dishwasher.

Van Dyck says the shift from nine-course prix fixe dinner restaurant to three-course meal delivery service just makes sense during the crisis. “We want to give joy to hospital workers — who have to wear that gear all day long, and are tired at the end of the day — and give them something good to eat.”