The restaurant industry has been one of hardest hit in the Valley during the COVID-19 pandemic. While many chefs and owners have been nimble in their response—offering takeout and contact-free delivery or converting part of their dining room as a market, for example—it’s been a tough road to keep the lights on and their employees paid.

President Donald Trump included restaurants in Phase One of his guidelines for opening up the country, but there’s no time frame yet for Nevada. That decision is in the hands of Gov. Steve Sisolak. But when the time does come when we can dine out again, what will that look like? The only thing we know for sure is that we won’t be going back to the world we once knew.

“Being restaurateurs and business owners, you have to learn how to pivot with everything that’s going on,” says Gina Marinelli, chef and owner of La Strega in Summerlin. “It’s been a challenge, but we just have to stay ahead of it as much as we can.”

Marinelli has implemented rigorous sanitation protocols at La Strega, providing masks, gloves and shoes for employees that can only be worn while they’re working. Surface wipedowns are performed throughout the day. Right now, La Strega offers pickup only—not delivery—as a way to maintain quality control and restrict the number of people touching food packages.

Marinelli also has a plan in place for when Sisolak eases restrictions. “We’re going to cut, I would say about 40% of the [dining capacity],” she says. “We’ll have fewer seats, the staff will be a little smaller and we’re gonna do a bit of a smaller menu, [to] just make sure that the people who are here feel very comfortable.” She also plans to continue offering takeout for folks who might not be ready to dine out as quickly.

James Trees, chef and owner of Esther’s Kitchen Downtown and Ada’s in Tivoli Village, says he’s given a lot of thought to what his restaurants will look like in a few weeks. Though he recently launched a cook-along option—diners pick up a kit for a four-course meal, and the chef provides instructions via Facebook livestream—his eye is on the dining room. Trees and his staff have been busy creating new menu items and reconfiguring Esther’s space.

“We’ve pulled 10 seats out of the dining room, and we’re definitely going to space out our tables on the patio. I really feel like patio dining, as people get back to normal, is going to be a huge thing, to have the open air,” Trees says. “We’re going to go down to about 55 inside from our 75 [maximum].”

Similarly, Blake Sartini II, Senior Vice President of Distributed Gaming at Golden Entertainment, says he and his team have been working up plans for the company’s 60-plus Valley locations, which include PT’s Pub and Sierra Gold.

“It starts with training our team and even updating job duties to help ensure any new safety measures will become part of our normal operating procedures as of day one,” Sartini says. “Things like eliminating every other bar stool, requiring separation between parties and seating every other table in our dining areas. We will be sanitizing our machines between every guest, as well as providing guests with a branded stylus that they can use, if they choose, instead of using their fingers to touch the screens or buttons on the gaming machines.”

Brock Radke contributed to this story.