Restaurants Hungry For Indoor Dining, More Customers

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY — Life is slowly starting to resume on Long Island. Now that the area has moved into phase two of the state's reopening plan, things are starting to take on a sheen of normalcy. Part of that is restaurants reopening, albeit with only outdoor dining.

Rockville Centre is known for its many restaurants, and their owners are taking advantage of the ability to serve customers again. But unfortunately, it may not be enough.

Niall Gunn owns Monaghan's Restaurant, located at 48 N. Village Ave. Since the area entered phase two last week, he was able to create an outdoor dining area with eight tables. But it's a far cry from what his seating used to be in his two-story restaurant.

"It's been very tough," he said. "I'm basically doing food to go, which is minimal profit. I'm lucky enough that it was basically myself working, so I could keep the labor costs down."

The shutdown came at the worst possible time for him, as well. Monaghan's is an Irish restaurant, and St. Patrick's Day is a big day for them. "I say that if every month was March, I'd be a millionaire," Gunn said.

But the state shut down restaurants the day before St. Patrick's Day. Not long after, the only ones in the restaurant were Gunn and his dog.

Next week, if all goes well, Long Island will enter phase three of reopening, which will allow restaurants to have indoor dining at half capacity. Gunn said he has prepared his restaurant by getting rid of all of the seating on his first floor — which used to have seating for 35 — and cutting down his seating upstairs. The second floor will now only have four tables, meaning the restaurant as a whole will have 12 tables, which is what he used to sit in just the upper floor alone. Every day he's open, the restaurant is losing money.

"I could squeeze one more in legally, but I have outside, so I don't want to be pushing it close," Gunn said. He is hoping that when diners start returning, he'll be able to sit the younger customers inside and the older customers outside to help keep them safer. Weather permitting, of course.

Despite the hardships, Gunn said he's loving having outdoor dining open. He and his wife made their own flower baskets, and she went to Dee's Nursery in Oceanside to purchase flowers to make arrangements to brighten the seating area. Gunn calls the area Brigid's Garden.

Monaghan's has been a staple in Rockville Centre for years. And one of the things that makes it beloved is how much Gunn gives back to the community. Even through the reduced business, he has been donating meals to healthcare workers. Gunn hopes that, when the restaurant reopens, people will come support him to help keep the business afloat.

"I think it's going to be a great summer," he said.