For locally-owned restaurants in southern New Mexico, 2020 has been a harrowing year, and the end seems nowhere in sight, as many restaurant owners question whether their businesses will survive. 

The arrival of the novel coronavirus in early March ushered in a tumultuous era, as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham implemented a statewide lockdown. Restaurants closed their doors to indoor dining, shifting their services to carry-out and delivery. 

Gradually, indoor dining returned, albeit with stricter rules. But after an uptick in coronavirus cases in early July, Lujan Grisham once again shut down indoor dining. Patio and outdoor dining — at 50% of normal capacity — are still allowed, along with delivery and carry-out, under the current emergency order. 

A series of challenges 

In Sunland Park, a New Mexico city adjacent to El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Robert Ardovino is struggling to keep his restaurant and event space open. His family founded Ardovino’s Desert Crossing in 1949 and reestablished it in 1997. Ardovino said his restaurant, like many others, has faced one hurdle after the next to stay open during the pandemic. It was closed for weeks during the lockdown, losing many employees, and reopened with an emphasis on safety measures. But the shift to patio dining happened during one of the hottest weeks of the summer. 

“For the restaurant, every day is a new day,” Ardovino said. “We’ve really adapted to trying to be as safe as possible. We’re probably doing 8% of our regular sales, but it seems like a lot right now.” 

Ardovino’s Desert Crossing has adapted to the pandemic by offering meals and services it has never before offered. 

“We’ve pivoted to every service we’ve never had,” Ardovino said. “We’re taking out. We’re doing family meals. We’re doing delivery. We have it all kind of happening, and that’s the only way [to stay afloat] — just to keep pivoting, really.” 

Ardovino’s Desert Crossing is not alone in feeling the economic hardships of the pandemic. Many states have curtailed restaurant operations to varying degrees. And consumers, many of whom have lost jobs due to the pandemic, have less disposable income and are more likely to stay home to avoid possible exposure to the virus. Earnings for restaurants and other food service businesses in the United States decreased more than $145 billion during the first four months of the pandemic (March through June), according to the National Restaurant Association. 

New Mexico had nearly 3,500 “eating and drinking” establishments in 2018, generating about $4 billion in sales annually, according to the New Mexico Restaurant Association. Last year, employees in the food service sector numbered about 96,400 across the state. 

Many New Mexico restaurant owners have criticized the rules and closures ordered by Lujan Grisham. Early on, some continued operating in defiance of the closure order. Others banded together to join a lawsuit challenging aspects of Lujan Grisham’s authority to restrict their operations. 

On Aug. 4, the New Mexico Supreme Court upheld Lujan Grisham’s authority to issue fines of up to $5,000 per day to restaurants violating the state’s public health orders. 

‘We’re surviving’ 

Irma Martinez has owned and operated a Mexican food eatery, Irma’s Restaurant, in downtown Deming, New Mexico, for 20 years. The pandemic has been exceptionally tough to weather.

“We’re trying to do whatever we can to keep on going, you know,” she said. “We’ve been having to close, then open, then close up the dining room again. Now we’re down to where we’ve got outdoor dining. That’s ticked up a little bit, but it’s a rough road.”

Without much difficulty, Irma’s Restaurant survived the Great Recession that struck more than a decade ago. But the situation now is worse. 

“This time around — oh my goodness, it’s been tough to keep your employees motivated,” she said. “They’re so unsure of whether they’re keeping their jobs or not because we’re unsure about whether we’re going to keep the restaurant open or not.” 

Martinez said she’s been fortunate enough not to have had to lay off any employees. She received a Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, a loan from the federal government, as part of the coronavirus relief package. But she’s worried about the future implications of that loan and what strings could be attached. For the first time, she set up tables on a city sidewalk to implement patio dining. Though she was worried that city officials would object, she said they have been accommodating. Still, sales are markedly down. 

“Compared to our regular sales, nothing is going to be able to compare to it,” she said. “But at least we’re surviving. We’re making enough where we can keep our employees. And that’s all that matters to me.” 

Restaurants are on edge awaiting word as to whether Lujan Grisham will modify the emergency orders further — perhaps closing eateries down again, Martinez said. 

“And then what do you do?” she said. “Your employees depend on you. You’re basically going from one week to the next and hoping for the best.” 

A new normal? 

As of Aug. 11, New Mexico has logged more than 22,400 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to the New Mexico Department of Health. The number of positive coronavirus tests, compared to the number of tests administered, has been lower — and therefore better — than in neighboring states, and onlookers have taken that as a sign the state’s health restrictions are working. 

Still, absent the development of a successful vaccine, the pandemic and subsequent economic challenges will likely continue into the foreseeable future. Local restaurants may be settling into a new normal — one characterized by extreme uncertainty. Many have questioned whether they can financially survive. Ardovino said he’s among those worried about the loss of restaurants during the pandemic, as well as the loss of the unique character of communities that restaurants help create. 

“It’s very concerning,” he said. “We’re very concerned about our place.” 

While Lujan Grisham’s orders generated a backlash from many restaurant owners, others see restrictions as a necessary, though challenging, public safety measure. Indoor spaces in general are a focal point of restrictions because they constitute a significant risk in the spread of the coronavirus. Airborne transmission is believed to be a major factor.

The rapidly changing rules for restaurants have been difficult to deal with, said Christopher Schaljo, co-owner of Salud! de Mesilla, located along a major entranceway to the historic town of Mesilla. But he said his restaurant is “following them to a ‘t’ because I know, at the end of the day, people are trying to do what’s right.” 

“It’s definitely hard to operate within the parameters that we are given,” he said. “But also, at the same time, our biggest focus has to be that our team, our families, ourselves and our guests are all very, very safe. Because that’s the goal here: to reduce the spread.” 

Like Ardovino’s Desert Crossing, Salud! has overhauled its business model and now offers family meals to go. 

“We’re also taking advantage of every single helping hand, every single opportunity that we can get. Whether it was with the PPP program or small business loans, we are using that to our advantage so we can stay open, and we can serve our guests, and we can take care of our team members who have bills to pay,” Schaljo said. “It’s not just about me as a business owner, it’s about the people I employ.” 

Ardovino agreed that the added regulations help to keep everyone safer. As for the Supreme Court upholding the governor’s ability to fine restaurants, he said it’s an unfortunate necessity “because people won’t take personal responsibility.” 

Ardovino criticized the federal government’s response to the coronavirus crisis, as well as the aid offered to restaurants so far. More assistance will be needed, he said, to keep local restaurants alive. 

“These mini money give-outs by the federal government, that’s just sad,” he said. “There’s some long-term, hard things that need to be addressed with the smartest minds in the room, not the ones that are there now at the national level. They could not be doing a worse job on the national level. Unfortunately, the governor has to pick it up, and she’s done it.” 

Mayor calls for indoor dining 

Ken Miyagishima, the mayor of Las Cruces, the second-largest city in New Mexico, disagrees with Lujan Grisham’s order on restaurants and believes more indoor dining — up to 25% of an establishment’s indoor capacity — could be allowed, with hefty spacing requirements for seating. Added to other steps, like disposable menus and mask requirements for employees, Miyagishima believes restaurants could safely operate indoor dining on some level. 

“I was just looking for a compromise, something that would allow for them to open up a small amount indoors,” he said. “For many restaurant owners, this is their livelihood. This is their life. They’ve poured in their savings, their retirement. This is everything. I can feel for them.” 

Miyagishima said more clarification is needed from Lujan Grisham’s office about whether a restaurant can operate counter service, in which customers walk in to place their order but leave after getting their food. 

“These are the things they really need to communicate with the restaurant owners: What is allowed and what isn’t allowed. And I’m not happy at the state’s response on that,” he said. “I think the administration has to understand how critical these decisions are and how crippling these decisions have been to the restaurant industry. And that they need to be on this ASAP.” 

Asked whether counter service is allowed at restaurants, Lujan Grisham’s press secretary, Nora Meyers Sackett, said the state’s public health order is “very clear” in that it prohibits “dine-in service in indoor seating areas.” She said it does not prohibit entering a restaurant. 

“I’m sorry to hear the mayor feels that way; the governor’s office and the administration have been incredibly responsive and proactive in communicating the important public health information throughout the crisis,” she said. 

Throughout Las Cruces, small restaurants without patio dining are installing party tents in their parking lots in a bid to retain customers. While not ideal, particularly with southern New Mexico temperatures topping 100 degrees this summer, patrons seem to be going with the flow. The weather will be less of a problem for patio diners as autumn approaches, but it does pose a different challenge with the arrival of winter — if the restrictions on indoor dining endure. 

Some restaurant owners pointed out that, even if restrictions on indoor dining were lifted immediately, it does not mean diners would return in droves. There’s a heightened level of caution among many residents about going out in public, as the coronavirus shows little sign of relenting. 

Congressional contenders chime in 

In the 2nd Congressional District, which spans southern New Mexico, Independent candidate Steve Jones and Republican candidate Yvette Herrell are challenging the incumbent Democratic congresswoman, Xochitl Torres Small, in the November general election. 

Torres Small announced July 20 that she was co-sponsoring a bill known as the RESTAURANTS Act, to offer financial assistance to local restaurants during the pandemic. The legislation addresses the costs of protective equipment for employees, debts to suppliers, and “other industry-specific needs,” according to a news release from her office. 

Torres Small could not be reached for comment, but said in her news release that the RESTAURANTS Act “will help to address the unique challenges our local eateries are facing by providing them with the flexibility and resources they need to meet the reality on the ground as they safely reopen and find ways to continue to serve and employ our community.”

Jones, who lives in Ruidoso, said he worked for years as a volunteer with the Small Business Administration and later as a consultant for the agency. He said he has a “warm spot in my heart for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and especially minorities and women because that’s where I worked.” 

Jones said he’s not going to weigh in on whether the state’s “guidances are right or wrong because I don’t have the data. I don’t have the information to assess, but clearly this is an area where it’s legitimate for them to be worried about COVID-19 spread.” 

However, Jones said, he does think county commissioners working with county sheriffs should be delegated authority to enforce state regulations related to restaurants and COVID-19 within their own areas. He backs more local control. 

“That kind of enforcement could be done with a much more rational and reasonable approach than if we get orders from Santa Fe and charge the state police in enforcing them,” he said. 

Jones supports proposals to give local restaurants loans “for a protracted period of time to weather the storm.”

“Remember, if they are an entrepreneur, they’re not a salaried person,” he said. “And if they were not a salaried person, they can’t go to the state and get unemployment.” 

Herrell, meanwhile, argued that Lujan Grisham has “unfairly targeted” restaurants, echoing a criticism leveled by many conservatives. 

“This latest closure order is destroying small businesses and hurting workers and their families across our district,” she said in an email. “Restaurants should be allowed to safely operate and serve their customers as other businesses are permitted to." 

No end in sight 

It’s unclear how long restrictions on indoor dining could last. “There are no planned changes at this point in time,” Meyers Sackett said, “but, as I say, the state is constantly evaluating the new data and communicating that publicly.” 

Martinez, 54, the owner of Irma’s Restaurant in Deming, said she has never experienced anything like the current pandemic. If there’s a message she’d like to convey, it’s to “have patience for everybody.” 

“It’s just rough for everybody all the way around,” she said. “Everybody’s trying one way or another to try to make a living now, and it works for some of us, and it doesn’t work for others.” 

Ardovino said he’s hoping for continued strong support from the regular customers of Ardovino’s Desert Crossing, as well as new customers. The future of local restaurants depends on that support.

“We need new people to explore local dining instead of falling into the safety of nonlocal dining,” he said. “We all need that — all my friends in the industry hope for that.”