A year ago, Jacksonville s restaurant owners faced a challenge: how to adapt and survive amid a mandatory shutdown of dining rooms due to the coronavirus pandemic.
To keep the lights on and serve their customers and keep as many of their employees on the job as possible they did just that. They added drive-thrus, pivoted to takeout only, added curbside pickup and launched in-house delivery services. Some even added food trucks.
Others, however, were forced to turn off the lights altogether either temporarily or, in some cases, forever.
Now, with vaccine centers up and running, mask mandates discontinued and social distancing a distant memory, people are returning to Jacksonville restaurants in close to pre-pandemic numbers.