Indoor dining to return, just in time for Mother’s Day; Bend restaurants adjust to quick change

(Update: Adding video, comments from The Lemon Tree and Pine Tavern Restaurant)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Indoor dining returns Friday, but Mother’s Day is Sunday, and restaurants are doing their best to prepare with short notice for the risk level change.

Betsy McDonald, a chef and co-owner of the Lemon Tree, said Mother’s Day is huge for her business. 

"It's the biggest day of the year for us,” McDonald said Wednesday. 

She said with Deschutes County switching from High Risk to Extreme, and now back down to High risk on Friday, the preparation has been a bit confusing.

"Funny enough, we all feel like it's go, stop, go, stop,” McDonald said. “But it's been a year with something (COVID-19) so we're learning to go with the flow." 

Anthony Avraam, general manager at the Pine Tavern Restaurant, said he’s seen the same issue.

"It's unbelievable -- we can't plan,” Avraam said. “It's more week-to-week than it is month-to-month." 

Avraam explained a few weeks ago that the Pine Tavern was prepared and staffed to have Mother's Day lunch inside.

Then, last Friday, when Deschutes County moved to Extreme Risk, it prepared for outdoor-only dining.

Now, they're prepared to have it inside once again. 

"You think you have a safe two weeks -- and suddenly, you're undercut and you're changing on the fly,” Avraam said. 

Both restaurants will offer indoor and outdoor dining on Sunday, and said they are prepared for a big crowd.

However, they said the constant changes in risk level do create a challenge, when it comes to keeping employees. 

"Being able to retain our staff is tough, because you're sending people home, going away and coming back,” Avraam said. “That's a little bit of a yo-yo effect." 

McDonald said they are only short one staff member at the moment, but hiring has been difficult.

"It's become something like a sports team, where you have to give a signing bonus to get people to hire on,” she said. 

Mcdonald hopes the risk level stays at least at High Risk, and only gets better from here.

"What we hope is we continue to get healthier, so we can open up more freely,” McDonald said. 

"My best dream would be that we don't go backwards again, we continue to move forward from 25 percent to 50 percent -- and then hopefully we get back to 100 percent. That’s the dream."