Due to the recent loosening of COVID-19 restrictions in Washington state, restaurants in downtown Camas have started reopening indoor dining and services. They are now allowed to seat customers in the building as opposed to outdoors in tarps or covered-up areas.

Popular restaurants such as Grains of Wrath and Nuestra Mesa have been seating customers indoors since the beginning of the new year.

Grains of Wrath reopened indoor dining on January 13th, which was earlier than other restaurants. Since it has garage doors, it was able to open those up and create a safer dining experience.

Brendan Greenen, the owner of Grains of Wrath, gave some insight on how business has been since the reopening and during the pandemic in general.

“As we have progressed through the phases of re-opening, we have had little to no problems with people following the ground rules that we must abide by per the state to remain open at current given capacities,” Greenen said. 

Overall, business for Grains of Wrath has been getting increasingly better and better. With the amount of space and larger amount of seating, it has been stay very busy. In addition, Grains of Wrath has been able to bring the majority of their team back from unemployment.

Greenen said, “The Camas community has overall been very supportive over the last year for our small downtown. People, for the most part, have been extremely understanding and willing to follow the rules to try to help everybody’s world get back to normal as soon as we can. It’s a group effort and I feel that Camas is really doing a great job at this.”

Another restaurant in downtown Camas that recently reopened is Nuestra Mesa. 

Greyson Siefer, a hostess at Nuestra Mesa shared his insight on how business has been since reopening in restaurant dining.

“Mesa is a very safe and clean environment, we are taking every precaution necessary to ensure safety and distance with our customers,” he said.

Siefer explained the precautions that Mesa is taking to help prevent any outbreaks within the restaurant.

He said,  “All the employees stay very cautious and safe around customers and one another. By giving the necessary space and wearing our masks our customers feel comfortable and secure when dining in at Mesa. Also, they make sure Mesa is abiding by the state rules in order to remain open.”

Mesa has not seen as many customers as it used to prior to the pandemic outbreak, however; many members of the community go out to support the local businesses in their efforts to remain open during this weird and complicated time.  

Although times have been tough, many people are doing their best to support these businesses by dining in or getting food for takeout to bring home. It is always important to support home businesses while staying safe and comfortable.