LA County Moving Forward With Three-Week Outdoor Dining Ban

Los Angeles County is moving forward with a ban on outdoor dining that is set to go into effect Wednesday, November 25 at 10 p.m., ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted on the measure during its meeting Tuesday three-to-two in favor of the restrictions aimed at reducing the spread of the novel coronavirus as cases reach all-time highs. Ahead of the vote, the new restrictions — first announced late-Sunday — were met with lawsuits and public outcry, including from the California Restaurant Association; none of which prevailed.

Under the new order, restaurants, breweries, wineries, and bars, for the next three weeks, are not allowed to serve outdoors on-premise. Instead, these establishments can only offer to-go and delivery. Indoor dining is already restricted under current orders in the City of Los Angeles.

Unlike the City of Los Angeles which shares its Health Department with LA County, The City of Pasadena has its own Health Department and decidedly broke with LA County’s order, and will allow restaurants in its jurisdiction to continue serving outdoors. “We need to balance our growing numbers and the economic hardship of restaurant personnel,” Lisa Derderian, a spokeswoman for Pasadena, said Tuesday in a prepared statement.

“As we modify our Thanksgiving holiday celebrations, we are reminded of the many families who will miss their loved ones who have passed away from COVID-19,” Barbara Ferrer, LA County’s director of public health, said in a press release Sunday. “We send wishes for healing and peace. The [persistently] high number of cases requires additional safety measures that limit mixing in settings where people are not wearing masks. We hope individuals continue to support restaurants, breweries, and wineries by ordering for take-out or delivery. We also fervently hope every L.A. County resident supports all our businesses by following the Public Health directives that we know work to slow the spread. Unfortunately, if our cases and hospitalizations continue to increase, we will need to issue further restrictions to protect our healthcare system and prevent more deaths.”

The City of Los Angeles could go into another lockdown, Mayor Eric Garcetti warned Monday. “Let us not make this Thanksgiving the deadliest day of this pandemic.”