What is the overall current state of Restaurants & Bars in Rocky Point.

The reopening of restaurants in Puerto Peñasco happens in 3 phases, It is FIRST WITHIN THE CITY ITSELF (or rather, not tourists until Phase 3) ● Phase I Estimated from May 18th – May 31st ○ Businesses that are able to deliver their services directly or provide services without clients entering their establishment, for example: restaurants. ● Phase II Estimated from June 1st – June 15th (If criteria from Phase I is met) ○ The following may begin to operate at 40% capacity: restaurants, coffee shops, taco places, pizza establishments, fruit drink/smoothie sale points ● Phase 3 Estimated mid-June (If criteria from Phase II are met) ○ Full reopening of economic activities: Phase 3 will remain in effect until there are no new outbreaks. ○ The proposal includes an agreement for any business owner wishing to reopen activities (per the indicated phase) to sign an agreement with provisions detailed by the municipal and health authorities. Failure to comply may lead to indefinite closures. Municipal health inspectors will have a checklist of objectives for review. Upon review, the health inspectors will leave a sign of acknowledgment and draw up a report concerning the status of the establishment at the time of review or inspection. This must be signed by the owner or whomever is responsible for the establishment or by whoever does the inspection.

1. What is the current state of Restaurants & Bars in Puerto Peñasco?

Rick & Kris Nichols (Owner/Partner), Crazy Ed's Satisfied Frog: We are all hurting. The restaurant & bar businesses are hurting. Industry employees are hurting too from reduced schedules to loss of tips normally counted on during tourist season.

When COVID-19 first started to be feared, it was during the first half of our tourist season. We were already starting to feel the economic impact back then. If you operate on low margins as we have, then to suddenly have our tourist season turned off then adjusting from little to no business is hard.

John Hostak (Owner/Partner), Al Capone's Seafood and Pizzeria: We are very aware of the economic difficulties that bar/restaurants and all other businesses are having right now. We have been open every day following the changing governments rules and conditions since late March. Capones was in the middle of a bar,patio and future microbrewery expansion when COVID hit. We are still struggling along ,following the rules in place and keeping our financial heads above water.

John McBride owner Max's: Current state restaurant, disimile, not enough sales to even pay a few employees.

Jose Boo, owner Boo Bar: The current state is weird...side vendors can people sitting and eating while the restaurants and bars can be open for take out only. Weird...

Mike and Cindy, owners Latitude 31 Most restaurants and bars are closed, right now.

Shayna, owner/partner Tekila Bar, Manny's and Shark Bite: Tekila and Sharkbite are currently closed and will open Mannys and upstairs Tekila June 1st with social distancing in mind Chef Mickey owner Chef Mickey’s: ​ Well we remain open. They are allowing us to work under the restrictions. But only for take-out we are not supposed to serve liquor to go. I just cook food and no one can come into the restaurant. And That's what we are doing. Just take out orders.

Heber Alvarez, owner Ichiraku Ramen: Terrible status, we live 90% from tourism, and if there is no tourism we can not sell our products.

The only resources we have are the local costumer's, so let them go out and eat in local places following precaution and hygiene norms. The quarantine in town must stop now, and let the local economy start moving again. That way we can make it and be prepared to receive tourism when all this ends.

2. What has been the COVID-19 economic impact on your business?

Rick & Kris Nichols (Owner/Partner), Crazy Ed's Satisfied Frog:​ The economic impact for us has been crushing. The financial goal everyday is to break even but that has been impossible.

We have had our fair days and bleak days. We have had to retool our business model to include web based ordering for pickup and delivery. Implementing a new system like that takes resources we are hard strapped to come up with.

John McBride owner Max's:​ Impact, we are down by 95%.

Jose Boo, owner Boo Bar: ​Hard...after December’s horrible business, January’s horrible business, February’s so-so business, we wait for our high season March-June/July to make some money. Lots of time its to pay back the bills racked up through those 3 bad months.

Mike and Cindy, owners Latitude 31: Covid 19 has had a HUGE impact on our business. The rules that the city has implemented to keep the citizens safe, are quite extensive. (I understand why) People are afraid to leave their homes.

Chef Mickey owner Chef Mickey’s: T​he covid-19 economic impact on our business is everything. Covid-19 is everything to everybody and businesses are shut down because of fear and also for precaution. So it impacts 100%, because our economy is based on tourism mostly from people from Arizona. Without that business this is a death. This is definitely “Arizona’s Beach” and we locals are okay with that and the tourism dollars it brings. This has a big impact on us economically and in everything.

Shayna, owner/partner Tekila Bar, Manny's and Shark Bite: ​It’s been rough for sure . We have about 150 employees that we had to think about and make sure were taken care of so we were able to give care packages with the help of our friends and family and were able to continue with some sort of payroll with the savings we had. But as everyone, we are running low on funds, and can’t wait to open for business John Hostak (Owner/Partner), Al Capone's Seafood and Pizzeria: ​We are still struggling along ,following the rules in place and keeping our financial heads above water. Until the federal and local government opens the town for tourism,things will be bleak for all businesses including Al Capones. Speaking as a restaurant and bar owner, we need the influx of tourism to keep us afloat. Puerto Penasco isn’t a sleepy fishing village anymore,rather than a midsize tourist destination. Unlike ourselves, most bars,restaurants,condo complexes and mom y pop stores have been completely closed. The average citizen of Rocky Point is collecting a paycheck. We are still supporting 25 families financially! All businesses have suffered greatly under the virus and some may not return once the situation has gone. I do not know official numbers, but I’d bet that town is down 90% in revenues since March 20! Luckily Capones will be back to fight another day with a better bar and future BREWERY 3. Did you make changes to your business model or add services to help bring in income during the COVID-19 restrictions?

Rick & Kris Nichols (Owner/Partner), Crazy Ed's Satisfied Frog: ​We had to completely rework our business model. We did not have a delivery service in place at the start prior to the restrictions but quickly realized that having the ability to deliver and offer curbside pickup would be imperative for us to try to survive. We hastily built a e-commerce website, (maybe too hastily) and developed processes for implementing and deploying this service to integrate with Facebook and feature a credit card processing method to allow customers to pay for the food and delivery with their credit or debit cards. We updated our Facebook page to include a storefront to order directly from. We added grocery delivery services to become a “groceraunt” if you will. These changes have been challenging to

implement in the rapid rollout fashion we did them in, so we took our bumps and bruises along the way. We hope that our customers will understand that we are operating as best we can in uncharted waters for us and that we continue our efforts to serve them better every day.

Shayna, owner/partner Tekila Bar, Manny's and Shark Bite: ​We did take this time and did much needed maintenance at the bars.

Jose Boo, owner Boo Bar: ​I closed March 20th because of the lack of business due to the border and town restrictions on tourism.

Mike and Cindy, owners Latitude 31: We have had to adapt to the health and city regulations. A reduced menu, reduced prices, Take out and delivery only.

John McBride owner Max's:​ Changes, we advertise for togo, but in truth people want to sit down and eat and see a little different scenery, they can cook at home for much less.

John Hostak (Owner/Partner), Al Capone's Seafood and Pizzeria: ​We like a lot of businesses had to make changes that were mandated by the federal and local government.

Capones is now only doing takeout food orders with no alcohol service.

4. What effects has the town restrictions had on restaurants?

Rick & Kris Nichols (Owner/Partner), Crazy Ed's Satisfied Frog: ​The restrictions, although understandable, have taken a hard toll on the local restaurants and businesses.

In the initial phases of the restrictions the safeguards being put in place were changing on almost a daily basis. Adopting them meant a lot of things for us. We had to change our hours to meet the daily curfew. The road closure on the Malecon meant our customers could not get down to us easily and had to park at the Vina Del Mar Hotel for pickup. Some days we were allowed to park in front of the Frog to load and unload, other days we were on notice that we would be given a citation if we parked in front of our business on the Malecon. We could not send our employees out to get anything or deliver large orders with more than 2 people in the car. All this and more has made it very difficult circumstances to operate under. Again, I think much of the initial restrictions were prudent and necessary. Nonetheless, the economic impact has been devastating.

John Hostak (Owner/Partner), Al Capone's Seafood and Pizzeria: ​Due to fewer customers and a local curfew, we shortened our hours to ,12noon-8pm 7 days a week. The change in government policies, lack of tourism and locals not having any money is devastating to all businesses in town including us‼ John McBride owner Max's: ​Restrictions, the 8 o’clock curfew, one person per car, the harassment by police have made it such that people don’t want to even leave their houses.

Mike and Cindy, owners Latitude 31: It’s just about killed us. There are a few people that order out, which has helped us to make payroll every week. Most people don’t realize that legally we still have to pay our employees.

There is no government help, for employees or for businesses, at all.

Jose Boo, owner Boo Bar: Made me and others who depend on tourism close.

What should every customer look for in a restaurant/bar during the transition to a post COVID-19 environment?

Rick & Kris Nichols (Owner/Partner), Crazy Ed's Satisfied Frog: As we understand it, each restaurant will need to provide proof that all their employees are free from the COVID-19 virus through testing. I would imagine the restaurants will receive a health department certificate that states our employees were tested for COVID-19 and are clear of the virus. We will be displaying that certificate by our front door and I would imagine other restaurants will be doing the same. Look for employees following the safety protocols in place, wearing masks, gloves and extra cleaning and sanitizing. They should be providing hand sanitizers to all customers.

Look for restaurants that offer alternatives to dine in only options. Use pickup or delivery if you don’t want to go out.

John McBride owner Max's:​ Transition, look for enough space between tables, eat outside if you can, tables cleaned before you sit down, hand sanitizers available to all Chef Mickey owner Chef Mickey’s: ​They should look for safety in a restaurant. We will all get tested at Chef Mickey’s will post on Facebook that it is a safe place to come and eat. We will follow the law. And we can only use 40 percent of the capacity of Nikki's place. And we're going to ensure customers have a safe place to eat in a very healthy place to eat.

Shayna, owner/partner Tekila Bar, Manny's and Shark Bite: Honestly, i wouldn’t expect discounts or specials as business will be trying to recover $ and hope customers will understand that .

Mike and Cindy, owners Latitude 31: Sanitation stations, masked severs, less tables, new hours, less employees....

Jose Boo, owner Boo Bar: They should look for us to still keep our preventive measures, limited seating, face masks by staff, antibacterial gel at every station and also as you enter the business, etc.

5. What future can you see for the restaurant industry in Puerto Peñasco?

Rick & Kris Nichols (Owner/Partner), Crazy Ed's Satisfied Frog: It is a very uncertain time for many of us on what the future in the restaurant industry will be like in Rocky Point post COVID-19. Some restaurants will make it, many may not. There will always be restaurants in Puerto Penasco we know. You will see all restaurants tightening their belts and trying to hold on until tourist season hits again. For some, there is just no way of carrying the financial burden of operating at a negative. We will see those establishments disappear along with the jobs those businesses provided. Some restaurants will come through this storm bruised but operational. Everything really depends on how quickly and smoothly the implementations of the phased in of normal activities can take place and the willingness of people to go out again and for tourists to return. I think there is going to be some lag time between the lifting of restrictions and the return of business as normal. This lag will ultimately lead us right back into the lows of tourism in the summer, so we may have to struggle along as best we can or look at alternatives. Some businesses may reinvent themselves and find greater opportunity than they have in the past.

Even to consider closing, a restaurant needs to look at all the costs it takes to close a business down properly. There are social security and payroll policies that have to be followed lawfully to pay their employees compensation and close out a business, other accounting and governmental paperwork cost of shutting down, all these issues will be on the minds of owners who are uncertain about generating enough income to just break even.

Shayna, owner/partner Tekila Bar, Manny's and Shark Bite: We think once the restrictions are lifted, a lot of the tourists will be flocking here - we know a lot of them are itching to get down here and can’t wait to come support the local businesses here.

John McBride owner Max's:​ Future, business will return slowly, many restaurants will not be able to hang on, significant increase unemployment in the industry Jose Boo, owner Boo Bar: Bright!

Mike and Cindy, owners Latitude 31: I believe that it will be tough getting back to “normal”. Tourism will slowly make its way back, but I imagine it will take quite a while. Unfortunately, A lot of restaurants will probably go under during this crisis.

John Hostak (Owner/Partner), Al Capone's Seafood and Pizzeria: The future for Puerto Penasco is bright and good once the COVID-19 virus is gone. There will be a lot of struggles ahead for all businesses, but you gotta fight on. Al Capones will come out of this intact , with a larger bar/patio and a new BREWERY ‼The big question will be, what the new rules and regulations will be from the government and how helpful and understanding they

will be to get local businesses the assistance we’ll need to get healthy again ‼ The government needs to be sympathetic to the financial struggles that every businesses is and will be going through in the next days,weeks and months ahead!

They should consider loans, suspension of fees/taxes, and any other charges that will be a financial burden upon all these small businesses. We all must work together in order for this to work. All businesses in town will need assistance to get over the crippling financial situation that COVID-19 has caused ‼We must get the town reopened so tourism can flourish and give us the financial help we all need Chef Mickey owner Chef Mickey’s:​ I think that Puerto Penasco will bounce back. Yes, like we're going to be bigger and better. You know, this is a this is a this is something new for everybody. We learn. Hopefully we can contain the spread of transmission and recover from the economic hardships we have faced. Here in town and the sky's the limit for us restaurants or Rocky Point. We have a lot of good restaurants and Rocky Point and I think we'll be fine. Once this covid-19 gets taken care of Puerto Penasco will come back bigger and better than ever.