Seattle Eater Survey Respondents Say They’re Nonetheless Not Eating Indoors

As Gov. Jay Inslee announced, restaurants in the state could be at full capacity on June 30th (or earlier) – but not all may be rushing to go out. With King County’s COVID cases still high and vaccinations still not up to the levels officials are aiming for, there are risks to be considered. Respondents to a recent indoor dining survey by Eater Seattle said they are still cautious even when fully vaccinated.

Around 67 percent of fully vaccinated diners said they still weren’t sitting in restaurants, and 72 percent said Seattle shouldn’t be opened to full capacity. Eating outdoors seems to be a bit more popular. 62 percent of fully vaccinated people say they currently enjoy outdoor dining in restaurants. But about 70 percent of the unvaccinated people answered “no” to the question of whether they would eat inside or outside.

In terms of when people could finally feel comfortable eating out, about 48 percent of respondents said they would when COVID cases dropped to significantly lower levels. 23 percent said it would depend on more people getting vaccinated, about 22 percent said the tipping point would only come with “herd immunity,” and the small rest said they may never feel safe again if they would eat out.

Thank you to everyone who responded to the survey. Below are some advanced thoughts readers submitted on the subject of indoor and outdoor dining.

Indoor dining is clearly the riskiest thing we can do. Every time we open it more, cases come up. We’re so close to the end – another month that is completely closed could save us 6 months from being only partially open.

As long as the workers are fully vaccinated, I say let’s open up! We’ve been doing this for a year, we’ve all followed the rules, it’s time. Hope Seattle keeps all of the outside terraces, that was great!

I still prefer to eat outside whenever possible. If outdoor seating is not available I don’t mind dining indoors if precautions are taken – tables spaced, windows open, etc. I would not be comfortable being indoors at full or near full capacity at this point Food.

Not interested in eating out until the pandemic is over and everyone can do it safely. The staff is also safe, no masks are required.

These companies need to stay afloat. COVID could never go away. I was extremely cautious early on during Covid and now I believe that rolling back phases is the worst decision. Makes me reconsider my support for Inslee. I am fully vaccinated and want to eat as much as possible to support these businesses.

I may not know all the facts, but it seems to me that places that follow the rules (90% +?) Are punished for those who don’t.

I appreciate the need and desire to open things up again, but I think it encourages some kind of absent-mindedness regarding being wary of a virus that is killing people, things are not normal, and pretending to be dangerous is dangerous they would be

The industry was in the midst of a contraction / correction from COVID. Society needs less service and more production.

I am fully vaccinated. While I occasionally eat out, it is important to me that the restaurant is not overcrowded. Even 50% capacity is too much for me. I purposely look for times when restaurants aren’t crowded, such as just after lunch and before dinner. I wouldn’t be ready to go to a high capacity place. This requires much lower infection rates and higher vaccination rates.

I would be more comfortable knowing that the staff had been vaccinated and in return would allow restaurants to require proof of vaccination to dine in.

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