MATTAWA — Tiddaly Diddalys, a restaurant in Mattawa, tried not to miss a beat when restrictions on business and movement were enacted to help combat the COVID-19 outbreak.

With dining rooms closed, Tiddaly Diddalys shifted to takeout only to continue serving customers.

“We never actually closed the doors of the restaurant,” said Ken Broda, owner of Tiddaly Diddalys, at 20140 Road 24 SW. “I consider us to be really blessed. We already had the takeout facilities. We didn’t have to do anything different.”

Since the start of COVID-19, Tiddaly Diddalys’ staff has been wearing masks and wiping down surfaces much more frequently.

“We’re not used to the wiping pens and pencils,” Broda said. “Wearing masks is the biggest thing to get used to.”

To give his workers a break from wearing a mask all day, Broda allows his employees time away from customers.

“We’ve been doing our best to comply,” he said. “I would like to see us get some relief from the masks.”

Patrons are also encouraged to wear masks if they choose to dine in, although there is only a limited amount of seating to promote social distancing.

One of the challenges that Broda has had during the COVID-19 crisis is getting all the supplies that he needs.

“We had trouble getting some of the pizza toppings for a couple of weeks,” he said. “The supply of gloves and masks have been interrupted. I have not been able to buy a box of gloves from my food vendor in Yakima for 30 days. His shelves are bare.”

Carry-out containers have also become hard to get since all restaurants have emphasized that approach.

“It’s put a demand on carry-out containers,” Broda said.

In spite of the craziness surrounding COVID-19, Broda has attempted to help everyone survive by offering ice cream scoops for 50 cents.

“It’s our contribution to community sanity,” Broda said. “I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like ice cream.”