Bars and restaurants in the Flathead Valley got the go-ahead to reopen May 4 after weeks of closures due to Gov. Steve Bullock’s directive in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But so far, it looks like it might be a little while before business as usual resumes at local watering holes and eateries.

“I was expecting it to be a madhouse,” said Catherine Hopstad, the morning bookkeeper at The Spinnaker Casino, Bar and Grill in Lakeside. But she said the popular Lakeside spot has not been particularly busy since they reopened on Monday.

Hopstad, like many owners of bars, restaurants and coffeehouses throughout the valley, said the initial reaction to reopening has been pretty underwhelming.

Even after weeks of being cooped up with the governor’s stay-at-home order, it seems many local patrons are still hesitant to go back into public places, due perhaps to fears of contracting the virus or a desire to continue efforts to reduce its spread.

Hopstad worked in The Spinnaker’s kitchen during the closure, and she said the demand was significantly higher while they were only taking to-go orders. “We cooked a ton of food for quarantine,” Hopstad said, marveling at the interest in the restaurant’s take-out menu. “Now it’s back to normal,” she said.

The biggest difference she has noticed since reopening has been the casino, which has seen a deluge of guests in the past few days. “People were jonesing,” Hopstad observed. “The casino has been pretty wild.”

She said The Spinnaker has spaced out its tables to encourage social distancing and most employees are excited to get back to their regular routine, rather than nervous about potentially being at risk for COVID-19.

Hopstad was curious to see what the turnout will be on weekend nights at the bar now that the stay-at-home order has been lifted.

AT SYKES Diner in Kalispell, they also have moved tables and implemented a variety of new safety measures, including removing menus and utensils from tables before guests sit down. During the closure, the diner also took the opportunity to redo the floor and counter. But there haven’t been a lot of visitors to take in these changes since the iconic Kalispell eatery reopened at the beginning of the week.

“It’s still slow,” reported Mike Thompson. He said a lot of customers haven’t yet realized they can come back into the restaurant.

Thompson said diners who have returned have been excited about the reopening. “People love coming in here,” he noted. Like a lot of restaurants, Sykes offered take-out orders during the closure, but Thompson said all of the changes with COVID-19 have slowed business down substantially.

“We’re getting by, but I think there’s going to be a long fallout from this,” he predicted.

Mike McFeely at The Knead Café in downtown Kalispell agreed that the reopening has been slow going so far, although the long-running café has received some much-needed support from the federal Payment Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Emergency Advance.

“We have a little heartbeat going and we’re getting the defibrillator out,” McFeely said of the gradually recovering business he runs with his wife, Sarah.

He said traffic into the café has been a little bit stronger than he expected, but he reported it has nonetheless been a slow start in the first week. He said the federal assistance programs have been crucial in restarting the business.

“It allows us to open up without the worry of starting out at zero under the limited capacity restrictions,” he explained. While the programs don’t cover all of the café’s expenses, McFeely said they are being used for payroll, taxes and rent while business gets up and running once again.

EVEN THOUGH the financial impacts of the closures have been tough on many small businesses, some restaurants have decided to remain closed for the time-being.

Matthew Bussard at Uptown Hearth said the Columbia Falls coffee shop doesn’t expect to reopen until the beginning of June because it would be too challenging to enforce social distancing in the small space.

“We would have a really hard time,” Bussard said. He explained the “open kitchen concept” already creates some risks for customers and staff members interacting, and the increased concerns over COVID-19 would probably be too much to handle.

Bussard said he’s more worried about the challenges of reopening than the difficulty of staying closed. Right now, Bussard said, it’s “not a total nightmare scenario…reopening is the scary part.”

At another Columbia Falls coffee shop, Oddfellows owner Triana Bouillon is taking a middle-of-the-road approach to reopening. This week, she transitioned from curbside service to in-store pick-up orders, but she doesn’t anticipate reopening for sit-down service very soon.

“I don’t quite feel comfortable enough for people to come in the space,” she explained. She said she hopes to see how the gradual reopening goes for other businesses and develop her approach from there.

She reported sales are down about 50% since the coffee shop depends heavily on in-store patrons, but business is starting to slowly tick back up as the restrictions have loosened. “It’s definitely been tougher, but we’re scraping by and I’m very grateful for that,” Bouillon said.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at (406)-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.