Eagle Point restaurant adapts to new restrictions

EAGLE POINT, Ore.— Crackin’ and Stackin’ has been in Eagle Point for close to four years.

Since 2017, their indoor dining has been able to seat 100 people a day. Since the pandemic, they had to cut down their indoor seating to 50 in order to enforce social distancing.

But the latest restrictions from Oregon Governor Kate Brown is requiring all restaurants to operate exclusively outdoors, something Crackin’ and Stackin’ has never done.

“We were at 50, 50 seats socially distanced with half capacity in the dining room so were down half of that outside,” Erica Cordova, owner, said.

They’ve had to drop the number of people they can serve down to a quarter of the capacity that they could a year ago. Something Cordova says has been detrimental to her business.

Last week, the restaurant lost $10,000, and over the course of the last nine months –

“I don’t even have and I don’t even want to know the number,” Cordova said.

After the two week freeze ended in Oregon, restaurants could reopen outdoors. The brunch spot though has operated entirely indoors and had to figure out a way to keep their doors open.

“It initially started when we were just gonna come out here and put just tables and chairs,” Cordova said. 

Then, the night she and her husband moved the tables, Cordova had another idea.

I was just kind of looking at the booths in the dining room and I thought, why not take them out there.”

So, that’s what she did. On the sidewalk of the business are now multiple booths and tables to serve customers.

“Nothing about this is normal, but I feel like bringing the booth so just gives us just a little bit more normalcy.”

Her customers say they’re glad she’s making it work.

“I think what they’re doing right now to just try and survive, it’s working out pretty good,” Lupe Backen said while enjoying brunch with her family.

They say they’re happy to be able to be back at one of their favorite brunch spots.

Cordova says her customers and the community are what has kept her going. And she’s not one to give up.

I just think, you know what, if we’re going down, we’re going down swinging.”

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