Photo by George Mahe
Since this photo was taken, the picnic area has been outfitted with tables that are spaced a safe distance apart.
After a 12-day hiatus, 9 Mile Garden plans to reopen this Wednesday for lunch and dinner service. The temporary closure, which SLM announced late last month, was prompted by new COVID-19 restrictions announced on July 27 by St. Louis County Executive Sam Page. The Affton food truck garden and outdoor entertainment venue, which opened last month, temporarily closed to reassess its safety rules and develop new guidelines under the current restrictions.
When the food truck garden first closed, managing partner Brian Hardesty said the closure could last a month or more. Yet in less than two weeks, he and his team at 9 Mile were able to develop a reopening plan in partnership with the St. Louis County Health Department.
“There were a couple of guidelines that sounded like we would be in violation if we operated,” Hardesty says. “One of the major ones that was in question was the 50-person gathering rule. It was explained to me that special entertainment venues—and we are included in this—will be allowed to operate and have gatherings above 50 people so long as they have a plan in place for social distancing and they execute that plan. So we took a step back and coordinated with St. Louis County, and to do that properly, we needed to close down and make sure that everybody's safe in the interim.”
For the duration of the current COVID-19 restrictions in St. Louis County, 9 Mile’s outdoor garden area will be limited to seated guests, with no standing room allowed (except for guests waiting in line to order food). Standing guests are required to wear face masks, and 9 Mile Garden will provide guests with masks if needed. The Canteen bar will remain open for drink orders, but there will be no indoor seating for the time being; guests can enjoy drinks in the picnic area or on the outdoor patio at tables that are spaced a safe distance apart.
Social distancing must be adhered to while guests queue up to order food—with lines painted on the ground instructing parties to stand at least 6 feet apart—and only one party is allowed per table. To ensure social distancing in the outdoor seating area, spray chalk lines will denote 10-foot seating circles, with up to six people allowed to dine in each circle. These picnic areas will be numbered and assigned by a staff member from the garden. Signs instructing guests to adhere to social distancing guidelines will be posted on the premises and hand sanitizing stations will still be available throughout the garden.
“We are designating [picnic] seating areas, having those seating areas be numbered, and essentially treating the garden like one gigantic dining room,” Hardesty says. “When people show up, we say, ‘OK, you can be seated in spot number five,’ and you can only have up to groups of eight people in the [picnic] circle. The circle is 12 feet in diameter, and each circle will be at least 10 feet apart. So a person walking in between these circles will be able to safety navigate that crowd and not come into contact with people as best as possible.”
Other measures will be familiar to guests, including staff sanitizing tables between parties and employees wearing face masks at all times. Food and drink will be served in single-use containers and go-to packaging.
Until the current St. Louis County restrictions are lifted, Hardesty says he’ll limit the number of food trucks vending on-site to a maximum of seven and a minimum of five. This is in line with the number of trucks initially featured for lunch (five) and dinner (up to seven), although Hardesty had hoped to increase the number at special events this summer.
“How I'm approaching the food truck lineup—and how I have been [in general, from the beginning]—is doing my best to keep it as diverse as possible, with as many different choices as we can have,” Hardesty says. “During the [current] restrictions, I'm going to keep the number of trucks to between five and seven. So we probably won't ever have more than seven until the restrictions are lifted, because I want to make sure that the trucks are going to make money.”
The new safety measures aren’t the only changes happening at 9 Mile Garden. As of Sunday, August 16, hours of operation will expand to Sunday through Saturday from 11 a.m.–10 p.m., with brunch service offered on Sundays from 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
“There are quite a few breakfasty and coffee-centric trucks in town that aren't currently members, so we're looking at expanding our membership, but right now all the trucks that come for brunch will either sell a brunchy type of item or in some way fall into the theme of brunch,” Hardesty says. “And then the bar will be serving Bloody Marys and different brunch cocktails.”
The expanded operating hours will allow 9 Mile Garden to host a range of regular themed events throughout the week, including Beer Bingo with live music on Monday nights, a Comedy Showcase on Tuesday nights and Trivia Nights on Thursday evenings. Free Saturday night movie screenings will resume this week on the garden’s 26-foot screen, and in the future, Hardesty says guests can expect to see select Cardinals and Blues games to be aired there as well. He’s also hoping to introduce screenings of cartoons on Saturday morning “for families to come out, or even adults who just love cartoons.
“It was always the plan to open, see how the reception was, and then, after a month, really be controlled in the way that we expand our hours and in our plans,” Hardesty asys. “We've had these plans for quite some time, and of course we had no plans for the pandemic, so it’s been adjusted, but it was always the plan to run seven days a week and offer brunch.”
Hardesty adds that 9 Mile Garden also has plans to introduce a local makers market in the coming weeks, as well as a farmers’ market in the future, with plans for both to be hosted on Sundays.
“In a couple of weeks, I hope to introduce a makers market, like a local artisan and retail market, outdoors that will happen every Sunday night,” Hardesty says. “We'll have any number of people who make necklaces, soap, paintings, or whatever, and then have them set up this outdoor market on our property, almost like a flea market feel, but it was all new stuff.
“That will pave the way to eventually incorporate a farmers’ market every Sunday in between brunch and the retail market at night. The whole idea has always been to get as much programming and content into the garden as we can and to do it well. I want it to have quality food, quality retail, and provide a good experience for everybody, so they have a good time and want to come back.”
