Lisa Jensen, a server at Sybil’s Omelettes, assembles an order for delivery on May 12, 2020. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Stefani Shirley, the manager of Sybil’s Omelettes, remembers when she realized just how empty it was at the place she had worked at for 18 years.
When the state ordered restaurants in March to limit service, she tried offering takeout but within a week decided to instead close.
She emptied the stocked refrigerator and freezer of dozens of eggs, bacon, deli meats, cheeses and tomatoes, green peppers, zucchini, olives, and grapefruit.
“This place is always full of life and laughter and people eating and having a good time,” she said. “Not just with who they’re eating with but our staff and that’s a big part of what brings people back.”
Though the restaurant at 2373 State St. was closed, Shirley returned almost every day to check on the building and finish up inventory, bookkeeping and some cleaning projects.
Shirley was left feeling empty and uncertain of the future.
A month later, life began to stir again at Sybil’s Omelettes. As it prepared for its May 1 opening, the restaurant had confetti, balloons, and a cartoon chicken painted on its windows as well as notes signaling that it was open for delivery and pickup.
Noreen Wineland, the restaurant’s financial officer, described how staff were attaching streamers to the building to signal it was reopening when a delivery truck driver stopped in the middle of the street, honking his horn and telling them how glad he was they would reopen.
Colorful window paintings advertise delivery and curbside pickup options at Sybil’s Omelettes on May 12, 2020. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
The COVID-19 outbreak has ravaged the state’s food service and accommodation industry as restaurants and bars have reduced service or closed entirely. During the pandemic Salem restaurants, such as Cozzie’s New York Deli, opted to close until further notice because it just wasn’t selling enough sandwiches to stay open. Others have been able to stay afloat by shifting their business models towards take-out and delivery.
What’s kept Sybil’s, which opened in 1982, from closing is a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program.
The federally backed loans are forgivable if used to keep workers on the payroll for eight weeks. That has bought Sybil’s some time for business to pick back up again.
Gov. Kate Brown has announced a plan to begin a phased-in approach to reopening Oregon’s economy that will allow restaurants to offer limited dine-in service. Wineland said that she’s hoping Sybil’s will be able to offer dine-in service again by June.
“So essentially we’re certainly hoping for the best by the time we get the middle of June,” said Wineland. But she added that at this point, “it’s all a guess.”
Getting the loan didn’t mean Sybil’s could just turn the lights back on.
Shirley told her 22 employees in a meeting the plans to reopen with a new focus on takeout and delivery. That meant getting magnetized signs for delivery cars, red heat-sealing delivery bags and to-go containers. Last year, Sybil’s went through 99 dozen eggs and Shirley wanted to order just the right amount of inventory.
“That is difficult when you don’t know what to expect,” said Shirley.
Mother’s Day is usually one of the restaurant’s busiest days and customers used to pack its booths ordering eggs benedict with seafood. This year, the restaurant was empty of customers inside but busy nonetheless.
“We actually had a much better Mother’s Day than I had ever anticipated,” said Wineland. Usually, they make about $7,000 in sales but made about $4,400, she said.
On a weekday morning, rain drizzled in the parking lot and customers waited in their cars as servers from Sybil’s clad in face masks brought out their orders. Inside, the nearly vacant restaurant still has much of its kitschy charm with decorative chickens, many given by customers, spread throughout.
“We never throw anything away,” said Wineland, standing next to a now obsolete “smoking section” sign. A waitress wearing an inflatable chicken suit scurried by.
While turnover is common in the food service industry, Shirley said that staff sticks around at Sybil’s. A dishwasher has worked there for 20 years. A server for 33 years. She said that people stay because the crew is like a family.
Lorri Hibbard, who has been a server since 1986, said that when the restaurant closed it was like a “piece missing” from her life when she couldn’t see coworkers or her customers, many of whom she considers friends.
Now, she delivers orders to her customers’ doorsteps, which she said she “absolutely loves.”
She said it’s been the biggest adjustment she’s seen while working there.
“But you just really kind of have to go with the flow,” she added with a grin.
Harold Dibala, a cook at Sybil’s Omelettes, serves up two to-go containers of gravy for a delivery order on May 12, 2020. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Contact reporter Jake Thomas at 503-575-1251 or [email protected] or @jakethomas2009.
