Are you gearing up for Labor Day? 

While this year’s holiday might look a bit different, News 12 checked out some delicious ways to enjoy the three-day weekend.

Restaurants are hoping to do good business for the holiday weekend, with both dine-in and takeout. 

 

For classic Labor Day fare, there's Dinosaur Bar-B-Que with locations throughout New York and New Jersey. 

Owner and pit master John Stage says the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que locations have all been doing much more takeout business than usual during the pandemic. 

"The nice thing is that we've always been set up for to-go," Stage said. "So we're very fortunate that we did not have to recreate the wheel on that."

If you want a quintessential barbecue meal for Labor Day and don’t want to do all the grilling yourself, they’ve got you covered. 

"We've just got the smokers fired up, the barbecue will be fresh, the beer will be cold, to-go containers will be at the ready," Stage said. 

Barbecue is always a great fit for a summer holiday, Stage says. "It just sounds right."

The market has a brand new outdoors concept with more than 1,000 linear feet of tables to accommodate hundreds of socially distanced diners. 

There are delicious dishes from more than a dozen different cuisines, mostly through pickup windows. 

"It's definitely been interesting. I love seeing the new setup of New York City," said Esther Choi, founder and executive chef of Mokbar. 

Mokbar is a casual Korean eatery with locations in Brooklyn and in Chelsea Market. 

Choi says Mokbar’s meal kits would make for a great Labor Day weekend celebration.

"The meal kits are for people to enjoy a restaurant quality meal in less than 15 minutes," Choi said. "So everything is pretty much done for you, except you're putting it together."

They have do-it-yourself ramen kits, Korean street food kits and more. 

"It's this experience of cooking a chef-quality or restaurant-quality meal, but you're doing it yourself, and you're learning something new at the same time," Choi said. 

Brand new restaurant Orienta in Greenwich, Connecticut, is mixing it up with that awesome combo. They have a large outdoor space and indoor dining at 50% capacity. 

Executive chef Adrien Blech said, "We're kind of lucky that we have this outdoor space and Greenwich Avenue is closed down to cars. So there's a lot of room, and people have been responding really well to that. It's been a lot of fun."

They’re also ready to rock the takeout orders for the holiday weekend. 

"We're expecting to have good business considering people aren't really going away," Blech said.

Orienta has many dishes that work great for a group celebration, Blech says. "We'll get people that are ordering for about 10 people. A lot of our appetizers are fun because it's shareable, almost like finger foods. We've got Korean barbecue wings, classic Vietnamese spring rolls."

Kimo’s Kitchen is serving up only the freshest Mediterranean food right near the beach. 

"We make everything on premises here, you name it," executive chef Mike Adil said. "I don't believe in microwaves or can openers. Everything has to be fresh."

You can take your food with you to the beach or enjoy at their lovely outdoor, socially distanced table set-up. 

For Kimo’s and many of the seasonal businesses on Rockaway Beach, Labor Day is one of the last chances of the year to bring in good revenue. 

Adil said, "You have to have beautiful weather to get good business. You fight through the winter just to get to the next summer."

Despite the oncoming winter and everything going on this year, the Kimo’s team is in high spirits. 

"You can always be optimistic, looking forward for, you know, better days and better opportunities," Adil said. 

However you choose to spend the holiday weekend, make sure you do it deliciously!