Restaurant owners in New Jersey say that they are now making new plans to continue their business after Gov. Phil Murphy decided to postpone the resumption of indoor dining.

Denim BYOB owner David Murray says that he now must make the most out of his outdoor dining space.

 “This is kind of making the best out of a bad situation,” he says.

The Haddonfield restaurant never had an outdoor dining area, but Murray says that a few tables were added outside to keep up with business during the pandemic.

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But Murray says that he has also spent the past few months expanding the inside of the restaurant to provide more space to adhere to social distancing. He says that the governor’s announcement on Monday was a setback.

“Literally 10 minutes prior to the announcement, I had received two deliveries, the big ones. So, I reached out to all my restaurant friends in the area to make sure they knew if they hadn’t got their deliveries, that you might want to hold off,” Murray says.

Murray says that this goes beyond the excess food he now has; it is more about the more than 40 reservations he had to cancel for Thursday when indoor dining was supposed to be allowed. The restaurant had also rehired six employees that were laid off and also hired four new ones.

“I’m not the type of person that wants to hire somebody and tell them, ‘Congratulations, you’re hired,’ and now, ‘This didn’t work out for you. I’m sorry,’” Murray says. “We’re going to do everything we can to find something for them to do if they’re looking for hours, if they’re looking for work. Maybe we have to start delivering again.”

Denim BYOB will continue to offer takeout and outdoor dining. But Murray says that he hopes that a decision on indoor dining is made sooner than later.

“It’s difficult to show to work every day knowing you’re going to lose money,” he says.