March 8, 2021
Hello Friends,
Here is Shannon presenting us with a RigaTony-sized thank you card from Banner Medical Center after we treated their staff to a RigaTony’s meal. We were honored to do so.
It was a reminder to us that our health care workers are staying the course – and we intend to do the same. Last Friday our governor gave restaurants the go-ahead to pack dining rooms at 100% capacity, but we are not yet ready to make that move. Over the last year we have been cautious in our approach to doing business in a pandemic, and we have had great success with no serious outbreaks and no serious illness. With the end of this pandemic so close, we intend to keep it that way and will make incremental changes to our policies as statistics continue to inform us. As the rate of infection goes down and the percent of vaccinations go up, we will adjust our policies, but for those of you who are as cautious as we are, I want to assure you that we continue to be determined to make your dining experience with us as safe as possible.
If you choose to dine at RigaTony’s (and we hope you do!), here is what you can expect… at least for the very near future.
+ We will continue to seat at 50% capacity indoors, but at 100% on our patio.
+ Our staff will be masked at all times – but you can now remove masks after being seated.
+ Our staff is temperature checked upon arrival – but you no longer will be.
+ We will continue our very popular curb-side service – probably forever!
+ Also a reminder that we permanently installed an ionic air purifier in our ventilation system, which has proven to be effective at virus elimination.
After an unbelievable year, we are closing in on a time when we can see each other’s smiles and give a hug and a handshake. (Will the hug ever make a come-back?) RigaTony’s only made it through the year with your support and encouragement. We never lose sight of that.
Stay safe,
Mike and Chrissy
Dec 4, 2020
Hello Friends,
I’m sorry but it’s time for another wordy RigaTony’s Covid update. I wish we could just stick our heads in the sand and pretend that we’re not in the midst of a giant health crisis but we’ll continue to resist that urge and move forward.
Our dining room, patio and curbside service are open and will continue to be so. Our policies and safety procedures have continued to evolve and we are confident that we are able to provide a safe environment for both you and our crew. We have made a few significant changes to our operation which I’ll describe below, but all we ask of you is that you allow us to temperature check you upon entering, and that you unmask only while enjoying your meal. From our end the following is a list of procedures and safeguards that we are currently employing:
✔️ All menus are sanitized after every use. Also our menu is readily accessed with a convenient QR code
✔️ We have installed touchless faucets, soap and towel dispensers.
✔️ A new touchless pay system is now available
✔️ All crew members are temperature checked upon arrival for their shift
✔️ Off duty crew activities and gatherings are restricted.
✔️ Every crew member is masked at all times.
✔️ We have reduced our indoor seating capacity to 40%. Also we have restricted indoor seating to groups of six or less and patio groupings are limited to ten or less guests.
✔️ Our HVAC system is set to maximize the introduction of outdoor air. That means that all the air coming through our ventilation system is comprised of 50% fresh outside air. Furthermore the AC units are always set to the ON position so fresh, filtered, purified air is constantly circulating.
✔️ We have upgraded to MERV 13 air filters which are the maximum and most efficient air filter possible for our system. These filters are changed every ten days.
✔️ (This one is exciting to us) We have just completed installation of a new ionic air purifier on our air conditioning system that has been proven to be very effective in the elimination of the virus. Don’t confuse this with an ozone producing machine; this is a safe and proven technology that is currently being adopted by hospitals and aircraft.
✔️ We have revamped our patio to allow for the maximum amount of heaters and consequently are able accommodate more outdoor dining.
With all of those policies and improvements in place we feel that we have created as safe a dining environment as possible. Please remember however that we continue to be committed to our Curbside Touchless Service and have continued to refine and improve it with online ordering and a new touchless pay system. (You can check out our new On-Line Ordering Menu here: https://www.toasttab.com/rigatonys/v3). In any case thank you so much for continuing to support us. We will continue to work as hard as possible to keep you safe and well fed in these difficult times.
Mike and Chrissy
November 17, 2020
Greetings to our Friends
Yesterday, over our morning coffee, my wife casually said “Next week is Thanksgiving.” Say What??? I literally had to check the calendar. I knew it was coming but in the chaos and drama that we’re all living through, it just wasn’t registering on my radar. Not remembering my favorite holiday of the year is just another reminder of how different our lives are today, and what we’re focused on.
We obviously have political drama the likes of which we’ve never seen before, but I’ll stick with what we at RigaTony’s know about; serving pasta, and doing it as safely as we can.
First of all I would like to thank all of you for your continuing patronage. Because of you we have been able to retain virtually all of our staff and keep our financial heads above water. You have been patient with our ever-evolving curbside service and our restrictive dine-in procedures. There has been almost no resistance and we are regularly complimented on our commitment to safety. Even so, with cases on the rise we are tightening our dine-in procedures, adding more safeguards and hopefully will be able to continue with our dine-in option. The following details are a little dry but if you’re interested here’s what we’ve changed and what we’re working on;
🗹 We are tightening our dining capacity and dropping our seating capacity from 50% to 40%
🗹 We are adding more heaters and various improvements to our outdoor patio for more comfort and accessibility
🗹 We have lowered our allowable group size from a maximum of 10 to a maximum of 6 people (excluding our patio which will remain at 10 people for now)
🗹 We will continue to check the temperatures of arriving guests and ask that masks be worn by all guests unless seated.
🗹 Our crew also is temperature tested every day and required to wear masks at all times.
🗹 We have upgraded our filtration system to the highest possible MERV rating.
🗹 We are in the process of installing ionic air-purifier units on our HVAC units by the end of next week. This is the same technology used to cleanse the air in commercial aircraft.
Ok, after having said all that… when you do come in for dinner, try to forget all that and relax. Have a glass of wine and enjoy yourself with friends and family.
Speaking of friends and family, please remember us when it comes to your Christmas shopping. Our Gift Card incentives are better than ever with online shopping options, VIEW HERE: https://rigatonys.com/holidaygc/ and we could use your support this year more than ever.
Although this is not the warm and fuzzy holiday greeting I envisioned sending you, please remember that we are indeed wishing you a safe, healthy and happy holiday season.
Mike, Chrissy and the entire staff of RigaTony’s
August 23, 2020
TOMORROW (Monday August 24) WE WILL BE REOPENING OUR DINING ROOM.
As Yogi Berra once said; “It’s like deja vu all over again.” All of the pandemic indicators are much lower and are at a threshold where we feel it’s safe to invite you all back into our dining rooms for a meal.
We will still be playing it safe with the same policies we implemented a few weeks ago when we were open: You will be temperature checked when entering the lobby. Masks will be required at all times in the building except while eating at your table. Our entire staff including kitchen staff will be masked up including delivery and service men or anyone entering the building. We will be utilizing single use menus and employing a very sparse seating arrangement in the dining room ensuring safe social distancing.
There is a chance, of course, that the numbers will climb again and with schools, health clubs and movie theaters reopening that very well could happen. We can only hope that the municipal masking policies in place will help subdue another resurgence, but if there is one, please don’t be frustrated by another closing of our dining room. We realize we are more cautious than most and that our changing policies might be confusing, so our apologies.
And yes, we are still maintaining our new Curbside program for your convenience. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for your support during these past few months. Some of my friends have lost their businesses during this time, but we have remained healthy thanks to your ongoing support and patronage. Trust me when I say that we remember how lucky we are every time the phone rings.
Speaking of phone calls we got word last week from a Mr & Mrs. Kattelman. They told us how sad they were, because with our closed dining room they were going to miss having their annual wedding anniversary dinner with us, an ongoing tradition of theirs since the late 90’s. That’s a 23 year streak of anniversary dinners. OK, that’s bad enough but this year happened to be their 50th!!! Who could possibly deny them that? Certainly not softies like us, so last night we opened the restaurant a day early for a private dinner just for them.
So Mr. and Mrs Kattelman…. Here’s to a Very Happy Anniversary. Thank you so much for including us in your tradition. Let’s hope you prove to be a good luck charm to all of us moving forward.
Mike
June 26, 2020
Hello Friends,
I am absolutely sure you are all sick and tired of hearing about our ongoing pandemic woes. I know I am; both of hearing about it and talking about it. Before I get into it though, and I promise to be brief, I wanted to share a slice of “good neighbor” news.
Yesterday afternoon Tim, a manager from Lowe’s home improvement store, stopped by RigaTony’s with a box of KN-95 Facemasks and donated them to our incredible staff. He said it was for the hard work and effort we have put into keeping our customers safe. What an awesome out-of-the-blue gesture! We were all truly touched. Thank-you Lowes. You have always been my favorite and this proves it!
Now to business…. Effective tomorrow, Saturday, June 27th, we have decided to once again close our dining room in the face of the ever-escalating number of covid19 cases. We will, in the meantime, continue to serve you with our Curbside Service. I don’t have to recite the rampant statistics in our state and county. I’m sure you all are following the news. To be sure, our dine-in guests have been great and very respectful of our procedures but even with our slimmed-down dining room we still served over 1,500 people last week. When you look at that number and the statistics our state is reporting we feel like we’re playing Russian roulette when we unlock the front door every day. We have been randomly testing our crew and so far everyone has passed, but continuing to seat our dining room is tempting fate. Keeping our Curbside Service and eliminating contact with those 1,500 smiling faces greatly improves our odds of keeping us all safe, so here we are – one step forward – one step back to square one. In the meantime we truly will miss those smiles.
Thank you so much for putting up with our ever changing policies. Some day soon you will only hear from me when I pitch a new Lasagna Combo Dinner. Hmm… I may have something there!
Mike
June 17, 2020
Hello Friends,
Protective Mask Policy for Dine-In Patrons
In this new strange world I live in, my morning routine now includes studying the Arizona Department of Health Services Covid-19 website with my morning coffee at hand. All the Covid-19 trend graphs are shooting straight up with new unthinkable records being set every day.
My next move is to flip on the morning news to catch up on the next batch of restaurant closings. With no clear and reasoned direction from above, it’s harder than ever to know how to react. So – we make our own decisions.
The decision we made a couple of weeks ago was to reopen our dining room. So far so good, but after much discussion with our staff today we’ve made another decision.
We have decided to REQUIRE all patrons to wear protective masks as they enter the restaurant effective today June 17th.
A mask can be home-made, a disposable paper mask or even a bandana will work just as long as it covers your mouth and nose. It needs to be worn from the time you enter the restaurant until the time you are seated, then it can be removed for the duration of your meal.
It will need to be worn again if you leave your seat or when it’s time to make your way out of the restaurant.
Health officials have made it clear that the wearing of masks helps prevent the spread of Covid-19, and with that in mind, we have long since required our service and management staff to wear masks. We also require the wearing of masks of any salespeople, delivery drivers or repairmen.
As mentioned earlier we will also be greeting you with a no-touch temperature check, be seated in a sparsely occupied dining room and be presented with single-use menus and condiments.
I’ll never understand why, but I am well aware that this is a polarizing issue but I believe as responsible citizens that we should be a part of the solution, not a contributor to the problem. And when you are finally comfortably seated in our dining room I want you to feel as safe as possible under these surreal circumstances.
As always I will be in touch and notify you of any changes in our policies.
Thank you in advance for your understanding and encouragement. It helps more than you know.
Mike
Image: Frank was our very first guest when we reopened our restaurant last Monday and he thoughtfully arrived wearing a mask.
June 11, 2020
Three Ways to RigaTony’s
As some of you have noticed from our last post we have indeed reopened our dining room. As a matter of fact we snuck the doors open about two weeks ago. We didn’t want to make a big thing about it because… well, we didn’t WANT it to be a big thing.
In March we had reinvented ourselves into a curbside restaurant and we have evolved again into a dine-in restaurant while still keeping our efficient curbside service. At the same time we have implemented high safety standards in an effort to keep us all safe. Yes, our highest priority is to keep us all safe. Let me walk you through our new dine-in “experience”…
When you arrive at RigaTony’s we ask that you drive up to our check-in kiosk under the red and white awning. That’s our check in for both curbside pickup and dine-in seating. If you’re dining in we will gather your group info including your phone number. You can then park and you’ll receive a text when your table is ready. We’ll greet you right inside the front door with a no-touch temperature reading and then whisk you to your table with a single use menu. (Every one of our staff members is also temp checked when they arrive for work.) On the way to your table you might get a peek into our lobby which has been mostly transformed into an organized curbside service station or the bar which is still operating as a call center for take-out orders. Your table will be freshy sanitized before you sit and iit will be devoid of any settings. Even condiments will be delivered single serve. All the servers will be masked but they are weaning “facetags” so you can visualize their smiling faces. As you look around you’ll find the dining room to be mostly empty as we have decided to seat only 40% of our capacity. Are we being too conservative and cautious? I don’t think so. The pandemic is stronger than ever here in Arizona and although we have bent to the will of our guests and economics we are determined to operate our business in as safe a manner as possible.
So, that’s why we were a bit secretive in reopening. We wanted to get it right and are also not interested in having a big turnout with a large crowd of faithful guests getting frustrated with long waits in a hot parking lot for the limited tables we have available.
I only tell you this long story because people have complained that we didn’t announce our opening and I want to apologize in advance if you have any trouble securing a table. I will say however it is wonderful to see and hear actual people in our dining rooms again. We feel like we’ve come back to life again.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, Three Ways to RigaTony’s…. We just reviewed our evolving dine-in option, but I want to remind you that we are still very much committed to CURBSIDE SERVICE and will be offering aggressive curbside specials every week. I know many of you are not yet comfortable dining out yet and let me assure you that we are truly committed to offering excellent curbside service
And for your third option we also offer DELIVERY when you order online for as little as five dollars. I’ve tried this out myself several times and it’s amazingly efficient.
Even with this pandemic and all the chaos and uncertainty in our world we are making plans for the future. When you do come in you can check out the new face-lift we gave Tony’s room. We have a huge patio remodel coming up as well. Best of all you’ll soon get to taste some incredible new food by the newest addition to our culinary team – Scott Curtis . I’ll give you a full bio soon enough but I guarantee you’ll be intrigued and excited to taste what he and Chef Omar are planning for you.
But enough jabber for now. Be safe, wear a mask and consume lots of garlic. I know just the place.
Mike
May 11, 2020
Decisions Decisions…
Today’s choice; To open or Not to open. Today is the day that our Governor has given the green light to restaurants to open their dining rooms to the public provided they follow recommended guidelines. But before I talk about that issue I have to make an apology to those of you who made the decision to celebrate Mother’s day yesterday with a meal from RigaTony’s. If you made that decision I’m pretty sure some of you regret it, as we had a failure in service that resulted in some of you waiting a very long time for your Mother’s Day meal. I’ve never written a note like this before but I feel I owe you an explanation of what went wrong, and an apology.
We worked all week long staffing, planning and booking take-out orders, and we felt great when the first car arrived at 11:00 AM yesterday morning. We were well prepared for one of the busiest days of the year. We even had a new online ordering system in place to help with customers who couldn’t get through on the phones. All was going well until around noon when orders started flooding in. Our kitchen printers started printing tickets non-stop, and to our shock we discovered that we had received almost twice as many orders as we had planned for. It turns out that the limit we put on our online ordering system was not doing its job and it allowed an unlimited amount of orders to be placed. We reacted by stopping all orders shortly after 1:00 pm but the damage was done, and many of you had to wait in an hour long line for a meal that should have taken ten minutes. We are very sorry for failing you yesterday and we promise you that it won’t happen again.
As to today’s decision…. Last week we polled many of you who called in for takeout orders as to whether you planned on dining in restaurants that open their doors today. I thank you all for your responses, many of which were incredibly well thought out, but in the end you have been absolutely no help. You were split 51% to 49%. I’m not kidding. There were as many enthusiastic Yes’ to emphatic NO’s.
Like you we have been following the news looking for trends and answers. We have developed what we think is a thorough plan to re-open our dining room with the goal of being as safe as possible. We are as ready as we can be, but for now we’ve decided to wait and stay with our curbside service, which up until yesterday’s disaster was going really well. To the roughly 50% of you who are ready to make the plunge; we’ll get there… soon I hope.
Thank-you for your patronage, and to those who visited us yesterday – we hope to regain your trust in our ability to provide a great dining experience.
Mike