Staff COVID closed this popular Boise restaurant. Now customer masks to be mandatory.

The coronavirus has not been kind to Kevin Settles’ business plans.

The day after he opened his new Eagle restaurant, Coyne’s, in March, Settles closed it after a staffer’s coronavirus scare. It has since reopened.

Currently, two locations of his Bardenay restaurant and distillery chain — in downtown Boise and in Eagle — are in voluntary 14-day shutdowns. “We have had employees who went out on the town that have subsequently become infected,” Settles said.

Bardenay in Boise is set to reopen Monday. Bardenay in Eagle should be back Wednesday.

But the plan, Settles said, is that the Boise location will return with a new rule: If customers are not seated at their table, they must wear a mask.

When you’re at your table? Feel free to take it off.

“As long as you’re just exchanging air with the people you came in with, we’re fine,” Settles said. “It’s getting up and going to the bathroom. If you go over and start talking to other tables. We’d like you to mask up.”

At Coyne’s, guests are encouraged, but not required, to wear facial coverings. Settles plans for Bardenay in Eagle to reopen with the same philosophy — and free, disposable masks for patrons. All his restaurants offer those.

But in downtown Boise — where Central District Health has singled out bars as a hotbed for virus transmission — asking isn’t enough, Settles said.

Mask up — or kindly bounce.

Downtown Boise restaurant Bacon was one of the first high-profile Boise eateries to make customer masks mandatory. Bacon owner John Berryhill said most customers had zero problems with it. “... Many applaud our decision,” he explained via email. “We’ve had very few issues.”

On its first day with the policy, Bacon handed out about 150 masks to customers, Berryhill said. Then people adapted. The next three days, the restaurant distributed an average of 40, he said.

Settles isn’t sure whether he’ll ever require masks at Coyne’s or at Bardenay in Eagle, he said. Signs posted at the restaurants basically ask patrons to be considerate human beings, he added.

“The statement essentially says, ‘Look, this is very serious. We’re looking forward to it passing. We take it serious enough that we wear a mask. We would appreciate it if you would wear a mask also.’ ”

This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 10:32 AM.