NEW ORLEANS — At Felipe's in the French Quarter, there are signs in place telling people about the city's new COVID rules.
Starting Monday, you will need to show proof of a COVID vaccination or a negative test in order to enter music venues, bars and restaurants in New Orleans.
Pike Howard with Felipe's said he supports the mandate. They plan to check every customer's status once they sit down but said the whole process is going to be a bit of a challenge.
"Being a fast-casual restaurant, we don't have a hostess stand and we've got hundreds of people coming in, not only this location but multiple locations throughout the city. The resources to be able to execute on that for every single guest that walks in, it's a little bit of a head-scratcher. It's a challenge, right?" he said .
At Palm and Pine, they've already been requiring vaccines for staff and customers for nearly two weeks. The owners said at times it takes a little longer but the LA Wallet app, where people can show proof of vaccination digitally, has helped streamline the process.
" You can open it up and show you're vaccinated, swipe back to your driver's license. It's right there. Just show your photo ID, pull down your mask for one second and it's very clear you are matching what is on your phone," said Amarys Herndon of Palm and Pine.
Back at Felipe's, the restaurant has about 85 percent of its employees vaccinated. The remaining workers don't have to necessarily get the shot if they can show a negative COVID test but Howard said getting to a testing facility several times a week could be difficult for some of his employees.
"We are talking about, in many cases, individuals who might be working two jobs, that maybe have kids also. There is an element to that that adds a little more stress to that," said Howard.
The city will give businesses a weeklong grace period, before starting to enforce the vaccine mandate. Howard feels like there are still plenty of grey areas.
"If enforcement were to come and ask an individual for their vaccination or negative test is the culpability on the individual or is it on the business who made the mistake of possibly missing checking that. It seems grey right now. And, business owners don't like grey," said Pike Howard with Felipe's.