As the coronavirus spreads, a popular Bay Area restaurant cuts dine-in service. Is it starting a trend? - San Francisco Chronicle

Arthur Mac’s Tap and Snack, a pizza restaurant and beer garden located just a stone’s throw from Oakland’s MacArthur Bart, will join a growing list of Bay Area restaurants this week trying alternatives to dining in during the spread of the coronavirus.

Co-owner Joel DiGiorgio said in an email that Arthur Mac’s inside seating and beer garden will be closed starting today until “the local outbreak is contained, or we have accurate information and proper testing capabilities locally.”

The beer garden has been a popular hangout for the neighborhood’s post-work crowd since the business opened in 2017 at the corner of 40th Street and MLK Jr. Way. It is the centerpiece for MacArthur Annex, a mixed-use property in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood made from storage containers that also contains a record store, and often hosts live music.

Arthur Mac’s will continue to offer its full food menu — pizza, wings, fries, salads — via delivery and to-go orders. Customers will also be able to buy canned beer, cider and wine to go. They just won’t be able to sit inside the restaurant or at tables in the attached beer garden.

The decision was spurred by disease experts and epidemiologists calling for social distancing, DiGiorgio said, which requires that people not gather in groups to slow or stop the spread of the coronavirus. Temescal is a notable hub for beer gardens with Temescal Brewing around the corner from Arthur Mac’s and Roses’ Taproom nearby on Telegraph Avenue. The locations are often crowded.

In his email, DiGiorgio said the restaurant was having a great year in sales, but as a popular local hangout, he said the business felt “a sense of responsibility to protect the most vulnerable members of our community.”

“In reality, our establishment is high volume with large groups of customers sitting in close proximity to one another, letting loose and having a good time. Between 5-7 p.m. we also have quite a few kids come through our doors, and we’re learning that children are hidden vectors for spreading the virus,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like we’re in the middle of a pandemic when you’re at Arthur Mac’s, but we are, and that’s the problem. These are just the unfortunate realities of the current situation.”

It’s another example of how the local food industry is adjusting on the fly to the spread of the coronavirus. Local Chinese restaurants are seeing a decline in customers and upscale tasting menu places are seeing an uptick in canceled reservations. Off the Grid at Fort Mason, the food truck event that draws thousands to the waterfront property, has been postponed two weeks due to coronavirus fears.

As of Thursday morning, of the 190 cases in California, 108 were in the Bay Area. San Francisco banned large public gatherings this week and Wednesday, the NBA suspended its season after a player tested positive for the coronavirus. Beer gardens like Arthur Mac’s have been popular places to watch the games.

Arthur Mac’s Tap and Snack. 12-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday. 12-11 p.m. Friday. 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday. 4006 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. www.arthurmacs.com

Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @JustMrPhillips

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