Preliminary Findings on Restaurant Reopening Check
The check involves a search, a click, an hours section that was last updated in March 2020, and a phone number that rings without answer.
CLASSIFICATION NOTICE: Restaurant Reopening Check (RRC) Issued by: Bureau of Recreational Planning, September 2021
Classification
The restaurant reopening check is hereby classified as a multi-step verification ritual of indeterminate reliability. The check does not reliably answer the question it is designed to answer. The check remains in mandatory use.
Procedural Steps as Observed
Step one: Search the restaurant by name. The search returns a result.
Step two: Open the result. Hours are listed. The hours section notes "Hours might differ." This note is present on approximately 78% of the restaurant listings examined during the review period.
Step three: Check if the hours have been updated. The hours were last updated in March 2020. The date September 2021 is now visible at the top of the phone.
Step four: Call the number listed. The phone rings. Nobody answers. This is the second most common outcome. The most common outcome is that the number is no longer in service.
Step five: Search social media for recent posts from the restaurant's account. The most recent post is from six months ago. It says "We miss you and can't wait to see you soon." No follow-up post exists.
Step six: Check a third source. The third source says the restaurant is "Temporarily Closed."
Classification of Outcomes
The check produces one of four outcomes: confirmed open, confirmed closed, unconfirmed open (subject proceeds with optimism), or unconfirmed closed (subject abandons plan). The two confirmed outcomes require between two and five additional steps beyond the initial search to reach. The two unconfirmed outcomes are how the check typically ends.
The search returns a result. The result does not answer the question.
Finding
The information infrastructure for restaurant status has not kept pace with the status changes themselves. This is documented here without attribution or recommendation. The check will continue in its current form. The alternative is arriving without checking, which produces a different and more concrete problem.
Note on the "Temporarily Closed" Classification
Venues have been classified as "Temporarily Closed" for periods ranging from two weeks to eighteen months. The word "temporarily" carries no operational meaning at this time. It is retained for archival purposes.